The Truth About Discount Inkjet Cartridges - Comments Page 4

My experience with Epson is similar to others. I started using other brands and after firmware updates I received warnings about not using Epson Brand ink. Even though the cartridges were working fine until then the notice was strongly worded. The printer shut down and customer service said it needed factory service. NOT!! No problems until the update and it was being carefully used.

I had the same experience as your example with HP. My printer would not run with reman'ed carts.

Also, as per your example, I called LD Products. They acknowledged the issue and replaced my entire set of carts at their cost

To the best of my knowledge, HP has never repeated that bit of skullduggery.

I have refilled cartidges and bought compatible cartridges for decades, and they always worked. One time nothing I put in would work except a brand new Canon cartridge, so I threw out the printer and sure enough Canon got told to fix their printers before they got a class action lawsuit. Now everything works in my Canons. Never owned an HP, never will.

I have an OfficeJet 5745. Where do I go and what do I do to make sure I have disabled automatic updates in the future on this printer? Still get annoying reminders to buy their ink.
When will the firmware issue be reversed? This is my last HP printer and I was just about to buy a new computer and printer. Too bad HP.

I take my cartridges from work. They only buy the best so there is never a problem.

For printers that have a heater chip on the cartridge, using a remanufactured cartridge is of little risk to your printer. If however, your printer has a non-replaceable printhead and uses a cartridge that has only ink in it, then the risk could be higher. In the first case, if the ink is bad or the nozzles are clogged, well you are out an ink cartridge. In the second case, the bad ink could damage the printhead and then you are talking about more than just print quality.

Bought replacements from Staples, felt pretty good about the whole deal, until I installed the 2nd black cartridge. Everything came out with a green tint for a few days, the, it started skipping huge blocks of graphics. Back to Canon for me.

I have been using compatibles or refilling OEM's for probably 2 decades! I have also refilled compatibles. We print a LOT in our household, so the economics was worth the gamble. Fortunately the gamble has worked out. Epson used to be an easy refill, Canon still is, Never had a Brother inkjet and HP, well..the last HP that I owned used those funny looking, I believe that they were #2 cartridges. I loaded a brand new OEM cartridge that was 2 months out of date and it wouldnt accept it. At that point it went out to the top of the trash can and a scavenger got it. I will bet that they're sorry,especially because even with OEM's this printer (which was supposedly a photo printer) had terrible results and no amount of fine tweaking could change that! When my current trusty Canon bites the dust, (and we have burnt out several printers) I'm going to get one of those new bulk tank refillable jobs!

I have not used OEM cartridges or any cartridges from from alternative suppliers. For the last 7 years I have used RIHAC system. A continuous ink feed to the cartridges. Here in Australia the cost of replacement cartridges for my Brother MFC is $145. For the Rihac system the total package is $129 and comes with prechipped cartridges and a four compartment tank which hold 100ml of each of the inks. They also supply for many brands which may have 5 or 6 colours. The ink quality is as good as the OEM.

I've been using remanufactured ink cartridges for years. Until lately, I had been getting them from Meritline, but they apparently retired. DRATS! I've had some problems installing the cartridges, but that was my failing, not the fault of the cartridges. Bottom line, I don't recall ever having a bad cartridge. If you have any thoughts on other suppliers, I - and probably others - would be interested in knowing about them.

While I have your attention - THANK YOU FOR YOUR EXCELENT EMAILS, AND PARTICULARLY ON INK CARTRIDGES.

I've been "scared" to use cartridges other than HP, so a few times, I've purchased EXPIRED ink cartridges from EBAY. I make sure that the photo and expiration date is clear, the package is listed as new or unopened, and that the seller has a good reputation, and I've only gotten one that was a total dud out of about ten. Less than five years old is ideal, but I've purchased ten year old ink with good results.

