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Bargain print cartridges

16 years ago

I have a Canon Pixma MX850 which uses individual cartridges for each color. The "genuine" cartridges, at least some of them, are made in Japan. The "compatible" are made in China. Every one of the "compatible" has worked reliably for me. But life of the Chinese cartridges seems to be extremely short. Very quickly the printer warns of low ink. Much sooner than with the genuine cartridges. I have not kept page counts, just going by perception.

What is your experience with the generic cartridges?

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Comments (8)

ravencajun Zone 8b TX
16 years ago
I take my original HP cartridges to Walmart and have them fill them, so far works great. I was buying the generic brand they carried but they no longer have them they just do the refills. The generic I had used though were lasting me as long as my real HP ones, probably depends on the generic brand.
ravencajun Zone 8b TX
16 years ago
oppps sorry meant Walgreens not walmart.
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If and when I ever have to get a new printer/scanner/copier, the cost of the cartridges will indeed be a big determining factor...that and the size of them. I'll likely ask at Computer Help forum just which one is the most economical to use, after the initial investment of buying it. I too use draft, and often just print it in black to save some on the color. The next time I run dry, I'm going to try and fill the black one myself by drilling a tiny hole in it, filling with one of those needles, and sealing the hole with a small piece of tape or glue. I figure it won't hurt to try. Sue
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sofaspud
16 years ago
I have had poor luck using non-OEM ink in Canon printers. It may work today, but some time down the road, you will likely have problems with your printer and will have to replace it. If you're noticing a big difference in longevity from the China ink, it raises a red flag to me that it will probably damage your print head.

However, weigh the ink cost differential with the cost of replacing the entire unit in a couple of years. It still may be cheaper to use the bargain ink.
bpgreen
16 years ago
When you look at the price of ink, cartridges, toner, etc, you need to keep in mind the price per page and also how many pages you print.

For my laser printer, I have a specialty cartridge that cost about $100 and a normal cartridge that cost about $50. I have to open the printer and swap cartridges every time I use the specialty cartridge. I've had both for about 5 years. When the regular cartridge runs out, I'm just going to use the specialty cartridge all the time. The price difference over the lifetime of the cartridge isn't worth the time it takes.
DA_Mccoy
16 years ago
Common sense and economical disciplines greatly reduce the cost of printing.

DA
pfmastin
14 years ago
I was using Walgreens and did have good luck with them until there was a disaster and the cartridge leaked into the bottom of my printer and ran out the sides. :) I have a color printer that I seldom use but for everyday I use an HP LaserJetp1006 for black and white copies and it is a workhorse. I buy the ink cartridges from Amazon...2 Pack Of HP CB435A Compatible Brand Toner For Use With LaserJet P1006 and P1005 Printers. It says industry standard per cartridge is 1500 pages at 5% coverage and a cartridge does last a long, long time for me.
genes
14 years ago
Does your printer allow you to reset indicating you have installed a new cartridge..if so, have you been doing this..otherwise it may not be that your current cartridge is low but the printer is reading the old cartridge data
User
14 years ago
genes, thank you for that piece of advice. Never thought about it.

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