garry72conv said: what kind of printer(s) do you have???

I have two:
HP LaserJet 1000
Epson Color InkJect C60

I have bought a kit for refilling them myself. They worked pretty good, but were a little bit messy, if you aren't careful. They are sold on E-bay. I don't refill the same one more than two or three times. I haven't used a color refill yet, but the black ones work OK.

Also I have bought new cartridges on E-bay, and so far only one was junk. It was new, but wouldn't work right. Most of the time they sell for $15-$20. I haven't been taken by anyone yet.....

looks like replacement toner for the 1000 run about $65 with refill kits about half that. i have found epson replacement cartridges for about $8 at... https://www.topinkjet.com/shop/default.php?cPath=22&sort=2a&&page=2&osCsid=beaf07607a77fc03960d5e5c8659ce7a and http://www.tonerrefillkits.com/?source=kanoodle

|UPDATED|2/1/2003 8:55:35 AM|/UPDATED|

Heres some tips on saving ink. with a ink jet printer ... do all your printing of text letters in draft mode. The difference in quality is minimal but you will use less ink. for laser printers when you get a message saying your toner is low take the cartridge out and shake it and you will get a 100 or more prints before it says toner low. You can shake it a second time but it will only give about 30 or so more prints before running out.

|UPDATED|2/12/2003 7:22:46 AM|/UPDATED|

I buy my printer ink cartridges from www.lasersharp-imaging.com. They have very cheap no name cartridges for lots of different brands. I've been using them for years and have never had a problems with them.

Here's an email I got from a member...thought I'd ad it to the list of suggestions...

http://www.premiumink.com

I've purchased several cartridges in both black and color from them without a single problem. The ones I've gotten are not name brand but have worked fine and lasted just as long as name brand. They are substantially cheaper than name brands and delivery is Corvette fast, 2 days. Also, they frequently run specials like buy 2 get one free (today is 5% off) and their regular prices are about 30 to 40% less than anywhere else I've found.

F.Y.I....exercise caution when and if buying cartridges on Ebay. It has not happened to me personally but I know people who have bought them and found them to be 'out of date' or 'refills' and sometimes dried out. I'm sure this is not true of all Ebay sellers but I know it is for some.

|UPDATED|2/3/2003 1:02:54 PM|/UPDATED|

Hi Adam,

Here's a program that I took advantage of at my office. Go to:

http://www.freecolorprinters.com/

To get accepted into the program, you must agree to run 3000 copies per month. They supply you with a free, brand new $1,500 Tektronix 850 (now Xerox) solid ink color laser printer AND they provide you with all the free black ink you can use for 3 years. The catch is that they want you to buy the colored ink from them & it's not super cheap. They print quality is amazing. Let me know if you have any questions. I'm just finishing up my third year next month.

~ Joe

Joe.
Seems like the cost of supplies is quite a bit high! I don't see why I'd want to pay that much for supplies. Yeah, I'm getting a printer for free, but I already have a printer that the supplies cost much less for!

You must do an awful lot of printing. I wouldn't come anywhere close to 3000 pages per month. When I ran pages for Shark Bytes it was only 1200 pages. And that's only every 3 months, anyway.

Thanks for the link, though!

Adam,
It only makes sense if you print mostly in black & white as that ink is completely free. My mix is probably 90% black & white and 10% occasional color. It's merely a handy tool to do small quantities of nice color brochures that look like 4-color press runs.