Here is an interesting article on the subject from the New York Times. Linked below is the promotion DA refers to but it seems it is only a one day thing sadly

Here is a link that might be useful: Walgreens ink refills

Kim Komando mentioned in her daily column that today Walgreens was doing the refills for free. One black or one color, but they do refills all the time for a fee. The freebie today was to introduce this service to more people.

I took a Cartridge in yesterday to be refilled. We have many Walgreen stores here in town, But only one that does the refills. Their was a long line to get them. Mind will be ready for pick up Fri. afternoon.Noticed they had a bunch in baskets to be picked up.

What I would do to get my Deskjet 540 B&W printer working again. Cartridges used to last 14 months. In my HP 920c, I'm lucky to get 5 months use.

Called a Walgreen store in Amarillo,Tex. Said they were not setup to do the HP Photosmart yet. Was disappointed as I wanted to try it out tomorrow.

There was only one store in Amar. doing it at this time. Probably eight stores around town. You might want to call to find out who is offering this service as it may save you a trip.

DL

I have refilled my cartridges at home for quite a while. Black is easy and successful. Less than $4.00 to refill the black at home. For some reason, my color refills rarely work.

I've been refilling cartridges for my hp 970 successfully for years. The black (#45) is extremely easy to refill. I've gotten pretty good on the color (#78) but there was a learing curve.

If you decide to attempt it, spend plenty of time on the web reading all the instructions you can find. Also note that each manufacturer uses its own ink blend so there is no such thing as a universal refill kit.

I recently bought an Epson 320 for making color pictures. I bought a Continuous Ink System (CIS) for it and I've been very pleased. I'd recommend a CIS to anyone because there's never any more refill problems.

Keith

Keith, I have an Epson CX6000 and use it for everything, including pictures. The original cartridges are still in it, as it is fairly new. After reading your post I researched the CIS, it sounded good to me. According to the websites I looked at, the Epson uses pigment ink but most of the CIS that I've seen offer dye based ink. Which do you use? If you don't mind, could you tell us where you got it and what one could expect to pay. TIA, Mare

Check out ebay auction number 330166991293. This is the exact system that I have. I'm very pleased with it. I was not able to find a brand name on the box - seems it's a generic from China - but it works well. Of course this won't work with your printer but if you look long enough you'll likely see a system for your printer that obviously comes from the same manufacturer based on the graphics on the box.

I'm pretty sure this uses dye based inks. Seems that I came across that discussion doing my research and I decided it wasn't worth the headache to fret over the differences. I think the pigment based inks are supposed to be more long lasting. I decided to go the easier and cheaper route and simply plan to reprint any prints that fade over time.

if its any help i use a epson R230 with a continuos ink supply,it is produced in china and dye ink,the photos as good as any shop printed ., dont know how long they will last but i print a lot of calenders for friends and family they are all impressed with the quality. Have been using this for over 18months,have printed dozens of A4photos,
wouldnt change back ever,

fwiw
I just did a quickie search to see what a continious ink supply was. First site I clicked was in UK. Looks like some printers can be converted to it.
Cartridges with some tiny hoses attached to bottles of ink that you keep topped up.

Thanks for your help everyone. I think I'm going to try the CIS. Denny, what is an A4photo? Mare

Hello Mare a A4photo is a full page A4 full size photo of which i print many so many i couldn`t give numbers ,but the
C.I.S makes it very cheap .i buy ink refills $9 AUS per 100ml for each color and same for black.
Denny

Hey Keith & Denny, Got another question, or ten. This statement "Has auto reset (ARC) chip. This chip reset ink level automaticly when the ink level get to 10%", Is on every ebay ad. How does the level get to 10% if it's a continuous feed, or does it reset when it gets down to 10% of the 100ml tank? Also it states that "This systems will not clean the printer head and charge the ink before every use." Is that a good or bad thing. I guess those tanks sit on the outside of the printer. I wonder how that will work with my 3 in 1, since the scanner sits atop of the unit and is, in essence the lid and must be in the down position to work. Seems to me that would pinch off the ink flow. Any info will help me out alot. TIA, Mare

mare, depending on your printer the original cartridge has a chip, which reads ink usage this automatcaly gets reset, but the ink cartrige is never emppty the ink tanks on the c.i.s are visible to the naked eye so you know when they need refill. Not sure how t will work on a multi function,i leave the lid open when i print.You may have to cut a small piece from the lid if it wont operate open,the ink tanks are stood level with the printer they work on a vacumn system ,not to have them above the level of the printer ,sure you will get full instrutions on delivery.
ASK THAT THEY HAVE A SYSTEM FOR YOUR MODEL OF PRINTER.

Hi Guys, Just wanted to let you know that I found a CIS on Ebay with pigment ink to fit my All In One, at least it's advertised to fit. I guess I'll know when I get it. I want the pigment ink because I do Scrapbooking and want to make sure that my pictures are long lasting. Looks as if there is a plastic piece cradling the tubes to make sure they don't get pinched by the scanner. I have my fingers crossed that this system works, it's been costing me a fortune to have my scrapbook pages printed, I printed out a few and could tell by the way the levels dropped that printing them out myself would not be cost effective. Thanks for all your help. I'll check back in when I install and try out the system to let you know how it goes. Mare