Printer Ink

[dangie]

Considering printer manufacturers ink is more expensive than Chanel No.5 perfume, where do forum members buy their ink? That is of course you buy compatible inks and not original manufacturers ink.

I have a Canon IP7200 series printer. I don’t use it often but when I do it’s mainly for text and the odd coloured print out. I don’t print photo images so colour accuracy is not important.

However even though it isn’t used often it appears to drink ink. I’m sure it uses ink every time I switch it on, even before its began printing. To this end I’m looking for cheap(er) compatible inks. Any recommendations will be most welcome.

 

[Typhoon]

I'm afraid I can't be any help. Like you I got fed up with the high price of ink cartridges, then I had set I had bought previously (I made sure I always had a set of unused cartridges as sometimes I need to print and send documents at short notice - b & w and colour - in some volume, around 60), message that cartridges past use by date - which was not on them, and difficulty getting branded cartridges (HP). I bought a tank printer (June '21), came with two sets of ink bottles, still using the originals, tanks 3 quarters full and still some in the original bottles. I can see when the ink is running low, I bought a new set of bottles last month - not much over £30.

I would encourage anyone looking to buy a printer to consider a tank printer, they are more expensive but the running costs are fine. There are good reasons why there are companies that will give you a printer if you commit to buying cartridges from them.

 

[TheSmiths82]

I just use a laser printer and buy third party toners. I generally get 1000 pages for about £25. Laser printers are also far more reliable than inkjet printers.

 

[davews]

HP colour laser printer here, best thing I bought. Got nearly two years out of the introductory cartridges, guess the new ones (expensive, yes) will keep me going for a while. Keeping ink cartridge heads clean with my low usage was an experience I don't want to repeat.

 

[barringtoncem]

Do you subscribe to Which Tech as they have recentley had an article on printer ink & suppliers i can let you know the suppliers which came out best

 

[david1212]

While the initial outlay is higher and just like inkjets, particularly at the budget end of the market, the supplied consumables are often reduced capacity do consider a laser printer as that will not dry out and TBC but probably will not have a purge process on every start up.

Once you fit full size consumables they might last a couple of years.

A few years ago I inherited a black only one which is fine for documents and labels, it still has over 50% of supplies.

With any printer be sure to choose one where each colour can be individuality replaced.

Another thing to watch is that black printing really is coded to use black ink and not lots of colour !!

 

[E27007]

Epson Ecotank printers are my solution to the issue of sky-high inkjet cartridge prices, and the comparison for an inkjet cartridge is not Chanel, try the cost of snake venom
For an Ecotank, a reservoir is filled from a bottle of ink, the cost of ink consumption per page is a fraction of the cost of the paper.
Paper becomes the primary cost when printing with an Ecotank, not the ink

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Another user of, and vote for, a laser printer here. Works fine with generic toners.

 

[JohnMcL7]

When my inkjet printer died I also went for a laser printer which in my case was a Brother model with a document feeder and scanner on top which came to around £130 I think. I believe it works with third party toner but I don't actually know yet as I haven't had to buy any since the toner is lasting a decent amount of time. I was increasingly frustrated with the inkjet printer because it was being used infrequently the ink would dry up so I'd spend some time trying to get it working, maybe successfully maybe not and needed more cartridges whereas the laser printer has no issues with infrequent printing and prints perfectly first time every time.

 

[Harpers Tate]

Inkjet printers, when used little, do use ink to head clean as they start up. Inkjet ink dries out and clogs and they are programmed to "know" this and act accordingly (whether actually necessary or not).

To answer your question - I get mine from Prink.

And to support the other thing mentioned here - for limited use a Laser will be an improvement and I'd also recommend. They don't dry out (they aren't "wet" in the first place). They aren't as photo accurate as a half-decent inkjet, but actually, my Brother does come close with authentic toner and the right paper. But for general colour output where absolute quality isn't hugely important, lookalike toners are much cheaper. The headline cost of an XL toner cartridge is much higher than that of an inkjet tank, but they last and last, with a standardised* page count measure of something like 2.5 - 3 thousand (= 5 reams of paper).

* industry standard of 5% coverage, I think

 

[dgl]

I use a Brother MFC-L8690CDW colour laser, though it's currently our departments photocopier at work, I got it stupidly cheap new when Brother were doing a £100 cashback offer (which when I brought it didn't know about!, ended up paying around £140 for a colour laser all in one which even has a double sided ADF!).
A full set of 9,000 page toner cartridges is about £50 and they are not chipped so even when the printer thinks they are empty there are a couple of methods to reset the counter.

All in all it's a very nice piece of kit, came with a decent amount of toner, and has all the functions the average person would ever need, plus who doesn't need to print off origami templates!

One thing that did annoy me is that because it's the bottom model in the range it can't officially take the larger cartridges, the larger cartridges just have more toner in them and are exactly the same size, personally I've had no issues using them and they are even listed in the hidden reset menu.

 

[birchesgreen]

Another vote for Brother laser printers here, i bought one 10 years ago and its still going strong. Not used that often but have no worries about it.

 

[johntea]

I just use the printer at work

Even then I struggle to find I need to print much to begin with these days, with most things now having a digital alternative

 

[dangie]

Thank you for all the replies. When my current stock of ink cartridges run out I’ll look at purchasing an laser printer.

