New to refilling

[richtestani]

I've got a HP B8550 which I bought recently and has been incredible for the price and quality.
As many of you know - the drops of ink they provide make printing on these seriously expensive.

I was wondering if anyone knew or could recommend a kit or bulk system (not sure which is which) to use for this printer, if there is one available. I'd like to maximize printing while not having to run to OfficeMax every 10 sheets.

Appreciate any information.
Rich

 

[Manuchau]

Personally, I would suggest getting your money back and purchasing a printer with larger, easily refillable cartridges. You will save a king's ransom (well, a SMALL king) by finding a Canon model that uses the PGI-5s and cli-8s..there still are some available. Rmember, it's NOT what the printer costs upfront, it's "how much will this cost me to run over the next 5 years" which is more important.

 

[richtestani]

Agree about the upfront costs, I know the industry uses the ole' razor and blade business model.
I guess I figured they all had third-party refills available.

I'll consider the option of a Canon.

 

[pharmacist]

I would suggest the Canon Pro 9000 (with refillable CLI-8 cartridges and resettable chips) or even better if you print alot: the Epson Pro 3800 wide format printer (A2 size), which has only a slightly larger footprint compared to the Pro 9000 or your HP B8550 printer (with uncrackable chip on the tiny HP 364 cartridges).

The Epson Pro 3800 has 9 x 80 ml large containers with pigment ink, giving you marvellous colour and neutral B/W prints (with 4 dedicated black and grey cartridges) and is very economical in use, even if you would use original Epson cartridges. It is possible to print on paper, cardboard, canvas and even on (thin) pieces of wood. So whatever you like and the prints are waterproof and light fast.

I am using refillable and resettable cartridges for the Epson Pro 3800 printer and the cost savings are huge.