BS: Ink Cartridge Stupidity/Opportunity

Subject: RE: BS: Ink Cartridge Stupidity/Opportunity
From: Blackcatter
Date: 25 Jul 04 - 09:55 PM

There have been some problems with some of the "recycled" cartridges. People assume that what they get in the store is brand new, but more and more often it contains recycled parts, which the manufacturer's are supposed to make sure will keep working, but sometimes do not.

I use Laser Monks

They're selling quality "knock-offs" for less than 50% of the regular price. Base charge for shipments is $5.95 and covers approximately 1.5 lbs. or less, depending upon the size of box required. So you really start saving money by buying more than one. I have bought 3 of the one I need for only $4 total over the cost of one in the store.

Subject: RE: BS: Ink Cartridge Stupidity/Opportunity
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Jul 04 - 11:50 AM

The part of my message I forgot to add (above) is that HP recycles it's cartridges. When you buy one, a pre-paid UPS shipping label is enclosed for recycling the old one. You pack it in the same box and slap the UPS slip on, or you take it to any Mail Box, etc. (now called the UPS store, I think) and they will bundle it with the others they've collected and send them all, at no charge to you.

Sam's Club has some kind of a refill program that goes with cartridges purchased from them. You take it back to them, they send it off and it returns a few weeks later ready for reuse. It's cheaper than buying a new one, but I haven't tried it and don't know the actual costs.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Ink Cartridge Stupidity/Opportunity
From: JennyO
Date: 25 Jul 04 - 10:03 AM

Why can't you send them back and either get a refund or exchange them for the right ones?

Subject: RE: BS: Ink Cartridge Stupidity/Opportunity
From: Leadfingers
Date: 25 Jul 04 - 07:17 AM

I will refresh this thread today and then let it fall off the bottom for ever . Seems a shame to have a pile of InkJet Cartridges just go in the bin !

Subject: RE: BS: Ink Cartridge Stupidity/Opportunity
From: GUEST,NH Dave
Date: 24 Jul 04 - 01:43 AM

Toner cartridges are a cinch to refil compared with modern ink cartridges. All you have to do is go to or call a decent toner manufacturer, tell them what sort of laser printer you are using, and they can send you all the toner you can use for a very low price. When the drum goes south, it is another question as they are expensive.

There are companies that sell inkjet ink in the various colors you need, but the printer companies are getting cagier and making their cartridges more difficult to refill, or at least to refill without leaking all over the place. The 500 series Ink Jet printers were easle ruy to find refill kits for, and accomplish the refill. Place the cartridhe on a firm surface, drive the round seal into the cartridge with the Bic ball point pen (supplied) shoot the ink into the cartridge with the filler/container supplied, and cap it off with the reusabbber plug and you were done.

Dave

Subject: RE: BS: Ink Cartridge Stupidity/Opportunity
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Jul 04 - 01:45 PM

When I bought my HP Laserjet printer they weren't giving them away. It was about $400, and I paid for some additional memory, I don't remember how much, but it speeded it up. I bought this on a recommendation of a professor, who said to go through each printer and look at the size of the cartridge and figure the replacement costs. I bought this because it had the largest toner cartridge and the replacement price is reasonable. I don't have to replace it as often now that I'm not writing my thesis and other scholarly papers, and I'm finally, after about six years, considering replacing this printer. What it needs is a new roller inside so it stops grabbing gobs of paper at a time. I have several strategies for printing to avoid this problem, but this printer wasn't designed very efficiently compared to what they have out there now. The new HP laser printers pick up the paper from a tray, avoiding the problem of the paper sliding down into the feeder by accident (as happens now from where it is perched on top in back).

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Ink Cartridge Stupidity/Opportunity
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 23 Jul 04 - 01:18 PM

For those who've noted above that a replacement printer may be no more expensive than a replacement cartridge (or 2 if it takes black & tricolour) check the capacity of the "free" cardtridges bundled with a new printer. They tend to be of a lower capacity than the standard refills

Nigel

Subject: RE: BS: Ink Cartridge Stupidity/Opportunity
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 23 Jul 04 - 10:53 AM

Given that there is a growing industry for recycling ink and toner carts, it's time the manufacturers cottoned on and started making refillable carts ... or do they make their dosh from the throw-away bits, not the ink?

BTW, if you want quality photo prints, go to a professional outfit: there are several on the 'Net.

Steve

Subject: RE: BS: Ink Cartridge Stupidity/Opportunity
From: mcgrathof altcar
Date: 23 Jul 04 - 09:34 AM

I have yet to buy an ink cartridge for my Lexmark printer. My cartridge has lasted 2 years and I've refilled over a hundred times. This saves me at least £200 pounds a year. Safeway sells the ink cheaper than anywhere else I've found. Ink cartridges are a scam.

I used to fill my old apple stylewriter with fountain pen ink and it worked just fine. ( ok it was a little pale)

Never let your cartridge run dry or the jets will clog up.
After you've filled it up, remove a couple of ccs of ink to make sure it it doesn't leak.

Some ink manufacturers recommend injecting a little air into the cartridge.

HANDY HINT: I use a clean syringe for injecting HP sauce into pork pies!!! Yummy!!

Subject: RE: BS: Ink Cartridge Stupidity/Opportunity
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 23 Jul 04 - 08:58 AM

Liz, I told you above why it is. If you want me to take it further... my own feeling is that to be competitive printers are sold for at best no more than the development/manufacturing costs. ie. when you bought your Lexmark, they would have made no money on that (although the retailer would have).

