PCWorld magazine article on printer ink refills.

[joseph1949]

PCWorld magazine article on printer ink refills.

First things first.

My thoughts on Jeff Bertolucci, one of two authors of the PCWorld article:

1. Jeff cannot chew gum and walk at the same time.
2. Jeff believes that if he tested a refill for a Canon cart an important body part would fall offno joke!!!!!

Below is the PRINTER INK ALTERERNATIVES table from PCWorld magazine article, Printer Ink Refills, pages 38-41, June 2011.

1. Costco
Rating (out of five stars)three stars GOOD
Cartridge pricingHP 60 black: $8
HP 60 color: $8
Page yield/Cost per pageYield: 148 pages
Cost per page: 11 cents
Note: The warehouse stores machine-refill service is inexpensive and easy to use, and the inks print quality is acceptable (only just).

2. InkTec
Rating (out of five stars)three stars GOOD
Cartridge pricingHPI-4060D (black): $13
HPI-4060C (color): $17
Page yield/Cost per pageYield: 90 pages
Cost per page: 2 cents
Kit refills up to 10 black and 25 color HP 60 cartridges
Note: Refilling cartridges yourself with ink bottles and syringe can be messy (especially if you cannot chew gum and walk at the same time), but the savings you can achieve are phenomenal.

3. hp
Rating (out of five stars)three stars GOOD
Cartridge pricing60 Black Ink Cartridge (CC640WN): $15
60 Tricolor Ink Cartridge (CC643WN): $20
Page yield/Cost per pageYield: 132 pages
Cost per page: 27 cents
Note: Although HPs original inks produced the best output quality of any inks in our tests, the cartridges cost per page is high.

4. Office DEPOT
Rating (out of five stars)two and half stars FAIR
Cartridge pricingOD640WN (black): $12
OD643WN (color): $16
Page yield/Cost per pageYield: 134 pages
Cost per page: 22 cents
Note: The small savings you get with the office-supply retailers remanufactured cartridges isnt worth the decline in output quality.

5. Cartridge World
Rating (out of five stars)two and half stars FAIR
Cartridge pricingCWH-60K (black): $15.32 (online)
CWH-60Tri (color): $18.55 (online)
Page yield/Cost per pageYield: 156 pages
Cost per page: 23 cents
Note: Output quality is acceptable, but individual savings are uncertain, since pricing varies by store and on the companys Website.

My notes:

1. Trust meuse the above table for reference only.
2. Printer used in articlePhotosmart e-All-in-One inkjet multifunction printer.
3. I use InkTec ink. My cost per ml is $.03 when bought by the liter!!!!!
I have a Canon PIXMA MX870 printer. It uses CLI-221/PGI-220BK carts.
I use the top-fill method to fill the carts.
4. Please read the ENTIRE article before deciding which alternative to use.
5. HP carts are difficult to fillproceed with caution.
6. Canon is mentioned only twice in the article. Here they are:
Costco refills dozens of specific Canon, Dell, HP, and Lexmark cartridges.

Cartridge World sells toner and ink cartridges for various printers, including Canon, Dell, HP, and Lexmark models.
7. This forum was not mentioned or any other inkjet printer forum. Any guesses why?!?!?!
8. No resetter was used on the cartridges.

Question: Can you purchase a resetter for the cartridges?


Thank you.

 

[ThrillaMozilla]

5. HP carts are difficult to fillproceed with caution.

Not necessarily. HP makes many different kinds of cartridges. Some are virtually identical to Canon cartridges and are easy to fill.

 

[fotofreek]

No reviewer for any magazine I have seen has done the most logical evaluation - see what successful refillers do and check out the best inks, simple devices, and techniques. I imagine that one of the major impediments is that very few people who read a review based on our forum participant experiences would even take the first step. We see many new participants who are reluctant to take the first step in refilling and would prefer to use prefilled aftermarket carts. Before getting started with refilling, the whole process looks complicated to many people. We know that after you have a few inky fingers and get a routine established it is very easy.