7 replies to this topic

[Egerton]

Printer companies dont sell printers anymore. They give away machines that cause you to spend a fortune on cartridges,and as a concession to the owner they allow you to print documents --sometimes --if you have all the right drivers etc etc
What really gets me those little chips that send a signal to the printer that tells it to stop working when there is still a lot of powder left.
Here are my questions;
How do those chips work? How can you stop them from lying?
I have the bread box HP2600N. I had a big print job on 4 X 6 paper small amount of print. Of course the toner level dropped like a stone. When it went empty the recharger weighed it and said it was still half full.Couldnt buy a chip anywhere.
Now the Cyan has gone. Printing a whole lot of blue lately Bought a new cartridge today. Now the magenta and yellow chips are jealous and say; "replace me too".
I can buy a new printer for less money than a new set of cartridges.
there must be some "things" we can do ? Any ideas?

[systems_glitch]

The best solution I've found is just to get a printer that doesn't attempt to rip you off on ink. I use an old HP LaserJet 4 for all of my printing needs, since I almost never do color prints. At work, we used an Epson printer that uses ink tanks rather than cartridges -- they look like cartridges, but they're just a reservoir. The heads are part of the printer, instead of being integrated with the ink vessel. You can buy the ink to refill them in gallon jugs. Ours was fitted with a "continuous ink system," meaning the gallon jugs the ink came in were directly attached to the print heads.

You're absolutely right, most desktop printers are a scheme to get you to spend insane amounts of money on 15 mL's of ink. For an even better read on inkjet printers, do a search for "waste ink tank" -- apparently most people don't realize a good portion of your ink goes into keeping the print heads clear, by just squirting ink through them into a tank in the bottom of your printer.

[Lord Wud]

Printers are definately a razor blade scheme. I use G+G ink for my Epson r320. It works great. I have had other knockoff brands that didnt work at all, but the cost is usually low enough for it to be worth trying them out. Especially if you print alot.


edit: Also there is legal precedent for reverse engineering that tech for purpose of interoperability. So it is legal for companies to make knockoff cartridges. I remember getting excited and high-fiving a clueless co-worker when this story broke http://arstechnica.c...41026-4352.html

Edited by Lord Wud, 24 September 2008 - 08:47 AM.

[hrddrv]

I use a laserjet for most of my printing. When I need color I have a epson that I go get the cartriges refilled at Office max for $10. My advice buy a laserjet, color ones are cheap these days around $300, for most and a cheapy inkjet for the rest. If you need good prints go and pay for em at a copy place.

[Egerton]

I use a laserjet for most of my printing. When I need color I have a epson that I go get the cartriges refilled at Office max for $10. My advice buy a laserjet, color ones are cheap these days around $300, for most and a cheapy inkjet for the rest. If you need good prints go and pay for em at a copy place.

This is a laserjet HP 2600N the cartridges are $130 more or less in Office depot. so four replacements are more than the printer is worth!!

Does anyone have a diring wireagram so I could disable the colour and just print in Black. That would be a sort of solution except that I already bought the wretched cyan cartridge.
Thanks for all the replies so far

[BrakeDanceJ]

I just wanted to say: Killer first post man. Welcome to the board.

Usually it's: 'how do I hack teh myspace!!11?'

[superkippah]

'how do I hack teh myspace!!11?'

that's what I'm thinking too.

[hmunster69]

I have an old Canon ip1800. You can pop the tops off the the cartridges easily. Just get a hacksaw blade and wedge it between the top and cartridge on the corner, it will snap off. You can pull out the sponges and refill, put the top back on and wrap some electrical tape around it, just make sure it's tight. If your doing a lot of color printing for art projects, etc., this will save you some cash(if that's your goal). I was trying to mock up a photo book to self publish on Blurb and I was using a ton of ink. Buy some of those yellow kitchen gloves, it can be a mess at times.