What printer/copier is going to be easiest/most efficient to refill?

[SakarTelephone]

Hello all, great forum.

For ADD folks: Easiest/Most efficient to refill wireless printer/copier for home use; even mixture of photos and text. (Double sided printing would be a big plus as well)

I am looking to buy my Mom a Printer for Christmas to replace a Lexmark X5150 (which had mixed results refilling).

I could refill them for her once, maybe twice, then they would be very problematic, and had to buy new cartridges.

I just simply want to buy my Mom a printer in which she can freely print without having to worry about the ridiculous cost of new cartridges and still be able to print photo quality prints.

So is there one brand that refills better than the other? One particular model within that brand, etc?

For what it is worth, the new printer has to be wireless (that is my reason for buying it for her).

And she prints a mixture of photos and black and white documents (she is one of those safe than sorry people and photocopies every semi-important document she has).

Thank you in advance for any and all help.

P.S. Originally I was leaning toward an HP Photosmart Premium, but it is looking like they are a pain to deal with, with their cart. chips.

 

[qwertydude]

I would get her an Epson Workforce 610. They're on sale on the Epson site for only $129.99 with free shipping and a CIS system, set it up for her once and then show her how to refill it. CIS systems are the easiest to refill, just pour more ink into it.

 

[kgvickers]

A few weeks ago I purchased an HP Photosmart Premium AIO C309a. Observations so far . . .

Setup was a breeze. I downloaded all the latest software from HP's website rather than using the CD that came with it.

I initially loaded the "BIG" software that has everything on my main computer. I did this only to get the system set-up. Then I removed all that bloated crap and then loaded only the basic drivers. Seems to be working fine.

I have it on my wireless network. I've been having problems with my wireless router - it flakes out and I have to reset it. Fortunately, the HP printer gets automatically reconnected every time with no problems whatsoever.

Plain paper print quality is excellent as are photos on photo paper (I'm using Costco branded 4x6 paper, currently on sale, 300 sheets for ~$10). The photo prints are much better than my six-color Epson R320.

Scanning is adequate for my needs, and the color and black/white copy function works fine. I've not tried the fax part yet.

Other than HP's stupid, bloated software, so far I've found only one annoyance. After printing, it clicks and makes noises for at least another 15 seconds or so. But I'm willing to tolerate that.

I've purchased a CIS for it but it's not installed yet since the original carts still have ink. I'll probably do that this weekend.

You mentioned the cart chips . . . I will have to remove the original chips and put them on the CIS carts. The vendor states that the printer will complain about low ink but will continue to print just fine. The printer appears to have a "turn off the ink warning" selection but I have yet to try that. I'll let you know how that works out when I get to that point.

One advantage of this HP printer is that the print head can be removed and cleaned should the ink ever dry up in it due to a long interval between printing. My Epson will have problems if I go more than two weeks without printing.

I agree with qwertydude on the CIS. I got very good at refilling cartridges but since using a CIS on my Epson for the past two years I'll never bother with that messy job again. Whatever printer you finally get, be sure to investigate whether there's a quality CIS for it and use that.

Cheers,

Keith

 

[stratman]

kgvickers:

I nearly fell out of my chair when I read your post! I have a friend with the same first name and same sounding but differently spelled last name who just bought the same printer. As he is not a printer hobbyist, he would not have purchased a CIS , but at first I thought it was my friend, so I was a little shocked. Anyways, he likes the printer very much.

Where did you get your CIS? I will be interested to learn of your experience with it so I can tell my friend.

Good luck on the installation.

 

[kgvickers]

kgvickers:

I nearly fell out of my chair when I read your post! I have a friend with the same first name and same sounding but differently spelled last name who just bought the same printer. As he is not a printer hobbyist, he would not have purchased a CIS , but at first I thought it was my friend, so I was a little shocked. Anyways, he likes the printer very much.

Where did you get your CIS? I will be interested to learn of your experience with it so I can tell my friend.

Good luck on the installation.

I'm not sure I completely qualify for the title of Printer Hobbyist but I do enjoy tinkering with anything mechanical or electrical (Ga Tech EE '85). I hate paying retail for anything, thus the refill/CIS obsession.

I got my CIS at www.inkproducts.com. They have been very helpful and any emails are quickly answered, so I'm confident the CIS will work fine. They are very much enamored with the C309a - that's mainly what convinced me.

I bought the printer at Costco about two weeks ago for $209+tax. It's now on sale for $149 . . . guess I'll have to do the "return/rebuy" trick.

When I get around to installing the CIS I'll post here how it goes.

Keith

Edit: I'm getting a good chuckle out of many of the signatures on this forum where the member lists all the printers he has . . . . I'm fairly active on a few BMW forums since I got into those cars a few years ago (we've got four in the family now) and that's a common practice. This forum is Nerdvana for printer nuts! I'm in Heaven!

I'm convinced that all engineers are somewhat compulsive by nature and I'm no exception. I'm glad I found this forum, but I know I'll be wasting a lot of time here - is there a 12-Step program discount for members?

 

[stratman]

This forum is Nerdvana for printer nuts! I'm in Heaven!

You are correct!

I'm convinced that all engineers are somewhat compulsive by nature and I'm no exception. I'm glad I found this forum, but I know I'll be wasting a lot of time here - is there a 12-Step program discount for members?

Why yes there is, sort of. Some are at Step One, Recognition of a problem, though it's usually spouse driven - http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1524.

I think you are going to fit in quite well here, Keith. Welcome home.

 

[kgvickers]

All too funny. I particularly liked the poem.

Well, I got the HP AIO because my work space was getting out of control and everyone else in the family was tired of all the confusion (all seemed perfectly logical to me, however).

I had an HP 970Cse, my first "photo" printer which I kept (even after the Epson R320) because of the quality of color prints on plain paper for the kids' school projects. This rarely got used so the cart heads were always dried-up. I spent countless hours unclogging them but I did get very good at refilling.

Next, a LaserJet 6mp was added for everyday black&white printing. I got help at fixyourownprinter.com when the exit rollers turned to mush and did my own repair.

An Epson R320 w/CIS was added and dedicated to photo printing.

An Epson scanner was there, too.

I've always wanted a Canon i9900 for its beautiful photo prints. May still get one if I can justify space for that beast; they are getting cheap on CL.

Hmmm, maybe I am a printer nerd, erh, hobbyist.

 

[leo8088]

There is no more i9900. It has been replaced by pro9000. But the print head is the same. There are many out there running around $250 now. Canon is giving it for free (rebate) when you buy a high end digital camera.

 

[BOYNTONSTU]

I would get her an Epson Workforce 610. They're on sale on the Epson site for only $129.99 with free shipping and a CIS system, set it up for her once and then show her how to refill it. CIS systems are the easiest to refill, just pour more ink into it.

"They're on sale on the Epson site for only $129.99 with free shipping and a CIS system"

Does the CIS come with it?

The cartridges look huge, are they refillable?

BTW The 610 is now advertised at $99.99!