Tap Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 We have an HP printer that we have used for years. It uses cartridge 56,57 (black and color). I have always bought my cartridges at Costco, and they last about 6mths for a black, 12mths for a color (we really try to limit color usage). I know this year we are going to us more than normal so I am trying to figure out the best way to buy ink. I bought a refilled Staples cartridge one time, years ago, and I am convinced it did something to my other printer. It never printed right again after putting the cartridge in. We ended up getting rid of it. I have considered getting a refilled cartridge again....but am worried. Our black ink runs about $21 per cartridge, refills are $10. What do you know about ink? What is the quality of the ink that places use to either refill or resell refilled cartridges? Have you had any problems? Is it better to go to one place over the other? Do you end up with the same amount of prints per cartridge? Share you wisdom please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OLCH Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 I'd love to know too :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn in OH Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 For the longest time we were getting re-filled ink cartridges from InkSmile. My husband was very pleased with them. I don't recall ever having a problem with their cartridges. We had a Cannon Pixma 1700 printer. We no longer have an inkjet printer and have not yet had to buy ink cartridges for our current printer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FourOaks Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 My printer uses the same cartridges as yours. I have taken mine to Walgreens to be refilled. The first time it went fine. It cost $10. It printed just fine and lasted through an enormous amount of school printing. I then took a 2nd cartridge to Walgreens. Was told it didn't pass the "test" so they couldn't sell it to me, but went ahead and gave it to me. Came home, put it in the printer and proceeded to use it for an enormous amount of school copying. Recently took another cartridge and them same thing happened. After several tries, it would not pass the "test". The girl told me (and showed me) that paper with the ink lines. She said all 12 lines must be perfect or they are not allowed to charge because it failed the test. I went ahead and just took it with me. This one was leaking a bit. Had some troubles with it at first, but it has been fine ever since. You can imagine how much money I have saved so far with those 3 cartridges. I will continue to take them to have them refilled, and if I get them for free, even better!! $10 is a HUGE savings to begin with, so I am fine with getting them refilled. I also don't feel bad about taking them and using them because they really cannot charge when it fails the test. Also, they can't give a real reason why they fail. One girl must have tried working on mine at least 6 or 7 times and it consistentlly failed (that's the most recent one that was leaking). They have no way of knowing if the cartridge is going to fill correctly or not, but they try. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdie Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 I get our HP print cartridges refilled at Office Max. I take in the empty and they refill it for me while I wait. I have had some refilled several times. No problems. The technician told me that if they fail it would happen while he is filling it. I had no idea if that is true, but so far we haven't had any problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unicorn. Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 I won't use generic ink in our HP. We tried the Office Depot brand a couple of yrs ago, and it almost ruined our printer. Dh wanted to try the refills, but I said no, not worth losing the printer. For me, it's just to risky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali in OR Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 Using a refilled ink cartridge WILL void your HP printer warranty. You would be amazed how much R&D goes into ink. It's pretty corrosive stuff and can eat away at the ink cartridge. I used to work in the inkjet industry, so I do know a little about this. If you are printing worksheets that you will immediately recycle (don't care about longevity) AND don't care about your printer warranty AND never print photos or documents that you want to last and have high quality, you may decide that it is worth saving a few bucks. There have been some independent studies that show that the refilled cartridges are really unreliable compared to the new ones. Refilled cartridges failing tests probably indicate that the cartridges already have blocked nozzles or other damage. I try to get new ink cartridges at Office Max when they have their "save 20% on everything you can fit in this bag" sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 If you're going to be doing a lot of printing, a laser printer may pay for itself. For us, the difference is about 5 cents per page. We kept our inkjet for color needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Only me Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 Is this why my printer suddenly isn't working? I just replaced the blank ink cartridge (I got it refilled at Jewel Osco). The first few pages went fine and then I got a printer error. Now it says that there is something wrong with the color cartridge (it isn't empty). I've tried taking it out and cleaning it and putting it back in but nothing helps. What could be wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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