Are those ink carteidge re-fill places worth it?

[booster11373]

I need to get new printer cartridges today and I live equi-distant from a office supply chain store and a local guy's ink cartridge refill place

Ive never used one before and dont know anyone who has

any thoughts?

[booster11373]

guess not

[mendyweiss]

I just happened to go to one last week

new from office depot-$ 47.00 for just color cartridge
refill from other store - $ 33.00
you just have to bring your old cartridge and trade it in.

worth it

[PapaBear]

I've heard good things about Walgreen's refill service. I think some printer company was trying to get them to stop doing it, but I don't know what ever came of that.

[PapaBear]

I've heard good things about Walgreen's refill service. I think some printer company was trying to get them to stop doing it, but I don't know what ever came of that.
I just found THIS (http://www.walgreens.com/dmi/inkrefill/default.html) online for Walgreens. You can print the online coupon to get either black or color cartridges filled for $5 (no Canon or Epson). They just opened one here, but they don't have the service yet. There's a Walgreens about 20 miles away that does. I think it might be worth the drive to save about 25 or 30 bucks to refill my color cartridge (which just ran out tonight).

[boosterp]

There have been several articles showing that the refills do not print as high of quality as the name brand ones do. I'll look for one.

[CountryBob]

I just experienced using one of these joints and I am happy to say - totally satisfied. I was shocked at how much cheaper the cost was.

[Death Metal Moe]

Whatever you do, don't do the "At Home Refill" one with the stupid syringe. I did this before. You have to crack open your own cartridge and refill it. Worked fine a couple of times, but after like 3 refills suddenly whatever valve was in mine gave way and got black ink all over the inside of the printer. Had to throw it out, I just couldn't clean all the black ink up and my pages came out with smears.

I would say either buy the cheaper Staples or other store brand ones if available or bring them in and have a place fill them.

But I could see the ink not being as high quality or the refilling process fucking up the cartridge after a few refills, you get what you pay for a lot of the time.

[boosterp]

Older article:
But I'm right, too, because we all do more than just print out photos, and for most of our everyday print chores, the Staples, Carrot Ink, PrintPal, and Target consumables are good enough—and they will save us all a ton of money.
PC Mag (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1832537,00.asp)

Know when to go off-brand: No-name printer cartridges are a few dollars cheaper than your printer manufacturer's refills, but the savings may come at the price of lower or inconsistent print quality. If you're printing drafts of text documents, off-brands can be a good choice. For printing photos, however, they generally produce fewer prints than brand-name cartridges do, and they fail to match the manufacturers' inks in print quality and fade resistance.

Refill kits may seem like a good way to cut printer costs; but they're messy, their print quality is inconsistent, and the refilled cartridge will hold less ink than a new cartridge from the original manufacturer will, which means fewer prints in the long run.
PC World (http://www.pcworld.com/article/129141/six_savvy_ways_to_get_more_prints_for_less_money.h tml)

[boonanas]

Thank you to whomever posted that coupon! I've used the Walgreens refill service (when they were offering free refills) and it worked out great. The only downside is the fact that the printer (probably just mine) doesn't detect that it's refilled, and gives me the prompt everytime that I turn on my comp that the Ink is low, but I know it's not. Other than that, it's a great cheap service.

[boosterp]

Thank you to whomever posted that coupon! I've used the Walgreens refill service (when they were offering free refills) and it worked out great. The only downside is the fact that the printer (probably just mine) doesn't detect that it's refilled, and gives me the prompt everytime that I turn on my comp that the Ink is low, but I know it's not. Other than that, it's a great cheap service.

There is another article I saw that says in some ink cartages (printer manufacturers) that up to 40% of your ink is left when the printer tells you it is empty.

[sr71blackbird]

I just was fucked buying refilled ink on eBay.I got color and b+w, and the color is fine but the black ink really sucks. Never again with that stuff. I wish the regular cartiges were cheaper.

[boonanas]

I just came back from Walgreens and I got my black and color inks refilled for a total of 10.70. That's a steal.

[beachbum]

I think they are worth it for documents.Maybe not for photo printing,it depends on your set up.It's surely worth one refill to give it a try though.

[styckx]

I think they are worth it for documents.Maybe not for photo printing,it depends on your set up.It's surely worth one refill to give it a try though.

^^ This.

[SatCam]

Walgreens only refills HP, Lexmark and Dell, so don't try to bring in your canon or brother cartridges. Also a lot of stores don't offer the service all together (call ahead or check online)

Some stores may also have "prefilled/re manufactured" cartridges for Epson and Canon and these will cost $10 for black and $15 for color (same prices as the refills) but don't go on sale.

