For everyone who uses compatible ink carts, unless you have a functional problem with your printer do not accept and install the firmware updates. Many if not most firmware updates are meant to stop / disable the printer’s recognition of compatible cartridges. For the non-technical, firmware is essentially the printer’s brains and does not include the PC resident printing application or Windows/Mac drivers that are classed as software.
So far every time a manufacturer releases a new firmware that does that, the compatible manufacturers shortly release a new chip that works. A worry are that you could buy some compatibles off the shelf with an older chip that might not be recognised. Some of the high volume compatible vendors are very clear about that, and virtually all of them provide a money back guarantee for a few weeks in case their carts are not recognised by your printer. That is the prime reason not to stock up too early. You want to install your new cart well inside that satisfaction period to assure it is accepted by the printer.
Another wrinkle is that if compatibles are installed and you do an “offending” firmware update, your printer might no longer recognise them so off to the shop for you, and you might have to buy OEM to get by in the immediate term.
Four years ago I purchased an Epson multi functional workforce 645 printer that used ink like it was going out of fashion. Was quoted over $100 for a set of replacement cartridges. Looked for alternatives and found RIHAC an Aussie company based in Melbourne. Purchased their continues ink system for $156.00, It came with four 100ml bottles of ink equivalent to $1400 worth of Epson ink in cartridges. I print a lot of documents and it took over a year to use the ink. The replacement bottles were around $53 for the whole set. After three years the printer gave up but the ink system was still going great so passed it onto a mate for his Epson printer. Currently using an old Canon printer MX340 with a RIHAC system while I look for another new replacement printer. What ever one I purchase will have a RIHAC system fitted. Epson also update my printer so it would not accept a third party cartridge. I complained to Office of Fair Trading who stated that Epson were allowed to protect their intellectual property and took no action against Epson. In the end I uninstalled the Epson printer and reinstated it with the old drivers and disconnected auto driver updates. Had no issues for the three years it was in operation.
My suggestion is that you buy printers that will accept generic cartridges. And that means don’t buy Epson.
Generic will cost 1/3 of the price of branded ones. i’ve been using them for years with no problems and doing photo’s as well. “INKJET WHOLESALE” IS PROBABLY THE BEST OF THE LOT.
We did some online research and discovered a range of Epson printers that don’t use cartridges. Instead they have tanks and use ink that doesn’t spoil if it’s left for long periods. The manufacturer claims that on average, each full tank of ink will last for around 2 years before it needs refilling from regular print jobs. The bottles of ink cost around $16 each, but the printer comes with full bottles, so who knows what they’ll cost or even if they’ll still be available in a couple of years when I need to refill the tanks. The printers themselves aren’t cheap though. I got the cheapest model which was around $450. Still works out to be cheaper than constantly purchasing cartridge inks for 2 years on a cheaper printer. Check out the range of EcoTank printers here.
@vax2000 So far so good. When you first fill the tanks there’s a 20 minute wait for the thing to prime itself. After that it’s ready to use whenever you switch the power on in around 30 seconds. It’s reasonably fast to print as far as inkjets are concerned. For the amount of printing we’ve done on it so far, we’d probably be ready for a change of ink cartridge by now on the old printer, yet the tanks are still showing that the inks are up to the fill line.
I use a small printer refill shop in a nearby town with no problems, although I am a low user and print mostly on my A4 colour laser. Recently I upgraded to a A3 Brother MFC J65200W as I was printing out an 800 page double sided index for the people who won’t view it on a computer. Set it to print Black & White only, however it is not clear that it still uses all the colours to make black, as well as the black. Everything ran out. The shop requests you bring in your cartridges for refill, however as I wanted a large black tank, I had to first buy a genuine one at $57.30, all the others were refilled for $42 total. The Brother printer forces you to fill the colour tanks as it will no longer duplex or complete an A3 page if they are empty. I finally found a way to stop the colour usage, by setting to grey scale which produced a lighter black. Not entirely satisfactory, but had I known this I would have opted for another printer. The status of the ink tanks is a bit confusing, as the graph shows there is still ink, but the error message says it needs replacing and won’t proceed until you do. Brother say that all colours are necessary to produce a better black.
In 2014 I was gifted a Canon PIXMA. It is a very cheap printer which I would not have selected. My choice would have been a printer tested by Choice. I too found the ink extremely expensive and it doesnt last very long. I now buy the ink on EBay, not something I wanted to do but it is the cheapest option.
I don’t understand why there is an expectation that inks should be cheaper. It’s not just coloured water. The printer hardware, software and ink is a ecosystem designed and built to work together and a result of billions of dollars in R&D. The fact that the hardware is now so bloody cheap and sold at a loss is in part why the inks appear to be expensive by comparison. The more you don’t buy the OEM ink the more expensive it gets for the OEM to provide the hardware and ongoing software updates. By all means stick some coloured water from Joe’s backyard Ink co who have no R&D investment, no international manufacturing standards, no expectation of fair trade, environmental design, workplace safety and global, social and environmental responsibility. I don’t understand why as a consumer we demand so much from our manufacturers and then turn around and buy something totally the opposite to “save a few dollars” that in most part devalues our original investment in quality.
I never use 3rd party ink or toner. I shop around for my genuine stuff.
