My family goes through ink like crazy in my printer. There has to be a more economical cartridge that lasts longer and is cheaper to refill. Can anyone recommend a good printer which uses inexpensive ink cartridges that last longer?
By shelley silva from Grand Rapids, MI
Add your voice! Click below to answer. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
I wonder if you are printing things in grey scale or color?
Are you printing thing for work or school or for yourselves? Where quality is less important, for say directions for myself, or templates, I print in grey scale or 60% grey instead of black. When in Word or Open office, you can chose grey as a text color (or for that matter, any color) sometimes if you are out of black, a printer will still print in another single color (not all printers do this) We printed in blue, and my son photocopied it to turn it in at school. Also, I found he was printing full pages for things that could have been consolidated as 2 pages per sheet.
I know Kodak is trying to sell the idea that their inks are cheapest, but I don't know about that.
Kodak all-in-one as are great the black cartridge is 10$ the color is 15$ and less sometimes in package deals on-line. also it is pigment based ink which means the prints will have a longer shelf life over time and that the ink goes much further.
I have a home office and do alot of printing. I have used HP LAZERJET printer (black /white cartridge) for years. Excellent value because the cartridge last a very long time. I buy recycled cartridges which are excellent. Check up pricing as you will be surprised at how cheap you can get them for if you check around. Suppliers will also give you a discount of returned cartridges. I got my sister on to this also and she just loves the savings. I am sure you will be amazed at the savings.
We bought an expensive HP Photosmart so that we could print out family pictures that wont fade. We found ink cartridges online at a great discount! We have a friend sho ses a kit to refill her own cartridges, but she says they dont print well after about the third time refilling.
I have and Epson photo printer and I buy my cartridges on-line from LaserMonks. They are real monks who sell printer cartridges (new and gently used-refilled). In about 7 years I have had only one bad cartridge. They are about 1/2 price as at the stores. The only "bad" is they aren't recyclable!
If you are not afraid to try - get a refill kit and refill the cartridges. I have been refilling mine for years. I end up only buying a good cartridge 2 or 3 times a year.
I have a printer that calls for lexmark 1 ink cartridges which work great for about a month and then fade very quickly and cost quite a bit to replace. I found a company at carrotink.com, paid 1/2 the price and the ink from one cartridge is still working after installing it 3 months ago. It is color and I've been recommending this to everyone know.
Printing in greyscale, rather than color, is helpful for not using all the color ink which is more expensive. If you're printing photos, I've found that it is cheaper to have the photos processed at Walgreens.
Kodak all in one is great. The printing, ink prices, and customer service have been extremeing good. We have had ours for over a year and a half.
Does the Kodak all in one include an fax machine. I need a fax machine. I have an HP Officejet all in one but ink cartridges are small and I go through a lot of them.
I use Canon Bubble jet printers such as the 1250 series. They are less than $50.00 and ink is so reasonable. I get my ink from ebay and usually pay a bit over $1.00 for a cartridge.
Printer manufacturing companies should not be allowed to make printers that you can't use when one of the colors is out. Isn't it strange that the cost of a new printer is less than two sets of 4 colors of cartridges? It's a rip off. Who can we complain to?
Although I have a digital camera, I never print photos from my home printer. I have Costco/Sams/Walgreens/Walmart, etc. to print photos.
As far as the cartridges, I have a membership at Costco. There are two locations close to me; however only one will refill the ink cartridges. It is done in the Photo section. You take the cartridge to the photo person....wait about an hour. This is when I do my shopping. I think most cartridges can be refilled for $6 - $8....mine is $7.
You have to make sure your cartridge hasn't been exposed to the air for long...it can be refilled, but I guess it would get dried out on the exposed end and the ink can't get through. The first time I refilled at Costco, I put my cartridge in a plastic zip loc baggie and went straight to Costco. After they refilled it, they placed a nice plastic cover, which I have saved and I put it back on the next time I go in to refill to keep the end from drying out.
Good luck.
I have a HP printer, I have been buying my ink online, but I just found this out that the ink is cheaper at Wal-Mart then online. My daughter has a Cannon, her ink is cheaper then HP!
You can go to: printpal.com to order your ink cartridges at a very reasonable price! This is the only place I have ordered ink from in over a year and a half. I haven't found any place cheaper to purchase ink. However, since ordering from them, I haven't looked elsewhere. The delivery is exceptional and I've not yet had any problems with the ink or quality of printouts. I do not print out pictures at home either as it uses too much ink. After reading all the previous posts, I will state this: We have a Brother MFC-3240C printer which DOES NOT have the grey scale setting as our previous HP printer did. So, it uses some color each and every time you print. To be sure with the next printer purchased it will NOT be a Brother because of this very reason. Who needs the extra cost of buying more ink when not necessary (especially in todays bad economy)? Give Print Pal a try and see if you agree!
I agree with you. It almost pays to buy a new printer than the ink! A friend bought a printer after he compared the price of the ink. Right off I can't tell you the manufacturer of the printer.
Most people use black ink and it's a shame that you have to replace the colors in order to have the printer work. I tried removing used-up cart. and then replacing to fool the printer into thinking it was a new one. It didn't work on this Epson I have, but it did on the old one I had. Try it, nothing to loose but your time.
I have a Lexmark all in one printer, and when either the black or the colored cartridge has to be replaced the other one still keeps on working. I will go online later to find out the price of the cartridges and get back to you all. The only thing about buying a new printer for me is because of limited space and some mobility problems it is hard for me to do the installation.
Add your voice! Click below to answer. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
