Anyone Have Luck Ordering New Printer Cartidge Online?

[scrabbler1]

After 10 years of using an inkjet printer, I got tired of the ink cartridges running out of ink or drying up before I had used up the ink (sometimes, the guy at my Cartridge World would get the cartridge working again at no charge). The inkjet printer was slow, too, another annoyance.

So, two years ago I bought a laserjet printer. I had an old, mediocre HP Laserjet-6 from 1998 but I gave it to my dad when I got the inkjet printer (it was a color printer which was helpful but I had problems with the color cartridges, too). The new laserjet was an HP1102W on sale at Best Buy for $100. It prints very quickly and if I don't print for a while that is not a problem because the toner is a fine powder, not liquid ink (it doesn't dry up from nonuse). Back in August I had to get a new toner cartridge which are a little pricey ($75, nearly as expensive as the original printer) but I did get two years out of it instead of the 6-9 months from a black inkjet cartridge which would cost about $15 to refill at Cartridge World. But the speed and reliability of the laserjet is well worth it. Two years might not seem like a long time for a laserjet toner cartridge but the pages I print for personal use are rather "busy" - they include lots of shading and lots of gridlines.

The toner cartridge I bought in August I bought from my local Staples, as it was the only local place which carried it. Everyone else had it available only on line. Unfortunately, the toner cartridge did not work properly so I had to return it for another one. At Staples, this took about 15 minutes including travel time to/from the store and was hassle-free. This made me feel very glad I did not buy it on line because it would have been a PITA to exchange it and would have taken 2 weeks just for the shipping.

 

[John Galt III]

Thanks to all respondents so far! When I buy a newer computer, and get a new OS, I will possibly get a laser printer. With my current OS, Windows ME, it seems none of the new printers, either inkjet or laser, is compatible with it. For now, I will try an online order of a cartridge and hope for the best.

 

[imoldernu]

Most current printer cartridges do not "go dry", instead, they incorporate a memory "chip" that counts the number of pages printed, and then shutdown the printer with a low ink warning first, and then the "out of ink" notice.

Many on-line ink sources offer generic refill kits, that sell for about $20, and should have enough ink for 6 to 10 refills, depending on the cartridge. The trick is to RE-SET the cartridge. In the case of some HP cartridges, the reset can be done with a sequence of covering up parts of the copper contacts... a half hour job, but @ $25/cartridge, could be cost effective.

A better method for refilling, is to buy a resettable cartridge, which also includes a "resetter" chip. Refillable cartridges are usually sold empty, and ranger from $11 to about $28 each. In common use, users claim 6 to 8 refills.

Some refill kits are better than others, offering vacuum filling, as well as some "Hold" clips, that keep cartridges from drying out, when not in use.

Sounds as if most of our ER friends, are not heavy users of the printing, so refilling probably won't be an option. I'm on my fifth or sixth year on one printer, still using the original cartridges and doing the refills. Total cost about $65.

Best way to find: Google "Epson Reset cartridge #xyz" or, "how to refill Epson XYZ cartridge".

Hint: do refills over the sink, and wear the plastic glove that comes in the refill kit. Plan on about 15 paper towels... just in case.

 

[easysurfer]

I've ordered cartridges online (Amazon Prime) with no problem.

My disclaimer is that they are laser toner cartridges and not ink jets. IMO, laser is the only way to go.

 

[John Galt III]

Just wanted to update the thread with news that I received my cartridges from Ebay yesterday, and installed one today, and it works, so far !!! I bought 2 color cartridges, for $5.50 with free shipping. That's $5.50 for two. They came in the factory-sealed plastic wrap, airtight, unopened. No expiration date listed (or none that I saw). So they are probably quite old, but still work. And a nice low price ! Thanks for all the help in previous posts.

JG3