$54 for ink cartridges!

[Rock'n Robin]

I have been putting this off....but both of the cartridges in my printer were gone. Now DD#1 needed an article on astronomy tomorrow, so I had to go out to Meijer to get them (no time to research or do internet comparisons, tomorrow is the end of the semester and she needs the extra credit). The black cartridge (#56) was $19 and the color cartridge (#57) was $35!
All I can say is they'd better last a long time....no more printing out every picture on the toy story 2nd grade program, DS!
Robin M.

 

[tiggerlover]

Ouch! Two at the same time is rough, that sure is a lot of money. We bought DS a printer with his new computer, we told him the first cartridge is on us, but if he abuses it he will be buying his own ink. Hopefully that will keep him from printing everything under the sun.

 

[Piglet's Pal]

On Monday I had to buy 2 ink cartridges for my printer and I nearly fell over when the cashier said $62.52 I even had a $10 off coupon
The black ink was $31.99 and the color was $36.99...My printer only cost me $49.99...maybe I should have just bought a new printer.

 

[Regina]

I go through sooo many cartridges. I just turned in 8 empties at Staples and got a $3.00 discount coupon for each of them. The coupons can't be combined and they have to be used within 3 months. This is the first time that I thought to do this. I usually toss them in the garbage.

 

[Imzadi]

Depending on which brand of printer you have, some generic ink companies work just as well for MUCH cheaper. I have a Canon & use www.abacusink.com. They are also great for Epson printers.

Normally a Canon brand cartidge sells for $15-$25.
Abacus inks for my model printer are:
BCI-24BK (3pk)--- $3.64 ($1.21 each)
BCI-24C (2pk)--- $3.43 ($1.71 each)

I never have to worry about misprints, since the ink is so cheap. Pictures are fabulous. I print my own color picture brochures off my printer for my business as the quality is so good & it is so cheap to print up.

Lexmark brand printers are notorious for NOT allowing generic ink cartridges ans the quality is bad when you use them. They have very little ink in each cartridge & are of the most expensive out. They are known for selling the actual printers really cheap, sucking people in to buy them & then making all their money off the cartridges. If you have one of these printers, it is actually better to go out & buy a new PRINTER on sale in the next 2 months as many of this years models will be clearanced for the newer models. Then use the cheaper generic cartridges.

You figure out the math, your printer with one cartridge bought 3 times over the next year and a half at $35 x3= $105.

Or a printer clearanced at $69. Then good quality generic ink at $2-$3 a cartridge for the next 5 years.

Also, you can save money by saving the good quality "real" inks for just photos and use the generic inks when you don't need such fine quality, like printing off documents, if you find they don't work as well.

Here is a thread where someone did side-by-side comparisons of original ink & the Abacus inks.
http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/arcmessageview.php?catid=18&threadid=457077

 

[bettyann29]

Yikes.. Thats why when I run out it takes forever before I buy more.. I ran out months ago and havent bought anymore yet..

 

[jekajekalynn]

Jeeze.. I've always wondered why plain ol' ink for printers is so darn high. Does it really cost that much to make?

Anyways, thanx to the person who posted the cheap ink link.

 

[grlpwrd]

Depending on which brand of printer you have, some generic ink companies work just as well for MUCH cheaper. I have a Canon & use www.abacusink.com. They are also great for Epson printers.

Normally a Canon brand cartidge sells for $15-$25.
Abacus inks for my model printer are:
BCI-24BK (3pk)--- $3.64 ($1.21 each)
BCI-24C (2pk)--- $3.43 ($1.71 each)

I never have to worry about misprints, since the ink is so cheap. Pictures are fabulous. I print my own color picture brochures off my printer for my business as the quality is so good & it is so cheap to print up.

Lexmark brand printers are notorious for NOT allowing generic ink cartridges ans the quality is bad when you use them. They have very little ink in each cartridge & are of the most expensive out. They are known for selling the actual printers really cheap, sucking people in to buy them & then making all their money off the cartridges. If you have one of these printers, it is actually better to go out & buy a new PRINTER on sale in the next 2 months as many of this years models will be clearanced for the newer models. Then use the cheaper generic cartridges.

You figure out the math, your printer with one cartridge bought 3 times over the next year and a half at $35 x3= $105.

Or a printer clearanced at $69. Then good quality generic ink at $2-$3 a cartridge for the next 5 years.

Also, you can save money by saving the good quality "real" inks for just photos and use the generic inks when you don't need such fine quality, like printing off documents, if you find they don't work as well.

Here is a thread where someone did side-by-side comparisons of original ink & the Abacus inks.
http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/arcmessageview.php?catid=18&threadid=457077

Ooooohh... thanks for the link.

Have you personally noticed if your printer heads clog more so than when you used the true Canon brand of printer ink? Just curious.

 

[tmt martins]

I'm with IMZADI on this .

You should also look for a printer that takes different cart. for all 4 colors ( CYMK ) this will also save you in the long run.

Cyan or Blue is the most printed color and runs out faster then the Yellow and Magenta in most cases.

 

[Regina]

Just a caution, I used the Staples brand of cartridges that are supposed to be compatible with my Epson printer. I couldn't wait for those to get used up, they were horrible. I had to tape them down since I couldn't lock them in place.

The next time I was there, someone was looking at the Staples brand and I told them about my experience. The salesman said they can be returned if they don't work with your priinter. (Great, now they tell me.)

