Ink cartridges generally: Two questions

[Jim Vaught]

1. I saw someone mentioned that printer manufacturers make very little on
their printers and rely on printer cartridges for their profit. I have found
that using even the Fast Draft setting (under Word 2007 for Windows) for
printing documents eats up a cartridge in a hurry (at most 200 to 300 pages).
As that note implied they are expensive. I've seen lots of ads around the
internet for refill kits. I have an HP 6310v printer. Are the kits OK for
refilling cartridges? Or will they "gum up" the printer or drastically
affect the printed pages?

2. I need to print out legal opinions from the Supreme Court and other
courts. I"ve found that the supposedly black and white documents have their
citations in very light blue ink. Is there anyway to "turn off" the blue
(and use black) so I don't also use up the color cartridge.

 

[MC]

1. I saw someone mentioned that printer manufacturers make very little on
their printers and rely on printer cartridges for their profit. I have found
that using even the Fast Draft setting (under Word 2007 for Windows) for
printing documents eats up a cartridge in a hurry (at most 200 to 300 pages).
As that note implied they are expensive. I've seen lots of ads around the
internet for refill kits. I have an HP 6310v printer. Are the kits OK for
refilling cartridges? Or will they "gum up" the printer or drastically
affect the printed pages?

2. I need to print out legal opinions from the Supreme Court and other
courts. I"ve found that the supposedly black and white documents have their
citations in very light blue ink. Is there anyway to "turn off" the blue
(and use black) so I don't also use up the color cartridge.

I've found the inks from this company to be just fine:

http://www.re-inks.com/

There's a US site and a Canadian site. Shipping is free if you order a
minimum amount of ink.

I can tweak the settings of my Epson to print in B&W only. Probably
varies from printer to printer. Check the printer manual or the online
help. If that doesn't work, select the entire text in Word and change
the color to black - but it may use a small amount of colored inks to
achieve black hard copy - maybe. Dunno, really.

By the way, this is a Word Mac group, but I don't think your question or
my answer will be much different for Word Windows.

 

[Jim Vaught]

OK, thanks. I keep forgetting this is a MAC board; sorry about that issue.

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Jim:

Mark is correct -- refill inks are fine. I have been running my HP inkjet
on refills for about three years now.

If you are getting 300 pages out of a cartridge, you are breaking some world
records there I get far less than that (it depends a lot on how much
"ink" is on each page -- full page photos will kiss a cartridge goodbye in
10 or 20 pages!

What you read is quite correct: the $100.00 printers are designed to cost
you $1,000 in cartridges

The refill ink will be fine if you keep the printer busy. Refilled
cartridges will gum up if you leave them sitting idle for long periods (like
I do...) because you've let the air into the cartridge.

Every three to five fills or thereabouts, you will find that the cartridges
start "banding" because one or more of the injector nozzles has worn out.
When that happens, the only cure is to go out and buy a new "real"
cartridge. It's pretty much luck of the draw: I have had one cartridge go
about 20 fills, others have died with only three fills. Your mileage WILL
vary -- constantly!

Note that for stunning photo performance, the cartridge, the ink, the paper,
and the settings must all match exactly. My old printer will produce work
almost indistinguishable from a real photograph, but such paper is over a
dollar a sheet and each sheet gets through maybe $5 worth of ink

Cheers

OK, thanks. I keep forgetting this is a MAC board; sorry about that issue.

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP, Word and Word:Mac
Sydney, Australia. mailto:[email protected]

 

[MC]

Note that for stunning photo performance, the cartridge, the ink, the paper,
and the settings must all match exactly. My old printer will produce work
almost indistinguishable from a real photograph, but such paper is over a
dollar a sheet and each sheet gets through maybe $5 worth of ink

I print a lot of photos, and when I want thevery best results I use
Epson inks and Epson paper on my Epson printer.

The rest of the time I use anonymous 3rd-party inks from reinks.com and
Costco paper - which is astonishingly good for the price.

But... not all papers are compatible with all printers and inks - I have
tried Staples photo paper and Kodak photo paper in my Epson, and have
had horrendous results.

 

[John McGhie]

Yup! Me too

Most of the time I use YumCha ink and paper. The $5.00 a ream paper from my
local discount shop does a fine job for almost everything

But when I want real photo-quality, then I have to spend the bucks for the
real stuff

Cheers

I print a lot of photos, and when I want thevery best results I use
Epson inks and Epson paper on my Epson printer.

The rest of the time I use anonymous 3rd-party inks from reinks.com and
Costco paper - which is astonishingly good for the price.

But... not all papers are compatible with all printers and inks - I have
tried Staples photo paper and Kodak photo paper in my Epson, and have
had horrendous results.

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP, Word and Word:Mac
Sydney, Australia. mailto:[email protected]