The great printer cartridge rip off

[Dedworth]

The great printer rip off: Ink costs more than vintage champers - and devious new tricks mean you constantly have to buy refills

• Cartridges with 4ml of ink cost 50p to make but sold at £3,000 per litre
• Families can spend up to £2,000 every year on cartridge refills alone

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz2Mf1Ff76U

I always try to buy remanufactured ones. Before they started chipping them I got away for years refilling Canon & Lexmark from a bulk bottle of ink. Hopefully the cartridges on my new Canon are syringable

[joebloggs]

the quality on reman toners can be really

i never use inkjet type printers only colour laserprinters

[Dedworth]

For me black inkjet is absolutely fine, seldom use colour print

[bigtilly]

Printer Ink is the most expensive liquid in the world and has been for years.

I worked within the Printer Ink trade for a while and, it was alleged that the major manufacturers would put an abrasive in the Ink supplied for the bigger, office type printers, guaranteeing that rollers etc, would wear out prematurely and would need replacing. Of course, this is nothing more than an allegation.

[joebloggs]

well seeing many hp inkjet\laser printers are still working after 5 or 10yrs probably shows that is not true,

[KeithD]

I only use the crap ink on Ebay, it's useless for photo's really but fine for everyday printing. I always buy Brother printers as the ink is cheaper.

[Terpe]

Kodak appear to be suggesting that their printers use less ink, and that Kodak ink is the cheapest.

Anyone have any experience ????

[imagine]

Kodak appear to be suggesting that their printers use less ink, and that Kodak ink is the cheapest.

Anyone have any experience ????

i read that too, but the kodak printer itself is expensive,

last time i bought a new hp printer scanner, for only £5 more than it would have cost me for cartridges for the printer i had, plus 2 free cartridges with new printer,
doesnt make sense, such a waste putting a 12 month old printer to recycle center

[Dedworth]

well seeing many hp inkjet\laser printers are still working after 5 or 10yrs probably shows that is not true,

My HP 4 in 1 is a heap of crap heading for the skip, 2 years old and one warranty replacement. Scanning software died a death on Windows 7 due to their updates and I've lost track of the amount of time I spent on the phone to them. I'll never buy HP again

[Pete/London]

My HP 4 in 1 is a heap of crap heading for the skip, 2 years old and one warranty replacement. Scanning software died a death on Windows 7 due to their updates and I've lost track of the amount of time I spent on the phone to them. I'll never buy HP again

Well thats good info, I gave up on inkjets years ago and rather spend the money on coloured lasers, I am on my second OKI now and never regretted buying them.
The inkjets were expensive to run and had a tendency to clog very easy.
I was thinking of changing printers to an all in one as my Epson perfection 1250 scanner a bit long in the tooth and HP was on the list, will have a rethink on that.

[chippy]

Well i use a ciss system on my epson printer very cheap to run.

Used a ciss system on my epson r300 all its life.

[joebloggs]

My HP 4 in 1 is a heap of crap heading for the skip, 2 years old and one warranty replacement. Scanning software died a death on Windows 7 due to their updates and I've lost track of the amount of time I spent on the phone to them. I'll never buy HP again

was it a laser or an inkjet ?

Well thats good info, I gave up on inkjets years ago and rather spend the money on coloured lasers, I am on my second OKI now and never regretted buying them.
The inkjets were expensive to run and had a tendency to clog very easy.
I was thinking of changing printers to an all in one as my Epson perfection 1250 scanner a bit long in the tooth and HP was on the list, will have a rethink on that.

I'm a printer engineer amongst other things
a good cheap to use hp color laser would be something like the hp 4650dn excellent print, large capacity cartridges, but a bit bulky and old but still pretty good. many schools are using them now because the carts are fairly cheap for the toner capacity.

theres one on ebay going for £55 with 23hrs to go , 0 bids

[bigmarco]

Kodak appear to be suggesting that their printers use less ink, and that Kodak ink is the cheapest.

Anyone have any experience ????

I bought a Kodak for that reason. I don't do an awful lot of printing it's fine for us. I usually pay about £20 for a colour and black and white ink cartridge replacement which is pretty good in comparison to some of the others.
I think the Kodak printers probably work out a wee bit more expensive than some of the others but IMO there is a definite saving on ink.

[Dedworth]

Inkjet Joe - I'm looking at it now, it's days are numbered HP Officejet 6500 Wireless - about £130 2.5 years ago.

[Terpe]

I bought a Kodak for that reason. I don't do an awful lot of printing it's fine for us. I usually pay about £20 for a colour and black and white ink cartridge replacement which is pretty good in comparison to some of the others.
I think the Kodak printers probably work out a wee bit more expensive than some of the others but IMO there is a definite saving on ink.

Thanks for the info.
My old HP C4180 is getting a little troublesome. I've had it quite few years now, never any problem.

When I did a lot of printing I did buy a CISS kit. Cost me about £30 incl some 100ml bottles of ink.So yes that's a good idea to consider.

