Good and Bad Ink Cartridge Numbers

[SCGUY99]

I know a lot of people purchase a replacement printer after their ink runs out, because the printer is cheaper than the ink. Does anyone ever do the reverse and buy a bunch of ink at a bargain price, and then find a compatible printer for it? I come across brand new non expired genuine HP, Canon, Epson etc ink cartridges at second hand stores, but I don't know which numbers accompany printers that are a good value and which ones accompany printers that use up ink fast. Earlier this week for example, I saw a Canon CL-40 and Canon CL-41 cartridges for $3 but I don't know if the printers they accompany are junk or not. Someone told me to buy a used Canon Pixma MP780 for $125US because it's a very reliable machine and takes cheap ink cartridges for which there are aftermarket companies that make them.


If anyone knows some good or bad cartridge numbers offhand, please share.

 

[websnail]

I think the question you have to ask is whether you would consider buying a house and then trying to find a plot of land that it would fit on... It's a bit back-asswards if you ask me ...

Printer first, THEN the ink... Only time I've ever done it the other way round is because my printer has died and I need the ink to work on something else.. Otherwise, erm... why?... Just my 2pence worth you understand

 

[jimintex]

It's not exactly the same thing, but if you're looking at the long-term costs of running a printer, which is honestly where the real expense is, you can check printers out at www.printer.com. You can give it make and model, how much printing you do and if it's color or just b&w, and it will tell you the long-term costs. That way, you can judge which ones give you the most printing for your cartridge/toner buck.

 

[websnail]

It's not exactly the same thing, but if you're looking at the long-term costs of running a printer, which is honestly where the real expense is, you can check printers out at www.printer.com. You can give it make and model, how much printing you do and if it's color or just b&w, and it will tell you the long-term costs. That way, you can judge which ones give you the most printing for your cartridge/toner buck.

Ok... only one immediate comment on this.

Does it allow for any non-standard usage such as CIS kits, refilling, etc?

If it doesn't I'd seriously include that as an option because, whilst it's a great idea, it really doesn't give an accurate set of options, just bog standard Jo Public ones.

 

[jimintex]

Not yet, but I'm not sure how they could, seeing the variability there is among those options. I believe they're using real-time data based on current and past prices to calculate their numbers, and would need a broad range of current and updated prices on those options to integrate it into their algorithm. But that's assuming it works the way I think it does.