I've just tried refilled Epson cartridges in my Epson printer - working fine although for a while I had a tussle with the printer as it wouldn't let me do anything when first loaded and had o find out what to do - in the end just hit print and it did - although didn't do the ink check thingy first does and probably uses up a lot of ink! Colours are fine and cartridges are recognizably Epson.
Wow Bob saving all amount on a refill - what a rip off on ink going on there! Didnt save that much but as the little boy said as he piddled in the sea - every bit counts ha ha. (OOps one of the old sayings sorry if offends anyone in these days of Leftie green insanity You're so luck yu have Trump we need him here in Oz)

I have used ASAPInkjets for years and their cartridges have worked excellently on my Canon Pixma 922 for years. The printer just went belly up, so have gotten another Canon about a week and a half ago; have not yet used up the initial ink supply so don't know if there will be a problem yet. However, ASAP is a good resource.

I used to own a fairly expensive HP Deskjet printer. The OEM cartridges were expensive. I began dealing with PrintPal and saved a lot on ink. Then I got a message on the printer that I was not using their product. It would not allow me to print. I spoke to PrintPal. They told me a few things that might work with no luck. My good printer went in the garage, and I bought an inexpensive Brother printer that I am still using. The cartridges cost less than $7 with free shipping. I once received a cartridge that was leaking They replaced it with no problem.

Hi Bob I do not usualy fill in comment boxes but felt that on this occasion it was a must. I buy my cartridges from a company called badgerinks.co.uk the cartridges are built new in the USA hold more ink than OEM cartridges we have 15 members in our computer club using several different printers the quality is excellent & the service & price from Badger inks is second to none nothing is too much trouble for their staff & they are very knowledgeable I buy them direct with free next day delivery, but they are also available on Amazon. Superb cartridges from www.badgerinks.co.uk

Hi Bob, I have been using ink cartridges I buy from Ebay but may change due to PayPals expensive rates etc. I have a brother printer and got neart a entire box full of the four cartridges and extra black ink. They work fine, now and then the machine gives me a sound that one ink cartridge or another did not start properly but I fix it by resetting it. Got them all for less than $20.00 and they are a ink cartridge of four and black. Good deal I like with minor irritation of having to reset a cartridge or two. I do not like the price HP sells for since I found out that any ink cartridge cost less than 25 cents to actually make, in fact have read that several times. The printer companies say a lot of things, HP caught me up in the buy ink from them at low prices and then my printer would not accept other ink cartridges, so all, do not get into this HP insta ink thing. I actually threw out a practically new printer due to their lies and bought a brother. They companies that make these printers will tell you anything to get you to buy their INK which is way over price and often more than the original printer cost. A rip off a most are cheats. So get a good company you trust and by the cheaper stuff, and Bob is right, it does not void your warranty in the USA as I too looked up the law and even called a lawyer on it. All I studied was constitutional law, not state laws. Isn't it funny how we put up with computers for the sake of our enjoyment, and yet, we still continue to belies their lies. NOT anymore.... :)

I have used many different kinds of third party cartridges over the years, and my experience has been mixed.
Most refilled or substitute cartridges have been fine, but some have given me faded colors, and occasionally even faded blacks...
The capacity, or number of pages printed also seems to vary widely from one cartridge to another.
Yes, the price is definitely a strong incentive to go for the substitute cartridges, but when I find a reasonably similar price for original cartridges, I go for the original.

I have refilled ink cartridges for years and have purchased remanufactured carts. Never had a problem. When buying a new printer, always check and see whether refilled carts are available from 3rd party vendors. I also like to check whether the printer manufacturer uses chips on the cartridges to try to prevent 3rd parties from refilling. I generally will pass on those printers as too finicky in accepting refills

I've used the Epson EcoTank printer for two years now and haven't had to refill the color tanks yet. I bought black Epson ink refills on Amazon for a reasonable price and have refilled the black ink once now.
Back when I used cartirdges I started buying them at Cartridge World (a national ink cartridge refilling company). They were nearby and would replace them if anything went wrong.

>>What about Ink refills for the Epson EcoTank printers? Any advice for what ink to refill the tanks with?

I've been buying generic refills for 20 years and rarely had a problem. Lexmark and Brother have been excellent on refills. But, I do not install firmware updates! If the printer is working fine, and they always are, then no need to update the firmware. Often the updates are just triggers to reject the generic cartridges. Amazon has been my cartridge supplier for the last decade. When the printer tells me the cartridge needs to be replaced I wait until I see evidence that it really is low.