I saw some pretty good Kodak printers at Currys/PC world on promo.
Always wondered if the claims were factual.

I will need a new printer very soon.
Thanks for your comment

[joebloggs]

Inkjet Joe - I'm looking at it now, it's days are numbered HP Officejet 6500 Wireless - about £130 2.5 years ago.

i know it well, well the build quality of HP and not just HP is not what it use to be, look at the new lasers now they are throw away after a year , while ones from 5yrs+ ago were built to last, sign of the times cheaper parts and cheaper products , made in china

and with a good quality product maybe they realized that who was going to buy their new products if the old models were still working good

[fred]

I notice that a lot of these internet cafe`s and print shops here use these and refill them..
Does this cheap generic ink damage printers though??
Next time Im in town I`ll ask the owners.

[Dedworth]

I notice that a lot of these internet cafe`s and print shops here use these and refill them..
Does this cheap generic ink damage printers though??
Next time Im in town I`ll ask the owners.

Lexmark cartridges are made in the Philippines I've often wondered if there were any grey exports coming out of the back gate.

[Terpe]

I notice that a lot of these internet cafe`s and print shops here use these and refill them..
Does this cheap generic ink damage printers though??
Next time Im in town I`ll ask the owners.

That looks like a CISS kit.
I used one when I did a lot of printing and it was great. All the inks I used were just cheap generics and I never had any problems at all.
Most people using CISS use only generic inks. I used to buy in 100ml bottles. The alternative was a cartridge containing about 20ml which is expensive. Especially when you have to go through all the testing and head cleaning for each change which uses even more of that expensive liquid.

[jonnijon]

My HP all in one desk jet printer cost £36 new with two replacement cartridges, that was fine until they ran out. One black £25 one colour £25

[Pete/London]

was it a laser or an inkjet ?





I'm a printer engineer amongst other things
a good cheap to use hp color laser would be something like the hp 4650dn excellent print, large capacity cartridges, but a bit bulky and old but still pretty good. many schools are using them now because the carts are fairly cheap for the toner capacity.

theres one on ebay going for £55 with 23hrs to go , 0 bids

My Oki C5650 has been excellent for printing but toner replacement is the killer, also takes up a lot of room.
Have you any suggestions for a all in one printer?

[KeithD]

I always use Brother all in ones, and have never had a problem. The FAX always comes in handy Cheap ink on Ebay.

[Dedworth]

My Oki C5650 has been excellent for printing but toner replacement is the killer, also takes up a lot of room.
Have you any suggestions for a all in one printer?

The 4 in 1 I've just bought (still in box at the moment) is a Canon MX435 £49.99

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/canon-...91053-pdt.html

I've also signed up to their 3 year replacement deal for £12 so if it makes it to 35 months I cause some accidental damage and they give me a new one.

JetTec have just started doing reman cartridges for it and it looks like you can syringe them

[South-east boy]

i read that too, but the kodak printer itself is expensive,

last time i bought a new hp printer scanner, for only £5 more than it would have cost me for cartridges for the printer i had, plus 2 free cartridges with new printer,
doesnt make sense, such a waste putting a 12 month old printer to recycle center

Yes, crazy isn't it, that just because of the such high costs of the cartridges, a brand new printer with cartridges is not much more! These printer companies are not exactly helping to a greener earth!

[joebloggs]

i think on some of the printers they make little or no profit on the printers , how can they when some sell for £30-£40, but they expect to make their money back on the ink carts, one reason they put chips on them to stop people refilling them,,

[imagine]

i guess you get what you pay for
tesco, horse meat not included
£29.50
WAS £49.97 Save £20.47
29 Clubcard points

cheap enough, if can source cheap ink,
http://www.tesco.com/direct/hp-deskj...01_4_Elec_Tech

[Ako Si Jamie]

My printer has been gathering dust for a few years now as I rarely need stuff printing these days. If I do I just go down to this fella's computer shop who charges me hardly anything. Last time I had about 20 printouts and he only asked for a quid.

[Pete/London]

was it a laser or an inkjet ?





I'm a printer engineer amongst other things
a good cheap to use hp color laser would be something like the hp 4650dn excellent print, large capacity cartridges, but a bit bulky and old but still pretty good. many schools are using them now because the carts are fairly cheap for the toner capacity.

theres one on ebay going for £55 with 23hrs to go , 0 bids

Costco are selling a Brother MFC-J5910DW for £120. Would appreciate your view on it Joe

[johncar54]

I bought refillable cartridges for my Epson Printer and 500 cl bottles of ink.
I fill them in situ, lot less mess, and just clip them out and back in, to automatically re-set the chip.
The cost of printing is pretty low.

Incidentally. I have found that many new printers are now sold with a token amount of ink, to prevent the ‘trick’ of just buying a cheap printer, instead of expensive sets of cartridges.

[Arthur Little]

... printers are now sold with a token amount of ink, to prevent the 'trick' of just buying a cheap printer, instead of expensive sets of cartridges.

... from what I've heard, the ink refills ARE frequently more expensive long-term, than the average printer!