Here’s a question: Why don’t the 3rd party ink vendors also make and sell you a printer? Surely there’s a market for it. Maybe quality and reliability are an issue for them, or maybe it’s too expensive for them to do that, maybe the capability to actually create the humble sub $100 inkjet printer is well beyond the backyard inkster…and yet the consumer sees the printer as the cheaper item.
This is why I opted for the more expensive printer (see earlier comments). The ink is $16 a bottle, and each full tank is good for around two years of normal print useage. If I’d purchased the cheaper printer, the amount of money spent on ink top ups in two years would have been a great deal more than I spent on my expensive, cheap to refill printer. I always tell people to avoid the cheap printers, simply because the ink prices for them are over the top and in the long run they’ll be saving themselves money. Always research the ink prices for each printer before making your purchase. Before purchasing my current printer, it was cheaper per page to use the Officeworks self serve printers than to refill my old printer and use that.
Just being curious, do you also refuse to buy aftermarket auto parts using the same reasoning? Do you specify the brand of oil your vehicle manufacturer recommends? Do you always get your vehicle serviced at a dealership or do you go to an independent? Are your replacement tyres the OEM, or did you buy them on price or tyre shop recommendation?
Yes. I buy genuine motor parts for my car, particularly while in warranty. I get my car serviced by the manufacturer and they use their oil preference, even after warranty is over I get my cars serviced by the manufacturer. I replace my tyres with the same brand and model they came with originally though as the car manufacturers don’t actually make them I shop around for best deal on them. So I guess the answer to your questions for each of those is yes. What about you? do you buy the cheapest non-brand tyres for your car, the cheapest non-brand oil for your car, the cheapest non brand parts for your car and do you get it serviced at the cheapest possible mechanic using your same reasoning? I am going to assume that it is ridiculous to ask if you buy a car that only comes with a fraction of a tank of petrol and then throw the car away and buy another one when the petrol tank runs out?
I admire your consistency. FWIW we have 3 vehicles ranging from 1997 (bought used), 2009 (new), and 2013 (new) The two older ones go to independent marque specialists and the 2013 to the dealer who has demonstrated superior service. My tyres are superior to the originals, and “not cheap”.
We have found at least some manufacturers have very little to no interest in out-of-warranty older vehicles so the aftermarket and alternative world is mandatory.
The 2009 model is waiting on a body part from Europe because the importer has stated “it is not cost effective to keep inventory in Australia”. Do you think I will buy another of their products? I think not.
Using 3rd party ink - a complex issue. I live in a small town where shopping local is the difference between a vibrant town or a ghost town. Our electrical store (white goods, IT, audio, homewares, clothing, etc) went broke. Partly due to the cost of keeping so much stock with small turnover. They had a wall of ink (among other things). Why can’t there be some standardisation of cartridges, rather than a different one for each model, even within brands? My refill shop says they buy genuine ink for most of the refills and reuse the cartridge, otherwise I send to landfill (no recycling here). When the printer dies the unused ink goes with it. Last thing we need is more unique printers with unique tanks. I can’t see the problem with a genuine cartridge refurbished and refilled with genuine ink, to OEM standards, except it is depriving the manufacturer the huge mark-up.
My club was given an inkjet printer, but the ink was $68 tank x 4 and dried up before used up, this was to replace an inkjet that we could no longer get cartridges for. The club fund raising was about $200/year so it had to go. My gripe is the antics of manufacturers who try to force the purchase of more ink by various artificial means - chips that record pages printed (not if empty), using all colours even on B&W setting, restricting use - no duplex, no A3 while tanks are “empty”, starter cartridges that only do a few pages, etc. If they can sell a big tank for $16 surely they can put an extra 2ml in the starter cartridges.
As for genuine car parts - Choice did a report October 2014 “Highway Robbery” p.32-34 “You could pay 700% more for a car part …” Ford dealer quoted me $1,750 for a hose - mechanic husband sourced same for $58. This needs to go into a new thread on Car Parts.
John is there any chance that you can let me know where on line l can buy good compatible HP ink cartridges please. l look at the cheaper ones when advertised but they have been much more expensive than $2.
I’d be awfully grateful.
Thanks Sandra Roe sallyannroe@gmail.com
This afternoon I printed out 25 full sized A4 pages of my comic strips in full colour. After a quite a lot of usage prior to this and now after this big print job, the ink levels in each tank are still bordering on the full line. At this rate the printer could actually live up to the clams and there’s every chance that we will get 2 years of usage out of each full tank. At a cost of $16 per tank every couple of years it was well worth the higher purchase price for the printer itself.
I have had a Brother MFC 8840D for over 15 years. Absolutely bullet proof, despite having over 140k prints on the clock. Unfortunately the only time it has played up was with non-genuine laser ink cartridges. I discovered a solution - I buy genuine Brother cartridges online through eBay at about one third of retail cost. I dread having to buy another printer because I might be stuck with buying exhorbitantly priced genuine ink cartridges if I cant get them for a reasonable cost on eBay. Thumbs down for Brother, thumbs up for eBay
I see the HP inkjet refills have an electronic used by date in them so even when it has plenty of ink the date will stop it from working, HP admit it so check the date before buying. HP inkjet cartridges. I can almost sympathise with HP a bit due to dry ink ink causing issues with reliability, so check dates before buying.
