How Much Ink Is Left in That Dead Cartridge?

[ToyotaNSaturn]

http://www.pcworld.com/printable/article/id,152953/printable.html

PC World decided to do some real lab testing on this issue; and the results confirm what you may have suspected: Many manufacturer-branded (OEM) and third-party (aftermarket) vendor cartridges leave a startling amount of ink unused when they read empty. In fact, some inkjet printers force users to replace black ink cartridges when the cartridge is nearly half full, PC World has found.

 

[Pablo]

Timely stuff. I pop an Epson cart. in my Epson, and almost instantly "low black".....hmm........still printing fine after a couple weeks. The printer was nearly free, so I expect the accuracy is in the weeds.

I've always thought the price of ink in a plastic cartridge albeit a fancy box is total rip. By rip off detectors scream at the garbage......

 

[TallPaul]

Lousy HP printer, or is it Vista. One or the other, when it says ink is low, it makes it really hard to printm, sometimes getting hung up an not working.

 

[John K]

I have a Canon printer, and like the cartridges because they are translucent, and you can see the amount of ink left. From the article I gather that not all Canon cartridges have that feature?

 

[John K]

TallPaul - I don't know, but I have Vista and an HP laserjet, and read where HP's Vista drivers are not very good. When I bought the printer I checked customer reviews on Amazon, and they recommended throwing the CD that came with the printer away or use it for a coaster. I let Windows find a driver instead. My BIL said that he had issues with his computer and traced it to an HP driver that was "using a lot of resources"...

 

[moribundman]

Originally Posted By: John K
I have a Canon printer, and like the cartridges because they are translucent, and you can see the amount of ink left. From the article I gather that not all Canon cartridges have that feature?


My small Canon photo printer wastes 40% of all ink by cleaning the nozzles before each printing process, and it claims the cartridge is empty when it's still 40% full with ink. My Epson printer was like that. At least the Canon discretely hides the ink it pipes out of the cartridge. The Epson quickly flooded the little sponge that at first absorbed the ink used for cleaning. All inkjet printers are designed to be a rip-off.

 

[moribundman]

I should add, the less you use an inkjet printer the more ink it wastes by cleaning the nozzles. If you use an inkjet printer all day long, then its ink consumption isn't quite as inefficient.

 

[XS650]

I've had good results refilling the black ink cartridges on my HP Photosmart 7350 printer. I usually get 3 refills before the cartridge wears out and starts printing funny. Costs about $2.00/refill.

I even learned a secret incantation that resets the system so the computer will show the correct ink level.

 

[moribundman]

Originally Posted By: XS650
I even learned a secret incantation


I got a bunch of those. The language is that of Mordor, which I will not utter here.

 

[Pablo]

Originally Posted By: moribundman
All inkjet printers are designed to be a rip-off.


I think the author wanted to say that.....but his industry ties held him back.....

Most house lizards don't notice the slow bleed of an inkjet, due to lack of use (which only compounds the problem in reality) and also as mentioned, the low initial out of pocket expense. When used for even a hint of business related printing, an inkjet printer rapidly becomes the flaming red **** in the room.

 

[moribundman]

I'll never look at my Pixma the same way. Thanks, Paul.

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

Originally Posted By: moribundman
Originally Posted By: John K
I have a Canon printer, and like the cartridges because they are translucent, and you can see the amount of ink left. From the article I gather that not all Canon cartridges have that feature?


My small Canon photo printer wastes 40% of all ink by cleaning the nozzles before each printing process, and it claims the cartridge is empty when it's still 40% full with ink. My Epson printer was like that. At least the Canon discretely hides the ink it pipes out of the cartridge. The Epson quickly flooded the little sponge that at first absorbed the ink used for cleaning. All inkjet printers are designed to be a rip-off.


