Should You Buy Discount Ink Cartridges?

I've always had Brother printers. When I get a new one (usually for no reason at all), I pass my old one down the family line. The main reason I'll only use Brother is that it uses ink "tanks", as opposed to ink "cartridges". ie: there's no print head...it's just a plastic box of ink. I've been buying ink tanks from the same seller on Amazon for about three years: UNDER $15 for TWENTY tanks of ink! Since all the colors are separate in a Brother, the 20 tanks are a mix of the CMYK's and twenty will last me about six months. Sometimes, about one in five or six, the tank won't flow for some reason. At less than a dollar a piece, I can chuck it and insert another new one. I think if you're going with non-OEM ink, a Brother printer takes the cheapest tanks. And again, aside from the occasional dud, I've never had a leakage or print quality issue.

Oh grand pa len, $15??? I have a laser type Lexmark printer (since 2000!) and paid for a OEM (I believe it was) over $100 which is why I keep it for years even though print is too light!!! :)

I was told my printer model: Lexmark Optra E310 It’s now E320)takes very expensive ink!

Thanks to this enlightening article I'll look for something more affordable and thus be able to at long last read what I print. lol! :) Adela

on the tug I work on we have used 3 or 4 printers from different manufacturers. We found an online site called inksell.com. They carry replacement cartridges for just about any printer made. 25 to 50% less than OEM. Free shipping and always arrived within a week of ordering even in the wilds of Alaska. Never a problem

I have been refilling Lexmark 17 cartridges for years and sometimes get 20 refills, but each refill is smaller. Occasionally the first refill after drilling the hole fails, but the savings I have gained would have bought umpteen new printers

I have an office with 6 cannon printers and I refill the cartridges. I have for years and it works great and saves LOTS of money.

I used remanufactured and even loaded some cartridges myself on previous printers. However, the first time I put a remanufactured into my new Kodac the print was terrible. Cartridge was from a company I had used before and had never had a problem. I returned it for a replacement. I had the same problem with the second one.

So I ordered the one from Kodac. At that time, nothing would print. Printer was only months old and under warranty. It was replaced but now I am afraid to try the OEMs again.

I have and have had a few Epson printers. When I use the off brand ink cartridges I always have to go thruugh the head cleaning process several times to get the ink cartridges to work properly and that wastes a lot of ink. They also ruined a couple of my printers. When I use the Epson ink cartridges they always work properly right from the get go.

I've used remanufactured ink cartridges for years now & have never had a problem. I do spend a bit more & get the cartridges with the chip. I have a Canon 5-cartridge printer, but instead of paying $20+/cartridge, I pay about $25 (with shipping) for all 5 cartridges.

What I can't understand is why the cost of printers keeps going down, but the ink for them doesn't? Why pay $50 for ink cartridges when you can get a new printer on sale for the same price?

I have a Canon MP220 and I can refill the black cartridges without no problem but the colour ones are a no go as the printer will not print properly as the colours do not mix right. It doesn't matter how many times I try it, I still get the same result and I don't know why.

However, regardless of whether it is a black or color refill, there is a chip or sensor on the cartridge, that will not recognize that the cartridge has been refilled and as a result it still prints but you get low ink warnings which are very annoying.

Next time I get a printer, I will avoid Canon and go for some other make/model that doesn't try to impede my ability to use non-manufactures ink cartridges. What would be a good idea is to have a list of printer makes and models, that do not employ underhand tactics in order to try and stop people who use other makes of cartridges. Would it be a short list? Sadly, I think it will but its up to people who write for computer magazines to give the oxygen of publicity to manufactures who do not do this and shame the ones that do as well as providing useful information to the consumer.

We buy refilled cartridges for 60% less than the new ones. The printer hasn't malfunctioned but recently the colour quality isn't as rich as it once was. This is a 3 year old Brother MFC-240C.

I have an HP OfficeJet Pro 8000 printer and have used a Continuous Ink Supply System (CISS) since the original cartridges that came with the printer were used up. It was simple to move the chips (as instructed in the CISS instructions) from the old cartridges to the new CISS cartridges. The printer never knew the difference, other than the software not knowing what the current ink level is in the cartridges. I got the CISS here: http://adaptiveink.com/

I have been using ink cartridges for my Canon Pixma iP6000D from LDProducts.com for years and have never had a problem. My printer uses 6 individual ink cartridges and I can order whatever color I'm low on, saving more money. My printer still let's me know when the ink is running low and I can even keep printing until the cartridge is completely empty without any problems. Although the ink isn't as vibrant as the OEM cartridges, I like paying 70% less for the LD Products cartridges.

I use LD Ink Refills off the internet and a couple of local retailers that refill ink cartridges. Never had a problem in over 10 years with a refilled cartridge. Resent people like Epson that install microchips in cartridges to make sure you are only using OEM cartridges refusing to let printer work if they suspect cartridge is not OEM. Can you imagine buying a Cadillac, filling it up and it refuses to start because you put Shell gas into it?

I have used LD Products several times without any problems. 100% satisfaction guaranteed. Usually free shipping,quick turnaround. Colored cartridges
don't make as many copies as probably could be expected,but sure beats paying $40 a pop.

I have used several old Epson's for years (r300's, r320's) and they have worked flawlessly. That is, until I have gone beyond their programmed limits. I have used 100's (flyers, bulletins, etc. for church) of aftermarket ink cartridges with 1 or 2 failures, maybe. I have paid, including shipping, about $1.12/cartridge (last order: 60 cartridges for $67 incl S&H). We recently upgraded to a duplex Epson WorkForce 645 and it works like a champ. I will be able to get inexpensive cartridges for it as well.

I've been getting my cartridges from eink2go.com for several years without mishap. I've used 123inks in the past. Don't recall why I left them, but they want me back; I'll think about it.

I have had mixed results with commercial remanufactured inkjet cartridges. All my printers for 20+ years have been HP and Epson. OEM carts always work. About 80% to 85% of the time, reman carts work in both brands. The rest of the time we get no ink or intermittent print. We currently have 4 HP's with 3 different carts, and 2 Epsons with one cart system. I use XL carts whenever I can. I will look for a tank system like in our HP Officejet Pro 8000 for our next printer. (But the 8000 requires little toe nudge to start printing every sixth printing job!)

I bought a number of Kodak replacement cartridges as the originals, although cheaper than other brands, were being used up too quickly. Although the price difference was dramatic, the quality was definitely different and I LOVE saving money but I'm going back to the originals. Part of me is glad to be doing that but the other part of me is a bit annoyed.

I use only Canon printers and do a lot of color photography printing on glossy paper. Color quality with OTHER THAN OEM Canon ink is NEVER good in my experience.

I fill my self the cartridges I used and its work very wel