Printer ink

bobmac

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I'm looking for some new ink for my printer which is a Cannon MP 610
In the high street shops they are £10-£15 each
Online you can get them for £9.99 for a pack of 5.
Is this worth a pop or a waste of money.
And what's the difference between chipped and un-chipped,
apart from the spelling :)
Thanks in advance :)
 

brendy

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Some cartridges contain a chip which can help report ink levels and also verifies that it is a genuine cartridge. Refurb or non genuine carts can get round this these days though.


I usually buy a refill kit Bob, kit comes with syringe, inks and all needed to tap into the existing cart and refill it over and over again. Even tescos do it for a tenner.

There is also the CIS system (continuous ink system) which has the ink silos outside the printer but means you can have larger capacities and is easier to refill.

non genuine cheap carts are worth a punt, if they are pants, simply dont buy them again.
 

sawtooth

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Bobmac I have a IP4200 and have been buying these from Ebay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/5-Ink-Cartridge-Pi...=item335feae14e

The original Canon cartridge has a chip that identifies itself to the printer as a genuine cartridge. In the past when you bought cheaper non-canon carts you had to transfer the chip from the used genuine Canon cart onto the new pattern part else it wouldnt work.

Nowadays you can buy the cheaper alternatives that come already chipped.
 

PhilTheFragger

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I tend to find that compatible cartridges may not show the ink levels, so you only know that you are running out when the print quality degrades.

Dont do what I witnessed recently, a customer had stockpiled about 20 original ink cartridges, at the cost of a small fortune, his printer paper feed got mangled and he couldnt find a new printer that took the same inks.So rather than lose the inks, he had an expensive repair job.

he only used a couple of inks per year, and if you dont use them within a few months, they start to dry out

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sawtooth

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Thats true fragger.

You do lose the ability to track ink levels automatically but I see that checking them manually every once in a while is a small price to pay for the overall savings that you make on ink.
 

Smiffy

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I have an Epson printer and always use Epson papers and inks. I've tried other types but the printing quality (especially with lesser papers) is absolutely crap, for photo's at least.
 

RGDave

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Bob - I recently went to a "cartridge world" shop.
He reckons the best make (for their purposes) is Cannon, because you can replace the colour "tanks" individually.
I went there recently for two HP 300 cart's and they were refilled originals. I popped them in, a message came up to say they were refilled and off I went. The levels don't seem to register as with a new one, but I'm not concerned.
I don't know if you have a branch (or similar store) near you, but it might be worth a go. They do rely on repeat business so it seems logical they would do a decent job of filling so you don't come back two weeks later with a rant on!
 

sev112

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Ive got an Epson prnter that im really pelased with, and i use non-epson refills and get good quality

What really Pi***es me off is that when the computer stops working for lack of ink in any one of the cartridges there still seems to be tons of liquid still left in there - what's taht all about and how do i fixit - by buying non-chipped cartridges?
 
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