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Any sense in ink cartridge refilling?

Sonikku

Sonikku

Lifer
My mother has an epson 5050 printer and to be frank, she prints like crazy. But she only lives on about 800 a month so the sheer number of name brand ink cartridges she's buying constantly at Walmart is taking its toll. Does anyone have any experience in ink cartridge refilling kits? Are they worth it or are they just a disaster waiting to happen?
 
In my experience it's best to have a cheap inkjet printer and a reliable monochrome laser printer. Print as much as possible in black and white using the laser printer, as toner lasts pretty long (1,000-2,000 pages or more, depending on the printer) versus ink, and having 2 printers is useful anyway because inevitably one of them will fail. A new laser printer will easily pay for itself, and you can find fairly inexpensive models now for around $100 or less on Amazon.

Ink refilling is a pain to deal with, as is non-OEM ink. I've just had too many bad experiences with crappy ink quality or ink ruining the printer with lines/banding that wouldn't go away even after cleaning the nozzles, aligning the print head, etc. Recently HP caught a lot of flak for a firmware update that made it impossible to use anything other then their ink. They backed down on that, but issues like that make me think it's just easier to get manufacturer cartridges, but for a cheap cost-per-page printer (Brother usually makes the best value printers in that regard).

Epson has the EcoTank line that uses bottles for refilling ink tanks. They may be more economical with less time spent replacing ink than a regular inkjet printer like the 5050, though the printers are a little more expensive up front versus other printers of similar quality and features.
 
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Crono said:
In my experience it's best to have a cheap inkjet printer and a reliable monochrome laser printer. Print as much as possible in black and white using the laser printer, as toner lasts pretty long (1,000-2,000 pages or more, depending on the printer) versus ink, and having 2 printers is useful anyway because inevitably one of them will fail. A new laser printer will easily pay for itself, and you can find fairly inexpensive models now for around $100 or less on Amazon.
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This. Some, like Brother, seem to play nicer with 3rd party than others which can bring your cost of 2000 pages down to around $10-15 for toner. If she doesn't need anything fancy (picture printing) its possible black friday might bring some great deals on their color lasers
 
The Epson ink is water and fade resistant so that everything she prints will last and last.
 
My 0.02

Refilling isn't a deal. The IT guy at work was always refilling the toner carts from Cartridge world and they were expensive and they were crap prints before half the toner was done.
I had a place (Mwave) where I could get new OEM carts for 1/2 the price he was paying for a refill.

I know Epson brand carts are expensive. I have had 3 Epson color printers and I have always used the OEM ones from eBay. I won't pick a seller for you, but here a list of the cheapest.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=epson+5050&_sop=15

For 8-12.00 for a set, its worth the money just to try. The ones from China have free shipping.
I just saw the ones from Greece charge 100 for shipping.
 
Sonikku said:
I rather wish I had a Cartridge World or a Costco.

We have Sam's. 🙁
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YP.com that shit and see if a town near by has a Cartridge World. I can't believe you wouldn't have even a Cartridge World. Costco I can believe. We only have Sams as well.
 
Do people actually still use bubble jet printers? Those are ink hogs. Worth the investment of getting a color laser printer for someone who prints a lot. Much cheaper per page. Toner cartridges are more expensive but last way longer and don't dry up.
 
Red Squirrel said:
Do people actually still use bubble jet printers? Those are ink hogs. Worth the investment of getting a color laser printer for someone who prints a lot. Much cheaper per page. Toner cartridges are more expensive but last way longer and don't dry up.
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(Emphasis mine)

Therein lies the reason inkjet is the biggest scam in personal imaging. The printheads need to be kept moist and so every time an inkjet is fired up, it will consume a bit for this very reason. Color laser still has a bit of IQ issues compared to inkjet on coated paper but it is far cheaper to go to a Wal-Mart or print shop to get those printed over time.
 
Damn. Bought an inkjet Brother two years ago. I guess I should go laser. It does suck the ink more than a Ho in Central Park.
 
Unless she is printing all colour pages, I would suggest a mono laser. I am also a Brother user. My third party toner is around 30 last time I bought one and it's rated for 8000 pages.

Wife prints tax returns that is why I got this duplex beast a few years back.
 
Sonikku said:
My mother has an epson 5050 printer and to be frank, she prints like crazy. But she only lives on about 800 a month so the sheer number of name brand ink cartridges she's buying constantly at Walmart is taking its toll. Does anyone have any experience in ink cartridge refilling kits? Are they worth it or are they just a disaster waiting to happen?
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The only reason I can see for filling ink cartridges is if you want to print something.......
 
Brother Inkjet here, bought before they went to chipped ink tanks. Generic ink is cheap, like $1/tank. Lasts me 5-6 months, I don't print much here.
 
I had tried refilling at home when I had a Lexmark X73 (long time ago) ..Sometimes it worked, sometimes not. I will not try to refill on my HP7410 as that is much harder and the cartridges seem to last a decent time (but they run about $32 or so each -- Black and TriColor) .. My brother has an HP7520 which uses seperate color tanks and it still costs about $60 or so for new inks. If your printer has the seperate color tanks, you can try to refill yourself without many issues. Just be sure to use a good brand of ink for the refill. This is one the better sites for refill supplies:

http://www.printerinkwarehouse.com/?src=GoogleTonerRefills&keyword=ink refill kits&gclid=COGptJ_6ltACFQwZgQodniEItA

This other site is also good: https://www.inksupply.com/
 
Sonikku said:
My mother has an epson 5050 printer and to be frank, she prints like crazy. But she only lives on about 800 a month so the sheer number of name brand ink cartridges she's buying constantly at Walmart is taking its toll. Does anyone have any experience in ink cartridge refilling kits? Are they worth it or are they just a disaster waiting to happen?
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What is she printing? Is she printing in B&W and in Draft quality? Consumer Reports has printer info that includes cost per print in B&W and in color. Does your mother have a large screen smartphone? She could simply take a snapshot of whatever she wants to print and use zoom if needed when viewing those snapshots. If she's printing recipe's, then she should use a tablet and some recipe apps to keep track of them. Saves paper and ink.
 
If you need to print once a month? Inkjet.

If you need to print once a week? Laser.

You need to print every day and depend on it for your livelihood? Lease the printer.
 
I print most everyday and I now use a monochrome laser printer. My last couple have been Canon's as there is no issue with getting cheap OEM cartridges from eBay.
I have a MF4770n that I bought for about 100 from OfficeDepot a couple years ago. The cartridges are 90+ ea at OD and staples.

I get them from ebay for about 8.00 ea/shipped when I buy them in packs of two.
 
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