Ink Jet Printer

[Gary Murphy 1]

Can anyone recommend a brand of printer that will print with "non brand" refills?

I went over to Kodak because it was said the running costs were cheap,they seemed cheap because the refills were cheap BUT very small!

So got fed up with that and went over to Canon, these will not run on without there own refills, this whole ink think is a joke. I bought a printer and this canon will not work if it decides the cartridge is "low"!!!!! and its mine!!!! I paid for it.

So going to try something else,dont print a lot BUT if I want to run it with refills for non important stuff I should be able to.

I had a HP which was the same as the Canon.

Thinking about buying a £25 printer everytime and throwing away each time,even with the small supplied ink ,it will be cheaper than the canon!

[sgwlm]

I use Epson with aftermarket refills

[Bob Cotsford]

My last few printers were whatever was in the end of line sales. As it happens all were HP Deskjets of one sort or another and all have worked with refills off Amazon. I think the ones I am using are 'refurbished' rather than off-brand as the printer reports them as being genuine HP but they were half the price of real HP ones. Up to my most recent printer the end of line buys cost roughly the same as a set of genuine HP brand cartridges, for my current one I went for a bit more of an upmarket all-in-one Deskjet 5000 and the included cartridges lasted me about a year. The black dried up with ink left in it.

[Andy J]

One more to recommend Epson with aftermarket refills. Do have feed issues when printing on CD's and photo quality paper, so not a 100% reliable.

[Chris Bott - Moderator]

I use an HP printer using their "instant ink" service. That's a small monthly subscription. The printer is internet connected and HP send me ink cartridges when my printer tells them it's getting low.

I've not done any sums but I'm pretty sure it's saved me a lot of money over the last couple of years.

I like HP inkjets as the print head is replaced whenever you change a cartridge. The last Epson one I had seemed to need a lot of cleaning cycles as the print head got older. (Obv no idea if that's still a clear difference between manufacturers?)

[Engine Doctor]

Cannon printers work well with aftermarket cartridges that cost very little . Have tried HP in the past . Not any good with refilled cartridges as Ink jets are built into cartridge and wear out . My Cannon is now about 6 years old and working well and loads of aftermarket cartridges available on e-bay . Not had a bad one yet and get through quite a few as print stuff for club etc Also works well with transfer paper and photo quality printing.

[Guest]

I found these via a large corporate IT department using them.

Try typing "GoInks" into your favourite browser for after market cartridges suitable for many brands - put your printer model number into the search and you'll find if they can supply yours.

Obviously there are other purvayors but I have found them good for my Epson. Bonus is they do large bundle offers too

[John Stainforth]

In the past, I used standard cartridge inkjet printers but found these were ridiculously expensive to run. I was visiting the US four times a year and found that I would have to replace the Y, M, C and black cartridges every time I got back there and every time I returned to the UK - a change-out of 32 cartridges per year at about $10 each! About five years ago, I discovered refillable printers and I bought an Epson Ecotank model. I was do delighted with that, that I bought another one for use in the UK, then one for my brother, then another one for my daughter in California and finally one for my daughter in Croatia. All are delighted with these and will never go back to the cartridge models. The extra cost of the refillable printers typically pays off in about six months to a year.

[Capt Kremen]

Was in a similar position when my Canon decided to throw a 'wobbly' and not print. Looking online for reviews seems fraught and decidedly dodgy as 'you name it brand/model' either won printer of the year or had the worst reviews and the most expensive ink you could buy!

Have used after market 'chipped' ink cartridges without issues but huge savings over Canon's ridiculous prices.

The only comment re ink that sometimes occurs, if printing photos some brands can fade over time (and I mean years). I suppose the Canon shouldn't be as prone to that.

Looking at the sheer range and number of printer models out there of all makes, (not counting commercial/office standard heavy duty ones), it's no wonder finding a good one for home and general use is difficult.

Oh my Canon ... I eventually fixed it myself with a bit of shaking, cleaning rollers, ribbons etc.

[John Lee]

Posted by John Stainforth on 26/01/2021 18:15:17:

In the past, I used standard cartridge inkjet printers but found these were ridiculously expensive to run. I was visiting the US four times a year and found that I would have to replace the Y, M, C and black cartridges every time I got back there and every time I returned to the UK - a change-out of 32 cartridges per year at about $10 each! About five years ago, I discovered refillable printers and I bought an Epson Ecotank model. I was do delighted with that, that I bought another one for use in the UK, then one for my brother, then another one for my daughter in California and finally one for my daughter in Croatia. All are delighted with these and will never go back to the cartridge models. The extra cost of the refillable printers typically pays off in about six months to a year.

+1 here for Epson Ecotank. I bought mine in 2018 & also would not go back to cartridges. Since purchase I've spent £6.54 on ink.

