Replace all cartridges at the same time when switching to refillables? (PGI-550/CLI-551)

[The Hat]

So my experience is that the "newer" type can indeed be mixed with others

That’s great they can be mixed with other cartridges, you may have a better type of chip than most of the ones out there, just be care that you don’t run out of ink by check them regularly just to make sure.

@The Hat, from what you say, it follows that the old chips were better than the new ones: they could be replaced one by one and could be filled all at the same time (that I also consider much more convenient).
What were their drawbacks?

The only drawback with the older chips was that they tended to use far more ink, because each time you turned on your printer it would do a complete maintenance cycle, the printer would see them as an all new cartridges installation, it was also very easy to forget to check your ink levels, doing so also caused yet another cleaning cycle.

As for color matching, I think this is not the priority for 90% of those that are looking to replace the OEMs. I mean I don't believe that the majority of people are printing fine-art photography on their printers

Colour matching is of great concern to quite a lot of guys, I know about it, and you obvious know that this can cause a colour shift too, but failing to mention this could cause some guys to pull their hair out.

And, for "normal" pictures, I think that a good photo lab is a better (and even cheaper) option than using refillable cartridges.

I am not a photographer but do refill all my own cartridges with 3rd party inks and can say that a photo lab maybe cheaper but not necessarily better, even the small desktop printer that you own can produce photos that would be second to none with proper profiling.

The only problem with using 3rd party inks is if not matched with a suitable paper they tend to fade somewhat quicker then when using OEM inks, but it’s a small price to pay for the luxurious of been able to print whenever the need arises..

I hope not to offend anyone. I know there are many hobbyists here, but ... this is the truth.

Speaking for myself I can say, Nope one bit..

 

[floK]

Colour matching is of great concern to quite a lot of guys, I know about it, and you obvious know that this can cause a colour shift too, but failing to mention this could cause some guys to pull their hair out.

Yes, I know, I used to be one of those guys
And, though I agree with what you say further:

I am not a photographer but do refill all my own cartridges with 3rd party inks and can say that a photo lab maybe cheaper but not necessarily better, even the small desktop printer that you own can produce photos that would be second to none with proper profiling.

I had, long time ago, to give up this hobby because, combined with my perfectionism, it proved too costly as both time and money.
But, indeed, the printers were not so performant as today, and the third party cartridges/inks were much more rare and of bad quality.
From what I read on this forum, I understand that a lot of improvements were made and I feel encouraged to try again.
Still, I'm a bit concerned about the technical aspects and want to know exactly what problems could occur, as I don't want to complicate my life again