Re-manufactured Printer Carts

[pomba gira]

I've been really leery of re-manufactured printer carts since the only time I bought one it leaked & destroyed my printer. But... that was at least 5 years ago, so maybe they have a better way of doing it now? I'm really really poor right now, so $15-20 for a re- on eBay sounds a lot better than $32.99 for a new one at Best Buy. Any opinions or advice?

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

Do you mean a toner cartridge for a laser printer or an ink cartridge for an ink jet printer?

[pomba gira]

Do you mean a toner cartridge for a laser printer or an ink cartridge for an ink jet printer?

I am such a ziphead today... I guess it would be helpful to mention that part! Inkjet. The kind with one black and one 3 color cart.... specifically for an HP printer.

[TheLordShaper]

Being that I work in the printing industry and previously worked directly for HP I would strongly stear you away from "remans." They are unreliable and fail statistically 32 times more frequently then OEM carts. As for cost, yes, I agree HP is way out of line on cost but you usually can get OEM HP carts on ebay for about 20-25 each. Which ones do you need BTW? I sell them all the time and still have some connections to get some for cheaper.

TLS

[Rayne]

Well, depending on what type of inkjet printer you have, that ink is laid on the paper in different ways. For example, some are by heat, some are by electricity, etc.

Their brands of ink is specially formulated for their types. If you have a Hewlett Packard, you should use Hewlett Packard Ink. If you have an Epson, use Epson Ink ...

Reman cartridges are not specially formulated for anything, just generally leading to clogged print heads, leaking ... and general just overly yucky problems that are easier and usually cheaper to fix by just replacing the printer.

Not to mention, if you get caught using a reman cartridge in a printer under warranty, it completely voids the warranty. And most of the time, they CAN tell. Generic ink is nothing like what they make.

[pomba gira]

Thanks guys... that's pretty much what I thought. Just wanted to be sure I wasn't being overly persnickety & thus costing myself $$. But much better to spend an extra $15 up front than have to run out & drop $100 on a new printer a week or month from now. What Rayne described is exactly what happened with that old printer.

TLS, I have an HP 940c... the cart #s are 15 for the black & 78 for the color. I will be in your debt if you can help me out!

[spacin]

I've been using refills from a local shop with no problems, and have saved tons of $$$.

But I'm using a Epson printer.

I could see where some brands may not work to well with them. (I had one leak in an old HP)

[pomba gira]

OK another question. Shopping on eBay, I've noticed that a lot of the cheaper new carts are past the expiration date (& most sellers don't mention this in their listings- I got curious & started asking when I noticed some of them were package designs that I know HP changed a couple years ago). Does that matter? I mean I wouldn't think a couple months past the date would be a big deal but what if it's a year or more?

[ZhukovCodeslinger]

At work, we are not allowed to use them or even set them near a copier/printer. They void the warranty and service agreements.

[ZhukovCodeslinger]

how much do you think you will save?

savings by gambling on expired or remanufactured junk vs. time and aggrivation + $$$ loss when one of them ruins your new printer.

just my $.02