The Truth About Discount Ink Cartridges - Comments Page 2

Isn't it interesting that OfficeMax (and presumably HP themselves) give you money back for returning used HP printer cartridges. It implies that they're refilling and selling them to someone at a reduced cost (although I've never seen them do so).

Thanks for this article, Bob, I've ALWAYS wanted to get the scoop, from a trusted source, as to whether these cartridges were worth-while or not... now I know where to buy.

I love Meritline.com for Laser Toner and Drums. REALLY save money with those. Even if they have a one in ten defect rate (not saying they do), who cares with the tremendous savings? Used them for years.

when trying to use OfficeMax compatible cartridges for a Dell AIO 968, the cartridges would print, but would not be recognized by the printer as "new" It kept complaining that the cartridges were empty.

Is the LD Products site SAFE for Credit Cards or do you have to use Pay Pal or something like that. I have a Kodak 5500 All In One printer and have always been afraid to try anything but Kodak but with this article I think I will try it need to save where you can.

I've tried the discount cartridges but have found refilling them to be way more cost effective. It takes a little practice but the directions I get at http://www.oddparts.com/ from where I buy my ink are pretty specific and if I have any questions, I email them and they are quick to reply. They cover most printers and sell ink specific to your printer instead of one generic ink. I think they also have compatible cartridges but filling saves so much money.

I've been using re-inks.com for years in my Epson and Canon printers and have never had a single problem. Photos turn out great as long as I use good paper.

I have used InkSell.com for my Canon MG8120 and am very pleased. Not a single issue in the past two years. The money saved is astounding. They work. They don't leak. And I actually enjoy buying new cartridges because of the money I'm saving!!!! www.inksell.com

I tried "refilling" from Walgreen's but found that way inconsistent--some they could do, some not because of some foolishness---sooo, I tried the already refilled and have been consistently happy! I use Print Country for last couple of years and never a problem!

I've been using Inksellonline.com for several years for two Canon printers. They offer a warranty and all cartridges are also produced by an ISO 9000 certified company. I've never had a problem with any of their inkjet cartridges. When I had a problem with a laser cartridge for a Brother printer, they honored their warranty, two years later, without question.

Here in New Zealand we have a cartridge refill company called Cartridge World. You take your empties in and they do a 'swappa cartridge'. I've been using them for many years and they've been great (and I've saved lots of $$). There has been the occasional 'glitch' and they happily replace the cartridge. Interestingly, when a new printer comes out it sometimes takes them a few months to sort the firmware protection on the cartridge chips!

My printer would not accept my HP 901 cartridge after Costco refilled it. Costco suggested that I go to http://inkjet411.com but I decided to take a refund instead. Afterwards, I went to the website which has some very good information. BTW, two years ago, I calculated the cost of the following HP cartridges: 74XL (20 ml of black ink) at $34.99, which works out to $6,622 per gal and for the 75XL (17 ml of color ink) at $40.99, which is $9,126 per gallon. The regular-sized cartridges were 43% and 38%, respectively, more expensive!

I've worked in the field of image permanence and image archiving for decades and been party to the stability testing of ink jet images under controlled conditions. The problem with some after market inks is that they look good initially, but as years go by they fade drastically. Light, heat, atmospheric pollutants, and humidity can all affect how long an ink jet image will last. You won't know until later.

Pigment-based inks tend to be more stable than comparable dye-based inks, but the technology for making them takes more scientific know-how and manufacturing investment.

My advice is to stick to name-brand pigment inks for pictures you want to have last. The extra cost is very likely to be worth it. Reserve inks of unknown image stability for images that you don't plan to keep that long.

I've been refilling my Epson printer's inkjet cartridges for the last 7-8 years with no problems and no ruined shirts. The whole job of filling 4 cartridges takes about 15 minutes and is not only really easy; it's really inexpensive. I calculate it costs me about $1.25 per cartridge for dye-type ink, about double that if I use pigmented ink. I did have to buy a set of cartridges with a special chip which would always indicate to the printer that they are full ao I have the very minor inconvenience of occasionally having to visually check the cartridges' ink levels.

I too have been using LD Inks remanufactured cartridges for several years without any problems. A lot of the work I do depends on the quality of paper and the right inks. To date, I have never had any photos fade.

I HAVE BEEN USING LD PRODUCTS INK CARTRIDGES FOR
YEARS AND HAVE HAD ZERO PROBLEMS. AND I SAVED MANY DOLLARS. I USE A CANON PRINTER WITH 5 CARTRIDGES.I HAVE MADE HUNDREDS OF CALENDARS.AND PHOTOS AND NO PROBLEM.

I've used NexImaging (www.neximaging.com) for over 5 years. I tried many other online suppliers and found NexImaging's pricing to be the best and their overall service equal-to or better than the rest.

Bob, I've used LD products in the past and have had two very bad experiences with the product, and one with the company.

Their toner for my HP3015 laser printer worked fine for a few months until I got an error message which read "paper wrapped around fuser - call for service". I was able to extract the paper and the printer worked fine for a few days when the same problem reoccurred. I extracted the paper 2 more times and then the printer stopped dead, so I called for repair. A service tech came out and replaced the fuser and a roller (which cost me $250.00) and the printer worked fine -- for 3 days. The tech came back out, replaced the toner cartridge, and the printer has been fine since.

I contacted LD Products and told them about this and asked them to reimburse me for the repairs but they refused, claiming (literally) that I should have known it was their defective toner cartridge which caused the problem and should have called them in the first place.

About a month later, we began having a problem with our Brother 2820 fax machine in which we had also installed an LD toner cartridge about 2 months earlier. This time, the drum was damaged by the toner cartridge and it was cheaper to buy a new fax machine than to repair the old one.

Yes, their prices are very good and their claim of completely re-building their toner cartridges is very compelling (if it's true) -- but after these 2 terrible experiences and their refusal to take responsibility for the damage caused by their product, I would be very wary of buying their products ever again. In my case, this was a $400.00 lesson.

I have had great luck with my Samsung Laser and my Brother Inkjet inks from Supermediastore.com
I have also used the Brother Inkjet inks from Amazon with no problems.
Sure has saved me a ton of $$$$ and I don't feel guilty when I print a page :>)

I purchased several remanufactured ink cartirdges on-line and they did not work. The seller allowed me to return them and pay the difference to purchase OEM cartridges that did work. The result was that I actually paid more than purchasing OEM cartridges locally which I do now.

Boy, this topic sure generated a lot of responses! I switched to laser printers a long time ago, although I do have a Brother MPC-240 3-in-1 printer available.
Remanufactured toner cartridges have been hit-or-miss for me. I finally settled on Innovera cartridges for my Optra T-630. I have had no complaints about their product. But when genuine Lexmark cartridges are around $285, and an Innovera can be had for about 1/5 that price (well, sometimes a bit more), there's just no contest!