Need advice which inkjet printer to buy

[berns]

Hi,
My 1 1/2 old HP photosmart c5280 is on the fritz. I tried all the stuff on their website and used instant chat. still no go.
Now I am ready to buy a new printer. Do little printing, no photos, just black text and grayscale.
would love advice on 100.- or less priced inkjet WHERE WE CAN REFILL WITH BULK ink. Have used this precedure for years with other printers but read that some new printers require a chip resetter or similar tool.
Grateful for any suggestions.
Berns

 

[ghwellsjr]

Unfortunately all the printers made in the last few years have chips in them to thwart refilling. Canon's do not require you to reset the chip, but you will void the warranty and the ink level detector will quit working.

If you will settle for an older used printer, you might be able to find a Canon that uses the BCI-3eBk cartridge (along with some BCI-6 cartridges for color) and you will have what you want. Check craigslist and make sure the printer will do a perfect nozzle check before you buy. Some printers that fit this description are the iP3000, iP4000, i850, i860. If you don't mind a large all-in-one, you could look for an MP780.

 

[qwertydude]

If you're not doing photos one of the better ways to go may be HP. Get the HP D2660 and while you're at the store get the HP 60xl cartridge for it. Then you can easily refill the cartridge by injecting ink into the foam. When the cartridge software reads low, just ignore it and press ok or whatever it says so you can keep printing. All you have to do is keep the cartridge topped up, you don't want these cartridges running dry.

 

[RMM]

I agree with qwertydude. Any of the printers that accept the 60 and 60XL cartridges are good candidates for black & white printing. They aren't so favorable for photo printing but for an economical heavy use b&w printer they are pretty hard to beat.

I have a few of these printers where I have refilled the cartridges 10+ times and they are still printing pretty well. Eventually the printheads do wear out but they last a LONG time with decent ink.

The key is to never let them run out of ink! Each time they get low or run out it seems to greatly diminish the life of the cartridge.

The upside is... if you ruin printhead all you have to do is buy a new cartridge!

 

[Kevinator]

I've heard nice things about the photosmart 9180b