Third party printer inks/toner stories and recommendations

[Harrison]

I've been getting more and more annoyed by the ever increasing costs of printer ink and toner cartridges.

My Samsung Laser printer ran out of toner last month and when I looked the price of a new toner cartridge was more than I had paid for the printer, and I could actually buy another newer model with toner included for less than the replacement.

So I decided to try a refilled (refurbished) toner cartridge. It arrived today and worked perfectly when installed. This was a quarter of the price of the official cartridge.

One of our other printers, a multi function all-in-one Epson ran out of 2 of its colour cartridges last week and I looked at the official carts and those prices were really high too. Again, to replace all 4 cartridges was more than the original printer cost. I looked online and ended up finding some on Amazon with lots of good reviews. A pack containing 3 sets of cartridges, so 12 in total, cost the same as one official black cartridge. So I really don't mind if each one doesn't quite last as long as the official ones!

Now some issues. The replacement laser toner cartridge worked first time, so no problems there. But the ink cartridges refused to work initially. The printer throwing up ink cartridge not recognised errors. On Googling this I discovered this is common with Epson printers and third party inks. Following advice it said to remove them all, turn the printer off for 30 seconds to clear the memory, then reinstall again. I tried this 3 times without luck, but the 4th time the error cleared and it now said 2 of them needed replacing. Some further messing around, and eventually I swapped those 2 over with 2 more from the pack and the printer now works fine. So it looks like I have had 2 faulty compatible cartridges already. However, I emailed the seller and he is sending replacements, so that is brilliant.

The Ink cartridges are made by a company called JetPlay.

What is everyone else's experience of third party inks and toner, and can you recommend makes, and suppliers?

 

[scrappysphinx]

I buy my ink cartridges for an Epson sx235 wireless all in one from the local computer shop. Get a full set of 4, 3 colour 1 black, for under the cost of a phone top up. Been doing this for a year and never had a single problem.

 

[demolition]

It's also worth noting that the cartridges that come with most laser printers have much less toner in them than the regular toner cartridges. Many are just 1/4 of the size so they can't be compared directly to buying a new printer, but yes, new toner and ink is how they make their money. It is probably not the toner powder itself which costs money, so refilling them makes sense.

 

[Harrison]

I buy my ink cartridges for an Epson sx235 wireless all in one from the local computer shop. Get a full set of 4, 3 colour 1 black, for under the cost of a phone top up. Been doing this for a year and never had a single problem.

Do you know what the make of the cartridges are? Or are they unbranded.

Would be good to build up a list of compatible ink cartridges that members have had good results from, as well as those to avoid. And also good companies to buy them from.

Regarding toner cartridges. I think the toner does cost more these days because it is not the same as the original photocopier and laser toner, where years ago you could refill a reservoir from a large pot. These days it is mixed with polymers and other ingredients to allow the higher resolution printing and finer print quality, but is sealed in the cartridges because it is more toxic.

I really must remember to open the window when printing large amounts on laser printers though, because the smell of ozone gets really strong.

 

[scrappysphinx]

Theres no branding on the box or the cartridge that i'm aware of.

These are identical but even cheaper than the local shop (never used this online store just found through google images).

 

[johnim]

i got a replacement set of toners for my dell1250c very cheap compared to printer and they say they are 4 time the amount found in a new 1

for my epson 42ux i just found the cheapest and used them fine first time but they dry up to quick so thats why i got the lazer

 

[Nobby_UK]

Tried them = Not Satisfied --- Went back to Originals (Canon)

 

[Xanxi]

As far as i know, there are some toners which have a chip inside. Once a pre-programed number of pages has been printed, the toner ceases to function, even if there is still ink in it. The system also prevents the use of unbranded toners. Samsung uses that unfair trick.

If someone has a good opportunity for SAMSUNG ML-1660 printer, let me know.

 

[specialK]

I was in the same situation with my canon multifunction inkjet, cost was horrendous!
Bought few from local Australian eBay suppliers, the first I had to take the original canon ink cartridge microchips off and attach to the third party cartridges.
That was few years ago, the recent ones already have the microchips attached so no mucking around and they last a good time and the printouts, both documents and photos are very good.
Prices are very cheap! Have been doing this for years and even started to buy for my family and friends.

 

[Harrison]

If someone has a good opportunity for SAMSUNG ML-1660 printer, let me know.

The "refurbished" toner I just bought was for a Samsung ML-2525 so I think they are in the same family of printers. Works perfectly for me so far.

The Amazon seller I bought it from is called "Toners and Inks" and I just checked and they have both refurbished and compatible toner for your printer for just under £15 here.

 

[Collz69]

I buy all th ink cartridges for my company from here

http://www.inkredible.co.uk/

I buy the non official ones (canon pixma) with the microchips.

They are made in china, the branding varies sometimes but we've never had a problem with the inks & the company are very good.
We used to have them refilled locally at cartridge world & it was costing £250 a time to refil them, now we buy new cartridges (the same amount we were refilling) for about £70.
They always email discount codes to you with discounts, sometimes upto 25% off.

If you want to try them enter the discount code PAYPAL20 to get 20% off
(this codes seems to work permanently)