[stu knowles]

Look at home laser printers. Cost around £100 but as reliable as inkjet are useless. Also the ink is waterproof which makes home printed decals so easy. Aftermarket refills are available.

I have tried both and would never look at an inkjet again

[John Stainforth]

Where do you get the idea inkjets are useless. I've been using them for twenty years almost everyday. I also use a laser printer whenever I need really high quality, but for everyday purposes the inkjet printers are fine.

[Stephen Smith 14]

Epson cartridges are avaliable on ebay for peanuts, I think the last I had where about £14 for about 24 cartridges, I also have a cheap b+w laser at work was about £35 prints around 20 pages a day 5 days a week, first refill lasted about a year and instructions said it wasn't a full one, bought 2 non genuine 2 off amazon for £19 when I first got printer as I can't have it run out as it stops me working but should last 3 years between the original and refills, I also have another printer just incase it breaks

[Paul Marsh]

Go for Colour Laser, toner lasts much longer and will not have the problem of nozzles clogging and page per page cheaper.

[stu knowles]

I think that you have hit on the difference John. We use a printer infrequently and when we had an inkjet we had constant issues with print quality, cartridges drying up, nozzles blocked. They were a nightmare. Used everyday I'm sure that they are fine. The change to a colour laser was a bit of a punt in the dark but it has proved to be SO worth it. Now it just works

[Peter Jenkins]

Look for a printer with an ink tanks. These seem to be significantly cheaper than ink cartridge printers. Some info here.

[John Stainforth]

Stu,

I agree the cartridge printers are terrible if you hardly ever use them: the cartridges are designed to dry up if the printer is not used, so that one actually gets less prints out of cartridges that are used infrequently. However, the inkjet printers with ink tanks don't do that even if one leaves them for some time. Typically after being left for three months, say, (which I usually did with my travels), the print head would need to be put into the cleaning mode once (or sometimes twice in a row), but after that they would be fine again. Whereas the cartridge printers would need a whole new set of cartridges.

The main reason I do not use my laser printer more is the cost of the higher quality paper and also the weight of the paper is way over the top for (my) everyday use.

[Robert Cracknell]

Canon TR8550 - print, scan, fax, document feeder, double sided printing etc, etc, Chipped compatible cartidges from Smart Ink (https://smartink.pro/uk/) at very low cost. 12 months hard use - not a problem!!

[Alex Ferguson 2]

Posted by John Stainforth on 26/01/2021 19:40:05:

Where do you get the idea inkjets are useless. I've been using them for twenty years almost everyday.

As others have said, go away for a month or so and when you return a laser prints as you want it, when you want it, no head cleaning. As for paper weight, tissue paper is a bit light.

I find inkjet printers very handy as scanners, chucked out printers so they are free. We have two here, one each, both free. One a Canon the other an HP.

[Basil]

Surely most printers can now be used with non-brand cartridges. I have both Canon & Epson , never bought their brand from the start, always non brand inks. Have a look on the net, loads of vendors offer these.

Bas

[Gary Murphy 1]

Thanks for the info, might give a model from Epsom a go.

Its not so much the cost of the ink that gets me,its the way that the printer, in my case Canon MG3650 will not except a after market cartridge and work ok. It tells me it not genuine,i have to "reset" the thing each time its turned on and every print I have to click a box/window to permit it to print. This cartridge fits a number of models and perhaps some do not suffer as much.Ebay sell a gadget that "programmes" the chip in the unbranded cartridge,shows how much of a pain this

[FlyinFlynn]

Posted by Gary Murphy 1 on 27/01/2021 16:42:33:

Thanks for the info, might give a model from Epsom a go.

I wouldn't if I were you... your prints will be a bit salty.

[Keith Berriman]

On my Epson moderately priced printer scanner I can choose the print type required even down to photograph style but that is time consuming in the print

I have tried non Epson cartridges and its hit and miss if they work or not so just luck out for Epson bargain prices on the web

[Guvnor]

Slightly ammused to see that as usual people want something for nothing.

Does it occur to anyone that the 'cheap' aftermarket print cartridges are cheap for a reason?

Yes, printer OEMs charge more for their chipped cartridges, and yes, they want to make a profit.

Part of their problem is that people buy the printer, stick cheapo cartridges in it then expect the OEM to sort out any issues under warranty caused by bad ink. Hence the chips.

In my experience some cheap cartridges can work OK, but the majority cause more problems than they solve, are usualy actually contain half the ink than a real one has, then cost more money in the long run.

No such thing as a free lunch...

[Toni Reynaud]

I run an HP Officejet 4630. The cartridges come from the Ink Planet shop in town at about 1/3 the cost of HP ones. No problems with them. I tried their refilling service, which was even cheaper, but twice (in abut 8 years) the inks in the colour cartridge ran together and everything printed in a nice shade of mud - not good. Pattern cartridges are OK.

Edited By Toni Reynaud on 28/01/2021 13:53:42