topic Re: Printer Ink -- Is there a Cheaper Way? in Community Chat

Printer Ink -- Is there a Cheaper Way?

sunala — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 17:17:38 GMT

I have an Epson XP400 and I pay a king's ransom for Epson ink cartridges from Staples. Is there a cheaper way to go? Do any of you have experience with buying cut-rate ink like they advertise?

It seems like these Epson cartridges run out of ink every other week, and I don't think I use the printer all that much.

Does anybody have any tips on how to save ink?

I just hate spending so much money for INK!

Re: Printer Ink -- Is there a Cheaper Way?

JJsMom — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 17:20:28 GMT

Can you take it somewhere to get refilled? I think Costco even does it.

Re: Printer Ink -- Is there a Cheaper Way?

ROMARY — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 17:21:40 GMT

There's a company where you can exchange and/or refill your cartridges. I'll find the name and post back. Saw it on ""Deals"" (LWN).

Re: Printer Ink -- Is there a Cheaper Way?

chickenbutt — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 17:21:57 GMT

There's a myriad of opinions on this, of course. But I never use anything but OEM ink cartridges. I've known several people who ruined their printers with generic or refilled cartridges.

I wonder if it might be less expensive to just get a laser printer, instead of an inkjet. I've heard that it's more practical and laser printers don't cost anywhere near as much as they used to. Every now and then I see a nice-looking one in Amazon Gold Box.

Re: Printer Ink -- Is there a Cheaper Way?

sunshine45 — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 17:22:02 GMT

i stick with my printers recommended ink......tried doing the knock offs and refills and every time i have tried it i have messed up the computer.....i finally said no more. i just buy the ink when i can find discount coupons to use at office depot or quill or staples.

buying the ink is almost as expensive as getting an entire new printer!

Re: Printer Ink -- Is there a Cheaper Way?

sunshine45 — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 17:22:53 GMT

On 9/17/2014 chickenbutt said:
There's a myriad of opinions on this, of course. But I never use anything but OEM ink cartridges. I've known several people who ruined their printers with generic or refilled cartridges.

I wonder if it might be less expensive to just get a laser printer, instead of an inkjet. I've heard that it's more practical and laser printers don't cost anywhere near as much as they used to. Every now and then I see a nice-looking one in Amazon Gold Box.

yup......thats ME!

Re: Printer Ink -- Is there a Cheaper Way?

OCGurl — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 17:24:05 GMT

Go to Amazon and search for you kind. I get a generic of ink for my Epson printer. I pay $10 for 2 blacks, 1 cyan, 1 yellow & 1 blue. I have Epson 520. I did a search and yours is available as well. Just make sure in the description it shows your model to make sure you get the correct ones. I've been getting from Amazon for a few years, and I'm pleased with the product. HTH

Re: Printer Ink -- Is there a Cheaper Way?

shesallthat — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 17:57:34 GMT

i have an HP printer that is over 12 years old and i NEVER buy HP OEM ink! i did that for about 3 years and spending $200 a month on ink alone was just crazy! the discount/refilled ink has never been been a problem for me in the 9 years i have been using it and i will continue to do so until i upgrade my printer for my office next year.

Re: Printer Ink -- Is there a Cheaper Way?

deepwaterdotter — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 18:00:52 GMT

On 9/17/2014 JJsMom said:
Can you take it somewhere to get refilled? I think Costco even does it.

I get my ink cartridges refilled at Costco while I shop. Never a problem using them in my 4-year-old Canon printer.

Re: Printer Ink -- Is there a Cheaper Way?

gardenman — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 18:16:51 GMT

I'm using generic ink on my Epson XP310 and it works great. I've had no problems with it. Before I bought a new printer I first looked for well reviewed generic ink and then bought a printer that uses it.

Re: Printer Ink -- Is there a Cheaper Way?

sunala — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 20:38:59 GMT

I'm getting very mixed reviews, both here and on Amazon. Some people swear by the generic ink, and others warn to stay away from it.

I will have to decide soon as I am just installing my last cartridge. Making decisions seems so hard lately, even for simple things like printer ink!

Thank you everyone for your input and suggestions.

Re: Printer Ink -- Is there a Cheaper Way?

lovescats — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 21:21:54 GMT

I think it depends on whether or not your printer will accept cartridges that are refills. My previous printer accepted them but not without a big fuss. And then the printer seemed to always say that they were empty and refused to use them.

I bought an hp printer in january and have so far only used hp ink but one thing has helped me is to go into the printer settings and select draft only printing and then select use black ink only. When you print in black a lot of times you are still using the color ink. I had to go on hp printers forums to find out how to do this because the settings weren't under the most logical settings or configuration.

Re: Printer Ink -- Is there a Cheaper Way?

Sushismom — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 21:24:26 GMT

On 9/17/2014 chickenbutt said:
There's a myriad of opinions on this, of course. But I never use anything but OEM ink cartridges. I've known several people who ruined their printers with generic or refilled cartridges.

I wonder if it might be less expensive to just get a laser printer, instead of an inkjet. I've heard that it's more practical and laser printers don't cost anywhere near as much as they used to. Every now and then I see a nice-looking one in Amazon Gold Box.

I've had that happen to me. Generic cartridges for my Brother printer which clogged one of the print heads.

I'm now using a Canon printer and install only OEM cartridges. Thankfully, they aren't all that expensive and seem to last quite a while for me.

Re: Printer Ink -- Is there a Cheaper Way?

LilacTree — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 22:15:46 GMT

On 9/17/2014 chickenbutt said:
There's a myriad of opinions on this, of course. But I never use anything but OEM ink cartridges. I've known several people who ruined their printers with generic or refilled cartridges.

I wonder if it might be less expensive to just get a laser printer, instead of an inkjet. I've heard that it's more practical and laser printers don't cost anywhere near as much as they used to. Every now and then I see a nice-looking one in Amazon Gold Box.

This is exactly what I have decided to do. My daughter and I were just talking about it a few days ago. I always had laser printers at work and for a few years at home. The cartridges last much longer and there's no comparison with the print quality. And instead of buying a new cheap printer every year, I would have something that would probably outlast me at this point. I will just get a black and white. I don't print photos or anything like that, I would have that done professionally anyway.

Re: Printer Ink -- Is there a Cheaper Way?

insomniac — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 23:13:11 GMT

I buy cartridges from ebay that work in Epson printers. They're great!

Re: Printer Ink -- Is there a Cheaper Way?

focksie — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 23:37:50 GMT

I get my HP cartridges refilled at Costco. So far, no problems in 3 years but I'm not a heavy user.

Re: Printer Ink -- Is there a Cheaper Way?

DREAMON — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 23:43:56 GMT

Try looking on the Walmart website. I buy all our office supplies from WM with free shipping.

Re: Printer Ink -- Is there a Cheaper Way?

cuddles — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 23:53:11 GMT

A Waterman pen and a bottle of ink. Couldn't resist.

Re: Printer Ink -- Is there a Cheaper Way?

sunala — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 01:10:09 GMT

On 9/17/2014 cuddles said:
A Waterman pen and a bottle of ink. Couldn't resist.

hi cuddles! Now you're talkin'!!

Good to see you again

Re: Printer Ink -- Is there a Cheaper Way?

evelomaddict — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 01:11:35 GMT

we have 2 laser printers, we just added a color one and we've had great success with oem toner cartridges. we order from ebay.