[shuttertalk]

Hey the Wall Street Journal has an article about print cartridges and trying out the alternatives to the big brands:

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/0,,...?mod=blogs

The most painless experience was ordering and using a re-engineered cartridge from the Internet. We ordered a cartridge compatible with the H-P 57 color cartridge from Number One Inkjet Inc. for $24.95, with free shipping. Two days later, the product arrived at our office. While the photograph we printed with the cartridge was a tad fuzzier than one printed with an H-P cartridge, the differences were barely perceptible.

The most frustrating experience was with the do-it-yourself refill kit. We bought a product made by Jet-Tec Inc. from a local Staples store for $14.99. We used it to refill an empty H-P 57 color-ink cartridge. Since a new H-P 57 cartridge usually costs $34.99, it seemed like we got a great deal. The kit included three ink colors -- yellow, blue and magenta -- and a giant syringe that we used to inject into our empty cartridge. But we managed to squirt ink onto the office wall in the process and later realized we had inserted the syringe into the wrong openings on the cartridge. On our second try, we got it right. But after we printed out a digital photo, the image was marred by colored lines that cut across the page. Jet-Tec didn't immediately return a call for comment.

Anyone else had any experience with refilling cartriges / aftermarket ones? I've tried refilling my HP cartidges once before, and it was quite messy, and I believe the colours were very muted when printing photos. For me, I'm sticking by the "you get what you pay for" adage...

[EnglishBob]

I've refilled HP and Epson cartrisges, I've tried compatible cartridges for Epson, Canon and HP... they all suck.

The quality on refills is terrible, and I have tried more than one brand. I did manage to use a refill on my HP for Black, the dosuments were barely noticable as having a brownish tint, which I decided I could live with.

Manufacturers own brand are definately worth the extra money.

[slej]

Funny you should bring this up. Just yesterday I got some remanufactured cartridges from a company called Abacus Ink for our el-cheapo Dell (rebadged Lexmark) printer.

1 of the cartridges did not print at all. I ran the head cleaning utility twice and still no luck - not a drop of ink. I called the seller to ask for an exchange, and they insisted that I run the head-cleaning utility SIX MORE TIMES. Bozos. I knew it wouldn't make a difference. And it didn't. So they're sending a replacement (I had to pay the return shipping - a whopping US$0.85).

The other cartridges seem fine, and after calibrating the printer I see no difference between these and the originals.

Despite the hassle, I think I'd buy these again - they are a good 35% less expensive (33% after the return shipping ) However, this is not a printer I use for photos - only general printing and document copies. I don't think I'd use refills for photo work.

[Petographer]

I agree. I would never buy aftermarket cartridges for my canon printer either. I did for my epson. I think it's worth the money to buy original when printing photos.

Hey Mitch. I see you are logged in as a guest again. Logging troubles? I'm forever seeing little glitches with this forum. Matter of fact as I just opened Shuttertalk in my browser it was real slow and the page background was missing. All the font was there though. This has happened numerous times. As well as button links appearing as red x's and such. I've even seen an emoticon or two missing at times.

[slejhamer]

Hey Mitch. I see you are logged in as a guest again. Logging troubles?

Yes - usually I can get to the Shuttertalk front page but I have trouble with the forum. Sometimes the browser just hangs forever, but I've also seen the same things you describe.

Could be a firewall problem too, though it's odd that it works intermittently.

No biggie; I get in as guest when I have to. My post count won't be accurate though, LOL.

[shuttertalk]

Hm.. the hanging and red x's could be that the server is busy during particular times during the day. IThe login problem is a mystery though...

I honestly haven't seen any of these symptoms you're describing, although I probably log on during different hours of the day. Can u guys let me know what times you're seeing these problems? I'll try logging a support call with the web hosting service.

[Petographer]

Gee ST. I open up the page 100x's throughout the day. :/

[EnglishBob]

I haven't had any issues apart from the occasional SQL database outages.

[Don Schaeffer]

For the last couple of years or so, I've been recycling cartridges with a company called Island Ink Jet (it's in booths in most major malls here). The results are excellent and reliability is fine. I bought their refill kit too. They reprogram for free the chip on my Epson cartridges and refill them for under $20 (both color and black).

With the refil kit the total cost of a refill is about $6 dollars.