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Thread: Are compatible ink cartridges worth a look in?

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    Default Are compatible ink cartridges worth a look in?

    Hi everybody,
    Sometime back I bought a Epson WF-2540 printer. The Cyan and Magenta ink cartridges now are getting low. I have priced the 200XL Combo Pack cartridges replacement. Pricing is $70 - $100 depending on who you buy them off.
    I am just wondering what you folk think of the compatible (high capacity?)cartridges up for offer say on E-Bay for about a fifth of the price. I have heard some bad reports of the cartridges drying out and worse leaking into the printing machine. Just wondering about some feedback on this please.
    Thanks everybody.



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    I've never bought ink cartridges off ebay, but have used numerous refills from local suppliers such as cartridge world with no problems.

    All ink cartridges will dry out, regardless if they are genuine brand or not, so you need to use them frequently to avoid that.

    The only ink cartridges I use these days are for CD/DVD printing, as I prefer colour laser for other printing.

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    Quote Originally Posted by David071 View Post
    Hi everybody,
    Sometime back I bought a Epson WF-2540 printer. The Cyan and Magenta ink cartridges now are getting low. I have priced the 200XL Combo Pack cartridges replacement. Pricing is $70 - $100 depending on who you buy them off.
    I am a fan of refillable cartridges which greatly reduces the price of ink. I have used this mob for years and they seem pretty good for my canon printer refills.





    I think this is suitable for your printer....refillable cartridges with auto reset chips plus ink...total price $99...be aware they have free post for orders over $100 so grab an extra bottle of black ink
    Last edited by mandc; 08-02-15 at 04:23 PM.

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    like these

    ive used them forever,
    depends what you do also, photos id be worried
    personally id never ever never gunna on mango's breathe buy another ink printer
    long live the laser
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    I use the Cartridge World one,A lot cheaper and seem to have more ink in them.No problem with photos.

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    Have you considered a toner printer recently. The price point has definitely swung in favour of toner based printers. You don't have to worry about messy inks, or heads drying out. And with aftermarket toners your laughing all the way to the bank. The caveats of course are a bigger footprint, less flexibility with regard to media and no true photo quality,

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    I bought compatible cartridges for my canon MP600 off ebay, 5 full sets (x4 carts) for $25 inc postage. Work just as good as the originals for less than 1 original cartridge, will never re-fill again.

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    The decisive factor is the use of "high-quality" ink. Do not pack "low-qualtiy" ink in your cartridges - often one have printhead problems and nozzles fallen out. Made this experience, too.

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    I used refills for years and only gave up on inkjets when I did not use them as much. Ink clogs nozzles when left to sit for too long. I'd use most of a cartridge just to get one clean print. As I only needed to print about once every six months, I decided that I can live without colour in the short term and went to using my laser fax machine that I picked up at auction for $15. Actually, I got three devices for that price, Brother Fax9320 (the one I am using), Canon inkjet MFC (needs ink so never tried it) and a Ricoh Aficio Colour Laser printer which is a beast of a machine, but displays a BIOS error that I have yet to cure, as I said, for 15 bucks, I'm not complaining. The fax machine is well worth it.

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    i went to a $40 mono laser years ago & never went back
    i splurged out not long ago & bought a new one, its got this new scanner thing in it too
    shame i cant reach the lcd screen to do the settings & its not user friendly software for scanning but it looks good
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    Quote Originally Posted by jwoegerbauer View Post
    The decisive factor is the use of "high-quality" ink. Do not pack "low-qualtiy" ink in your cartridges - often one have printhead problems and nozzles fallen out. Made this experience, too.
    Bought an old Epson stylus RX450 for $5 on a garage sale. Used the matching Chinese Ebay clone cartridges for $1 each (might be $2 now, the 12 pack I bought has lasted so long.)
    Head cleaner software from Epson always clears the nozzles if I don't use it for 3-4 months and then prints photos fine.

    As for quality of the ink, some laminated print outs of signs for a garden presentation are now over two years outside in the sun and still clearly readable.

    If there is ever a Guiness Record for the biggest rip off, then I would nominate so called high-quality original printer ink that sets you back $70-100 for a set of cartridges.

    Not sure if refilling old cartridges is always so good. Had blocked nozzle problems before and some also need a pricy chip resetter. The $1-2 Ebay cartidges may be better matched for the compatible printer than generic ink. Some Chinese want good feedback. Also works out cheaper IMO.

    Then again i might have just had luck. I can not find the listing/seller as this may be 3 years ago. Ebay only keeps the last 6 weeks now and I didn't think of adding seller to favs back then
    Last edited by Uncle Fester; 10-02-15 at 09:14 PM.
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    Hi everybody
    I decided to buy a remanufactured colour/black set of cartridges 200XL for an Epson printer. I found after two weeks the black ink stopped working. Just wondering if anybody else has had issues with remanufactured cartridges. I feel after this experience I have had I am sticking with the manufacturers original cartridges.
    Thanks everybody.

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    I've always refilled my cartridges with locally sold inks and found that they're not all the same with some causing blockages more than others. The most consistent ink I've used in my Canon printers is the 'Jettec' brand sold in Woolworths/BigW and the worst was 'Calidad'.

    I've never purchased a new cartridge ever, simply keep on refilling the originals and when the printer is worn out buy a new one with new cartridges. Quite a marketing ploy, to sell you a printer for 1/2 or less of what they'll charge to replace the cartridges.
    Last edited by Skepticist; 13-04-15 at 08:58 PM.

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    I think my current Canon printer (MG5460) is about 3 or so years old and I am slowly changing to the 2nd set of non genuine cartridges as the current ones run out that replaced the sample ones that came with the printer
    I am not a big printer user and I do worry that the cartridges may dry out because of their limited limited use but so far I have had no problems.
    At around 1/3rd the cost of the genuine ones, its hard to refuse the after market ones.
    I cant be sure but I think this new set came from the same place as did the ones now running out.
    Last edited by gordon_s1942; 13-04-15 at 09:06 PM.
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    Not sure if all Canon printers are the same but mine (Pixma IP4200) has a separate printhead plate that the 5 cartridges are attached to. It's not good if the ink dries in that head module and if 1 head is irretrievable you'd have to replace the whole thing which, most likely, would cost as much as a complete new printer. I like it for printing CDs and try to use it regularly just to keep it from drying out which is where the Calidad ink was bad (needed daily use to keep it flowing properly). I did consider the continuous inking mod with bulk external tanks but I don't do enough printing to justify it.

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