 

[jfulcer]

I'd recommend against using generic inks in your printer - you should get inks that are specifically for your printer. Different printers use different types of inks and the formula can vary wildy. Every printer I've gotten, and every printer that most of my friends have gotten, I've purchased my ink from http://www.misterinkjet.com

At his site, you can get 'compatible' cartridges for your printer that use inks of the same formulation that your printer was designed for, or you can buy refill kits to refill your cartridges yourself (which is what I do). On occasion you still need to buy a new cartridge because they do wear out after a while, but I'm happy buying one cartridge a year and refilling it many times over..

My wife likes the site because she orders from their specialty paper selection whenever I order ink.

 

[WebmasterAlex]

The price of laser printers has come down so much that anyone that prints a lot should take a serious look at them. The difference in printing cost per page is HUGE

 

[Towncrier]

One of my coworkers needed ink in a hurry for his HP printer and ended up purchasing them at Giant Eagle (a supermarket/superstore chain in Cleveland). The odd thing was that, even though they were the same price as the local Staples/Office Max, they were the "starter" cartridges that only had half as much ink.

I hope that you didn't have that same misfortune at Meijer's and that you got the 1/2 filled cartridges that the printer manufacturers sell. You really have to look closely at the part number to determine this, so be careful next time you need replacements.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I'd recommend against using generic inks in your printer - you should get inks that are specifically for your printer.......I've purchased my ink from http://www.misterinkjet.com........

Aren't those statements opposite of each other, Jeff?

 

[C.Ann]

The last time I used generic ink cartridges it destroyed my HP printer! I was so upset because it was such an awesome printer (photo quality) and when I bought the proper ink cartridges (HP) they would last for a long, long time - and I do a LOT of "color" items..

Since living at my DD's I've been using a different printer and hated the quality (not to mention how quickly the ink ran out) so I went on eBay and was able to snag a printer just like my old one - in excellent condition - for something like $28.40.. It came with a color cartridge at least half full, a black cartridge that had just been inserted and an additional brand new black cartridge unopened.. I've been printing away like crazy and I'm SOOOOO happy!!

No generics for me - I learned my lesson the hard way..

 

[crazelion]

I can't even remember the last time I bought ink for printer. I print so in frequently that I mybe buy one cartiage a year.

 

[Imzadi]

Ooooohh... thanks for the link.

Have you personally noticed if your printer heads clog more so than when you used the true Canon brand of printer ink? Just curious.

My canon printer has not clogged with the Abacus brand inks.

Please note that I said Abacus Inks work well with Canon & Epson printers. I'm not sure about HP or other brand printers.

Lexmark brand printers are notorious for clogging with almost all generic inks, which forces people to continue to keep buying their manufactured brand inks for the higher price.

I'd recommend against using generic inks in your printer - you should get inks that are specifically for your printer. Different printers use different types of inks and the formula can vary wildy. Every printer I've gotten, and every printer that most of my friends have gotten, I've purchased my ink from http://www.misterinkjet.com

At his site, you can get 'compatible' cartridges for your printer that use inks of the same formulation that your printer was designed for, or you can buy refill kits to refill your cartridges yourself (which is what I do). On occasion you still need to buy a new cartridge because they do wear out after a while, but I'm happy buying one cartridge a year and refilling it many times over...

Aren't those statements opposite of each other, Jeff?

Dan, not at all. To clarify and agree with what JFulcer said, you have to find out if your printer uses ink that is PIGMENT based or DYE based inks, then buy the generic "compatible" cartridges that use the same type of ink.

The clogging happens when you put a pigment (little particles) ink in a printer that normally uses dye (fluid) ink. When you use a dye (fluid) ink in a printer that requires a pigment (little particles) ink, you get prictures that are blurry because the dye has spread out & run slightly, causing fuzzy looking pictures & print. One of those probably happened with C.Ann & her HP printer.

...or you can buy refill kits to refill your cartridges yourself (which is what I do). On occasion you still need to buy a new cartridge because they do wear out after a while, but I'm happy buying one cartridge a year and refilling it many times over...

If you buy the Abacus ink cartridges (or another quality generic) for down to like $2-3 per cartridge, why bother with refilling? They are so cheap to begin with, you simply pull out the old cartridge & plug in a new one with no time wasted. Also, sometimes those "refill kits" don't refill properly all the colors, or leak while refilling & you get dye or pigment EVERYwhere other than inside the cartridge.

Again, those "refill kits" might not necessarily fit EVERY printer depending on if they are dye or pigment based.

 

[DMRick]

I use 4-5 cartridges a week (yep, that's a week..I do desk top publishing). It depends on my printer which ones I use generic in. I get my ink form Tyler Martin for the generic's, and use those for the Canon (I hate the Staples generic's) and one of the Epson's. If I have a long run of something for myself (something I'll use in advertising), I'll use the generic's in my old HP workhorse. If it's for a client, I use the real thing, since I like the darker black of the "real" thing. For my lasers, the ink lasts so long I use the real think.

 

[jfulcer]

Aren't those statements opposite of each other, Jeff?

I suppose when I meant Generic, I meant the "This refills EVERY inkjet printer" kits that you see at Target, Walmart, etc. Those can actually damage your printer.

The inks that Abacus and Mr Ink Jet use are made to work with you printer, specifically for your printer. I suppose you could always consider these inks 'OEM' style inks, and the cheap ones in the store 'generic'.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Misterinkjet then, or Abacus Inks? I have an HP Photosmart 7960. Hopefully not too far down the road to be replaced wsith a color laser.