Readers find alternatives to costly ink cartridges
By
Scott Dunn
Any way you slice it, inkjet ink is an expensive commodity that requires frequent replacement.
Fortunately, some readers have good ideas for economizing and getting the most ink for your money.
Monochrome printing may use up color ink
My
July 5
story analyzed the controversial topic of inkjet efficiency. Reader
Dennis J. Haggerty explains that even monochrome pages may use
some color ink:
-
"I use an Epson Stylus Photo R300 printer. I chose this model because
it has the capability to print on CDs and DVD. It has individual
color cartridges. Even when the Epson is printing only black, it
draws ink from the color cartridges. Epson says that this gives
a 'richer' black.
"I print very little in color, as this is my office printer and is rarely used for photos. Yet the color cartridges drain almost as fast as the black one."
Ink manufacturers may underfill cartridges
Clive Davies accuses manufacturers of not adequately filling ink cartridges:
-
"Nothing was mentioned of the fact that cartridges from the
manufacturer usually underfill their products. HP prints the ink
volume in tiny letters on the back of the packaging. For example,
an HP 21 contains only 5 ml of ink, but the cartridge capacity
is over 20 ml. We are paying dearly for our ink in
the U.K."
Save money, refill your own ink cartridges
Fred Spector has the following advice:
-
"If you go to a independent ink supplier such as P.S. Ink and get
their empty refillable cartridges, you can transfer the electronic
chip from the old to the new cartridges and, using a special tool,
reset them. They are transparent, have a simple filling plug, and
allow multiple refills with the bulk ink available from the distributor.
Reliable, cheap, and very easy to use.
"You do not lose your warranty by using third party ink in spite of claims. I've found this U.S.-based company to be excellent, after using it for a number of years."
Continuous ink-flow systems may reduce costs
John A. Schakel Jr. has another do-it-yourself solution to high ink prices:
-
"If you want to save money on Epson inks, a continuous ink-flow
system from
Media Street
is the way to go. I have it on my Epson 1280 and 260. The cost
of the system is about 2 to 3 complete set of ink cartigates
(less than $200), but the ink that comes with it is equal to
10 complete sets.
"I do a lot of printing in my business, using a lot of ink that would cost a mint using Epson inks. With the continous flow system it is just pennies. You can cut your ink cost by 90% and still get the same great results as if you were using Epson inks. Example: I just bought 32 oz. of black ink for $45.00, which is equal to 80 to 90 Epson black cartridges."
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