As far as the refills go, HPs definitely have the best refill rate. Lexmark and Dell not so much, especially Dell. The Dell cartridges pretty much self destruct once the original ink runs out. Best practice is to bring the cartridge in once you start to get the "low ink" message. Old or over used cartridges probably wont refill very well because they will be dried out and/or burnt out. Also black cartridges refill at a higher success rate because the filling process is much simpler and much more accurate than the color fill process.

They do an electrical test to make sure the electrical contacts are working (a lot of people will bring in cartridges that still have ink but the electrical contacts are burnt out), then they empty the cartridge and clean it will a cleaning solution, then fill it, then "print" test it. This is all done by a computer-- all the associate has to do is move the cartridge from one station to another and evaluate the print test. The print test prints ink from each nozzle and then the person just has to see how many nozzles don't print. If a certain number don't the cartridge has failed and it's returned to the customer at no charge............

This pretty much applies to Walgreens btw. Office Max is the only other place I know that does refills but their system is extremely primitive and relies less on the computer and more on the clerk.

I figured I'd offer some insight into the process, not that I work for any of the aforementioned companies or anything.........

[boosterp]

Walgreens only refills HP, Lexmark and Dell, so don't try to bring in your canon or brother cartridges. Also a lot of stores don't offer the service all together (call ahead or check online)

Some stores may also have "prefilled/re manufactured" cartridges for Epson and Canon and these will cost $10 for black and $15 for color (same prices as the refills) but don't go on sale.

As far as the refills go, HPs definitely have the best refill rate. Lexmark and Dell not so much, especially Dell. The Dell cartridges pretty much self destruct once the original ink runs out. Best practice is to bring the cartridge in once you start to get the "low ink" message. Old or over used cartridges probably wont refill very well because they will be dried out and/or burnt out. Also black cartridges refill at a higher success rate because the filling process is much simpler and much more accurate than the color fill process.

They do an electrical test to make sure the electrical contacts are working (a lot of people will bring in cartridges that still have ink but the electrical contacts are burnt out), then they empty the cartridge and clean it will a cleaning solution, then fill it, then "print" test it. This is all done by a computer-- all the associate has to do is move the cartridge from one station to another and evaluate the print test. The print test prints ink from each nozzle and then the person just has to see how many nozzles don't print. If a certain number don't the cartridge has failed and it's returned to the customer at no charge............

This pretty much applies to Walgreens btw. Office Max is the only other place I know that does refills but their system is extremely primitive and relies less on the computer and more on the clerk.

I figured I'd offer some insight into the process, not that I work for any of the aforementioned companies or anything.........

Thank you for the info.

I primarily use my color laser for everyday printing (and since it's networked) since I have high yield toner cartages. I sparingly use my photo printer but will only buy manufacturer cartages.

[SatCam]

Thank you for the info.

I primarily use my color laser for everyday printing (and since it's networked) since I have high yield toner cartages. I sparingly use my photo printer but will only buy manufacturer cartages.

Yea that is a good idea. The colors tend to mix when you refill and I wouldn't trust the quality of the ink. Plus if they're special "photo" cartridges they probably have special ink and Walgreens doesn't refill those kinds anyway

[PapaBear]

I've been refilling my own cartridges for years, but my super sized refill kit is finally empty. There are certain cartridges that cause problems, but my HP ones have been doing fine. As long as the refill kit includes photo colors, you're good. My photos always look great. The only thing I haven't been able to find is the photo gray refills. I don't know if anyone makes them.

[made cummsies]

Whatever you do, don't do the "At Home Refill" one with the stupid syringe.
ditto that....I bought one thinking I'd save a couple of bucks and it would be good for the environment

despite most things I followed the instructions to the letter and ended up spraying ink all over the place....wrecked a shirt and my hands looked like a money dye pack blew up

from now on I'll spend the extra bucks and fuck mother earth:furious:

[Fez4PrezN2008]

I just found THIS (http://www.walgreens.com/dmi/inkrefill/default.html) online for Walgreens. You can print the online coupon to get either black or color cartridges filled for $5 (no Canon or Epson). They just opened one here, but they don't have the service yet. There's a Walgreens about 20 miles away that does. I think it might be worth the drive to save about 25 or 30 bucks to refill my color cartridge (which just ran out tonight).
That is a good find PB, I am going to try the Walgreen refill. I just brought a refilled Lexmark 1 at "The Ink Stop" and it was $2 more than Walmart's price :tongue: AND the black is more like green. First and last trip to The (st)Ink Shop.

[CofyCrakCocaine]

I just do the majority of my printing at a library where they don't charge you per page.

Yeah, I know the bubble will burst someday. But not today.