My Epson is a love and hate thing. When it works properly the prints are nice but when it decides it wants to clog its nozzles on me then it turns into a lot of time wasting and frustration. I've used 6 or 7 printers in the last 10 years and I can't honestly say that there a favorite. a black in cartridge for a Lexmark I got free after rebate last year costs $20. Bought one and finished it and now I just use it as a scanner. I figured if I bought another ink tank then Lexmark and Circuit City would have more than recuperated the cost of the AIO. Just recently got a free after rebate Canon and I've barely used it since I have aftermarket ink for my Epson.

 

[MONKEYMAN]

I have been refilling my HP cartridges with success. Alotofthings.com ink refills have worked flawlessly on new cartridge that I refill when it is say 2/3rds empty according to the status thingy. They also have the special procedure to fool the printer into thinking it has a refilled cartridge. What I have done is buy printers that use the same cartridge and rotate the cartridges. It only keeps track of so many cartridges and eventually forgets and it registers as a new cartridge. I just I had a hard time dealing with HP going from its HP 45 cartridge with 42 ml of ink to HP 21 that has 5 ml. Made me more determined to beat the system. The good thing about HP is they are easy to refill and tend to work for years. The last Lexmark all-in-one stopped printing properly after a few months. Now it is a paper weight. The cartridges cost more then the scanner new. Regarding Vista, my HP LaserJet 1018 installed and works flawlessly with Vista. All my other HP all-in-one devices had install errors even when using the most current driver on HP. I remember my first HP 1210 all-in-one. The extra software it installed crashed the computer. Since then I do not have much faith in HP's software. The printer I use most is a Canon BJC-3000 with a black ink tank. Aftermarket ones are about $2.00 on Ebay and the printer accurately tells me when it needs to be replaced. I am considering a Canon MX310 on sale for $39.99 at Ink Stop. Looks like Canon went to low capacity cartridges like HP and will not print when it says the cartridge is empty. Will make a nice Fax machine and hopefully will install in Vista.

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

Sometimes I wonder if it would be better if companies made a high quality product that sold for more initially but the cost to use it will be minimal. They could make a profit from the printer and sell the ink for a reasonable price. And since the printer would be a high quality product instead of some of the disposable cheapie "gotcha" printers where the ink that comes with the printer is worth more than the printer itself, then they will last longer and after so many ink is sold the company would make a good profit.

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

I always suggest Canon printers when sequestered by others about which printer to purchase. From now on, I'll tell them to buy some aftermarket ink refills to keep their costs down.

 

[MONKEYMAN]

Originally Posted By: ToyotaNSaturn
I always suggest Canon printers when sequestered by others about which printer to purchase. From now on, I'll tell them to buy some aftermarket ink refills to keep their costs down.


The December Consumer Report I received recommends 5 Canon Printers with the MP610 and MP520 as Best Buys in the All-in-One Category. I'm thinking their software may a least install properly on Vista. HP just does not have it together in that regard.

 

[Cutehumor]

I hate the cost of printer cartridges. last Xmas, I got four ink cartridges that cost $50 total for a canon. freakin rip off. I'm going to have to do the ink refill. my wife told me ink refills don't work. I'll have to try it out and see.

 

[JustinH]

I use a dell 1100 black and white laser.

If I need to print color, I'll walk to kinkos, and pay them the dime or whatever.

The printer retails for 89 bucks, I got mine for 49 (refurb), several years ago.

I buy the aftermarket high yield toner cartridges for 25 bucks.

I've owned it for 3 years, and bought 2 cartridges for it..

Its a no brainer, I see people waste money on $$$ ink jet cartridges, its crazy.

 

[MONKEYMAN]

Well, I bought the refurbished MX310. It was $5 cheaper then buying the black and color cartridge that came in the box. Nice, sturdy unit, but I will not use it for high volume printing. I just refilled 7 cartridges tonight. All HP. The ones I had problems with were refilled ones I bought from Ebay. I should be good for 6 months or so. I stopped printing in color. All the newer printers shut down when the color ink runs out and they tend to be highest price cartridges.

 

[John K]

I tried refilling a cartridge once, and said never again. It leaked all over the place. I use my inkjet primarily for photos and would worry about the permanence of the ink as well.