From there on, it's a gamble but they will try to persuade you that the only safe ink and the only ink that will not invalidate warranty is thier own. If you do follow that, it is quite clear that they are soon quids in!

Subject: RE: BS: Ink Cartridge Stupidity/Opportunity
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 23 Jul 04 - 08:39 AM

Sorry Leadfingers... but at least while we debate those rights/wrongs, your thread does get refreshed to the top :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Ink Cartridge Stupidity/Opportunity
From: Leadfingers
Date: 23 Jul 04 - 08:35 AM

Whatever the rights or wrongs of printer/cartridge cost I still have four black and four colour cartridges that are simply occupying shelf space and would cheerfully get rid of 'em for the price of a couple of Epson colur cartridges , with a donation there from going to the Cat , so IF you have a 800/850 let me know .

Subject: RE: BS: Ink Cartridge Stupidity/Opportunity
From: Cuilionn
Date: 23 Jul 04 - 07:43 AM

I've a Lexmark Z32 myself-- aye cheap, but I've had decent luck with the devious wee "damn the brand names & refill it yersel"-type products. Best is the wee box that comes with a short auger, drilling template (to locate & reach/drill down to the three chambers hidden under the sealed plastic cartridge-top) and three bottles of colored ink, each fitted with a long silver needle that allows one to refill each chamber as needed. After plugging the resultant holes with a bit of sticky-tack, I've managed to make one color cartridge last at least five times as long as usual. (Didn't have such luck with the black-ink refill I tried--the ink seemed to flow well enough, but I think the electronic contacts were roughed up a bit and refused to "talk" any more.)

If you can make it work for you, always chose the more subversive product from the most local or independent supplier... that goes for food, clothing, printer ink, and most everything else! Power to the people, nae the conglomerates!

--Cuilionn

Subject: RE: BS: Ink Cartridge Stupidity/Opportunity
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 23 Jul 04 - 07:28 AM

JennyO - we have a Lexmark too, each cartridge appears to cost the same as the original printer. We could have bought 3 new printers and used the supplied cartridges for half the cost of 3 new cartridges. Why is this do we know?

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Ink Cartridge Stupidity/Opportunity
From: JennyO
Date: 23 Jul 04 - 05:07 AM

My printer is a Lexmark Z25, cheap and crappy, and the cartridges cost a fortune.

Subject: RE: BS: Ink Cartridge Stupidity/Opportunity
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 22 Jul 04 - 11:03 PM

And IMO, not that it realy concerns me, is that colour matching could be an issue on pattern cartidges. Not really an area that concerns me but one I'd think as long as there was consistancy with the inks, you could compensate for. It really needs a printer to advise.

Subject: RE: BS: Ink Cartridge Stupidity/Opportunity
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 22 Jul 04 - 10:54 PM

Oh and Don. I missed your point. My R200 is a 6 colour printer and fortunately each cartridge is separate...

Subject: RE: BS: Ink Cartridge Stupidity/Opportunity
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 22 Jul 04 - 10:33 PM

Liz, you are not too far out - that is how the money is made - essentialy they give the printer away but make you pay for ink.

I worked it out with one printer that I could afford it to go through maybe 4 "copy" cartridges. The sums can be quite simple, eg. take my 880 and the price of a B/W for it last time I looked (I'm ommiting the need for colour ink here). These are very much ballpark figures

Printer = 100
Genuine Epson Black = 20
"Pattern Black" = 3


One does not need to be too clever to work out that as long as my printer did a few runs on the "pattern black" that I've paid for my new printer if it did clog the old one or whatever after a few cartridges on savings from using "genuine ink"

Jon

Subject: RE: BS: Ink Cartridge Stupidity/Opportunity
From: Don Firth
Date: 22 Jul 04 - 09:17 PM

I have a Canon S630. It uses individual ink cartridges, so when one color runs out, I just replace that color, not a whole multicolor cartridge (ridiculous, expensive waste). I get my cartridges from Carrot Ink. They work just fine and they cost about half what the Canon cartridges cost. Never had a problem with them.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Ink Cartridge Stupidity/Opportunity
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 22 Jul 04 - 08:24 PM

Having seen the totally stupid prices charged for ink cartridges, it may well be cheaper to buy the appropriate printer than get the right cartridges.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Ink Cartridge Stupidity/Opportunity
From: Leadfingers
Date: 22 Jul 04 - 10:34 AM

Guest Jon - I have used Ink Factory for a while and have no complaints - After sales seems good too .

Subject: RE: BS: Ink Cartridge Stupidity/Opportunity
From: SINSULL
Date: 22 Jul 04 - 08:26 AM

Sorry - mine is an Epson 820. The last time I ordered refilled cartridges, they leaked and screwed up my printer. Your source? I got mine on eBay.
SINS

Subject: RE: BS: Ink Cartridge Stupidity/Opportunity
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 22 Jul 04 - 08:22 AM

Don't have those. Stylus 880 and R200 here. I need to get some ink soon for both. I'm drifting I know but who do you use? I used cartex last time and was very happy with them. If you do use a different company, I'd be interested to compare what they offer though.

Subject: BS: Ink Cartridge Stupidity/Opportunity
From: Leadfingers
Date: 22 Jul 04 - 07:17 AM

I was ordering some replacement cartridges and had a serious senior moment and entered the wrong printer model number . If any one out there in Mudcat land wants to make me a serious offer for up to four pairs of cartridges (Black and Colour ) for an Epson 800/850/1520 Ink Jet printer , send me a PM . Obviously , postage would have to be considered in price , and UK would obviously be easier for me .
The cartridges are JET TEC E8 and E9 .