 

[Furryanimal]

I get mine from ASDA…own brand much cheaper than Canon.Pixma 540/541 cartridges.
More importantly they work every bit as well as the Canon cartridges.
Only disadvantage is you get a permanent ink running low message.

 

[E27007]

I'm afraid I can't be any help. Like you I got fed up with the high price of ink cartridges, then I had set I had bought previously (I made sure I always had a set of unused cartridges as sometimes I need to print and send documents at short notice - b & w and colour - in some volume, around 60), message that cartridges past use by date - which was not on them, and difficulty getting branded cartridges (HP). I bought a tank printer (June '21), came with two sets of ink bottles, still using the originals, tanks 3 quarters full and still some in the original bottles. I can see when the ink is running low, I bought a new set of bottles last month - not much over £30.

I would encourage anyone looking to buy a printer to consider a tank printer, they are more expensive but the running costs are fine. There are good reasons why there are companies that will give you a printer if you commit to buying cartridges from them.

Is yout "tank" printer an Epson Ecotank?
I have the Epson ET-M1120 monochrome only (price £120) and an Epson ET-2812 Colour Inkjet /Scanner/Copier, price £170
Ink cost is a less than the cost of the paper for colour MT-2812, , for the monochrome M1120 the inkcost is negligible compared to paper, very satisfied with both printers

Another thing to watch is that black printing really is coded to use black ink and not lots of colour !!

If you print in black with a colour inkjet, the printer sprays tiny amounts of the colours too,invisible until observed with a microscope.
To add paranoia, the serial number of the printer will be placed into the characters, again invisible until viewed under a microscope.
Perhaps the Govt "spooks" insisted upon the latter

Printer Tracking dots

 

[McRhu]

Another vote for the Epson EcoTank (the ET-1810 in my case). The bulk of my printing is photos or painting prints (small admittedly) and it's been a Godsend.

 

[bearhugger]

I use Just Ink & Paper for my Canon MG series printer - just had to order a combo pack of cartridges and saw it was two years ago since I bought the last lot!

 

[Typhoon]

Is yout "tank" printer an Epson Ecotank?
I have the Epson ET-M1120 monochrome only (price £120) and an Epson ET-2812 Colour Inkjet /Scanner/Copier, price £170
Ink cost is a less than the cost of the paper for colour MT-2812, , for the monochrome M1120 the inkcost is negligible compared to paper, very satisfied with both printers

Yes
ET3750, reviews looked good, after the disaster with HP I wanted something reliable, and I got some money off. I use Epson ink because it is so cheap compared to cartridges and not much more than 'own brand' over a year (well so far, I have only bought one set and I don't see me using any until near the end of the year. Slight irritation that it keeps suggesting I refill the ink (I do, when it gets to half way) but I can live with that when comparing the hassle I used to have.

 

[E27007]

Thank you for all the replies. When my current stock of ink cartridges run out I’ll look at purchasing an laser printer.

If paper becomes the dominant cost when printing, then paper costs of a printout may be halved if two-sided printing is used.
the Epson ET printers support two-sided printing, I'm not sure if laser printers are resticted to using only 1 side of the sheet of paper.
It is worth considering an ET inkjet over a laser as you also gain a scanner and photocopier facility.
The Epson ET-1120 supports only Black and greyscale printing, a bottle of Epson black ink is £10, the ET-1120 does not have a scanner.
i would recommend comparing an ET-1120 against a laser in a purchasing decision, the saving in paper with two-sided printing is significant.

 

[davews]

HP laser fully supports two side printing, I regularly print with two pages per side for ultimate economy.

 

[dgl]

Laser printers can most certainly do double sided printing and have been able to do so for ages, I wouldn't buy one without that feature. Mine can even do automatic double-sided copying when you use the automatic document feeder using an extra scanner head fitted in the automatic document feeder itself.
Laser printers also have the advantage when it comes to text printing, printing text much sharper than any inkjet. Also laser printers are generally faster than inkjets if they use multiple imaging drums, and higher quality settings don't slow the printer down like it would with an inkjet.

 

[Crossover]

We have a HP laser printer which belongs to my girlfriend. I think at this point it is over 11 years old and when I plugged it in at our new house, it hadn't been used in over 4 years (having gone through a few house moves with her)

Connected it all up (to WiFi, too!) and aside from the general burning smell of dust, it printed fine (be it, it is quite slow compared to more modern machines)

All consumables are original except the black toner

 

[E27007]

Paper costs, I use Navigator 80gm at £3.75 for 400 sheets, or £7 for two 400 sheet packs when on offer.at Tesco
For durabilty, either 90 or 100 gm Navigator which is ariund £5 for 250 sheets, purchased at Tesco.
Navigator works with my Epson printers, paper misfeed jammving very very rare.
Any other users with experience of Navigator or other paper brands.?
Please quote the prices you are paying

 

[DM352]

Epson ecotank 2850 refurb from epson and it came with full ink which not had to replace yet. Had enough of old epson inkjet with error code prone cartridges from amazon

 

[Howardh]

Ecotank 2500 for about £160 on 2017; came with 4 100ml bottles to fill the tanks, 6 years later had to refill the tanks and the total of the 4 bottles (genuine ink) = £32. So at the rate I have used over the years it's costing me about £8/yr in ink - all colours + B/w.

I do expect the printer to expire at some time, won't last for ever, but I'll be getting the same again!