Printer Cartridge Refills good?? bad???

[darkstar 0]

I am wondering if those do it your self refills are any good? It would be for a Lexmark 3200. The "real carts" are really expensive, and they dry out real fast. I don't want to waste my money on them if the refills work.

 

Thanks

[CUViper 0]

The main reason the cartridges are so expensive is because the print heads are also on the cartridge. So when you just use a refill, you're sticking with old print heads, which aren't designed to last all that long.

 

That said, I have never tried a refill myself, so I'm not sure how visible the difference is...

[mezron 0]

Couple things to know about refilling cartridges.

 

1. It'll void your printer warranty if it leaks and ruins your printer. If this is no biggie go to #2

 

2. Be sure you seal the hole completely when your done. A vacuum is what holds the ink in the cartridge. If there is a hole in the cartridge to allow air in, the ink will flow out. Thats an ugly mess... go back to #1 if this happens

 

A lot of people do it and for almost all it's ok, and saves a lot of money. Eventually the cartridge will wear out but I've seen some go for dozens of refills without problem.

 

Jim

[jwl812 0]

I feel your pain darkstar, the freakin' printer companies have us by the short hairs.

 

I have an Epson, and I use the generic replacement cartridges NOT the genuine Epson replacements. Heck, after buying a genuine Epson color and black cartridge I could just about buy a new printer. I have had great luck with the Staples (office products store) brand cartridges. They are about $10 cheaper each than the Epson. Also the Pelekan brand cartridges are good too. Can't tell any obvious differences in either of these from the original Epson cartridges except the price.

 

I havent used any of the refills though. I dont think they even make one for the Epson cartridges. But the off brand replacements are only about $17 to $19 each. Hope this helps.

[darkstar 0]

From the looks of it I should probally go with remanfactured carts instead of the do it yourself kits. I was hoping for define feedback in the diy refills, I am not in a postition to trash the printer yet. Though I would love to.

 

Oh well

 

Thanks for the input

[AndyFair 0]

Quote:

The main reason the cartridges are so expensive is because the print heads are also on the cartridge.

That's one of the reasons, the other reason is that the printer companies are allegedly artificially inflating the cost of consumables (printer cartridges). The printer is sold as a loss-leader - the real money to be made is on the cartridges!

This is the subject of an EU investigation, not sure whether they've published any findings yet.

Back to the original topic, I used to have a Lexmark printer, and used refill kits with no problems. You'll still need to buy new cartridges every so often, because the refills only last so long before the head starts to wear out (generally new cartridge + 2-3 refills is about the limit I found) - but it's still much cheaper than buying new cartridges every time!


Rgds
AndyF

[RandyC 0]

I've used quite a few refills over the last four years since I got my existing inkjet printer (A HP Deskjet 610c - cheap and chearful, however when it comes to £25 for a black cartridge and £26 for a colour its not quite that cheap and chearful). The refills i've got have been mostly the same in terms of quality as they all seem to bleed slightly especially if there is bold text on the page. They also seem to run out faster then the HP original cartridges or like one of them actually dry up in one hot afternoon! Still i'll wait and see what Europe finds over this as they never used to be as expensive as this ... i've got some 10 year old magazines somewhere i'll see how much the cartridges cost for my old Canon BJ10 printer back then.

 

RandyC

[Mr.Guvernment 0]

i beleive HP has the heads on the cartridges - Epson has them in the printer........?

 

 

anyways - i would rather spend the extra $$$ and get something i know will work - as i have herd a many horror stories about refills.

[Ali 0]

Quote:

...

I havent used any of the refills though. I dont think they even make one for the Epson cartridges. But the off brand replacements are only about $17 to $19 each. Hope this helps.

Totally agree, don't try the refill on Epson though, they are a mess. on some models you have to flash the printer thingee (or the cartriges) so they would actually show as full so you could print with them. tons of trouble, not worth it (at least on my printers, c60 and 740)

[Ali 0]

Quote:

i beleive HP has the heads on the cartridges - Epson has them in the printer........?

true, i have been told that hey may need some servicing after some time, but after 3 years of using my Epson never needed to take it back to the shop and have them clean the heads (or replace them). i print photos as well.

[adamvjackson 0]

Damn toner!!

[Guest]

i got a refil for HP cartridge, filled it. printer says no cartridge detected....

 

i bought a new cartridge and all went ok.

 

i HATE REFILS ;( but i hate HP more

[Ali 0]

Quote:

i got a refil for HP cartridge, filled it. printer says no cartridge detected....

i bought a new cartridge and all went ok.

i HATE REFILS ;( but i hate HP more

What kind of HP printer is that? i thought only Epson had a "chip" in the cartridge.

I don't like many models of HP printers and especially I hate their Pavilloin computers. they are way too expensive and the service is way too crappy for the money you pay!

[Mr.Guvernment 0]

i hate HP anything..lol

 

 

i like Epson, they have by FAR given way better printing quality then any HP i have seen, my uncle always buys the best when it comes out and has a ton of printers and after 5 or 6 HP and 3 Epsons - 1 the epson photo700 i think

 

Epson gets my vote everytime!! especially for the full page high quality color pics!

[Ali 0]

Quote:

i hate HP anything..lol

....

Epson gets my vote everytime!! especially for the full page high quality color pics!

strongly agree. It is more than 10 years that i have been familiar with Epson printers.

HEY... the dot matrix printer that we have at work in service is Epson too. No wonder we have never had any problems with it!!!