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The Discount Source for Ink Refill jet Ink and Refill Cartridges
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October 29, 2001
Although we don't sell printers, many times people ask us what printers we recommend. While
we can't claim to represent a thorough testing service, we do
get some idea of inkjet performance from customer calls. Plus, we have a strong knowledge of
which cartridges are easy to refill, and which are not. So, we give you our suggestions
-- but be sure to make your own decisions.
A Few General Comments:
See below for some specific situations.
Best Print Quality -- Photo Quality
- Epson 2000P This is your best bet if graphical print
quality is your key requirement, but is a bit tricky to refill. Plus, the inks are pigmented,
which means that they don't fade quickly. We prefer the older Epson 3000, but these are now hard to find.
- Canon S800 family is the runner up. Much easier to refill, but the inks aren't as fade resistent.
- The HP Photosmart printers are great also, but do not perform well printing large photos when refilled.
Best Overall Print Quality
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Canon S400 and S600. The graphics are excellent. The text quality is very crisp and sharp.
If you mix graphics and text, these units probably provide the
best overall print quality mix. Another advantage is that these units
are easy to refill. The S600 is faster than the S400.
- HP 900 Series printers are excellent if you print heavy black and just a little color. We
like the Deskjet 970Cse for our invoice printing and cover letters.
Best Cheap Printer
- Anything in the Lexmark Z-series lineup. These printers are easy to refill, and
can be found for $50 or less. The refilling is easy for a beginner. In addition, the
black ink is a pigmented black ink, which means that it is relatively water resistent. But
these printers are almost disposable. Don't buy the low-end if you print thousands of pages
per month -- look to the Canon and HP printers mentioned next.
Easiest to Refill, Maintain, and Great Reliability
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HP 2200 -- This unit is wonderful if you need a workhorse inkjet. When
the earlier generation HP 2000 was tested by our chemist, it ran over 11,000
pages without a page jam. Plus, the Type 10 and 11 cartridges are very large
and easy to refill. Most printers are rated at 3,000 pages per month, but this
one rates at 10,000 pages per month. This is the best inkjet to use if you are printing
substantial color or photo pieces, since the large individual color cartridges
allow you to run, run, run the inkjet. We really like this one. But the price
tag is a bit high if your printing needs are not heavy -- around $500.
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Canon S400 or S600 -- This unit is simplicity itself. And that translates
into lower operating costs with our refill ink. However, the
volume printing ability is nowhere near the performance of the HP units mentioned above.
- For laser printers, nothing beats the HP Laserjet family of printers. Select the one
with the right price/speed for you. All are simple to refill, too.
Colorfast Prints
- The only truly colorfast inkjet inkjet available to ordinary mortals is the
Canon 7000 family of products (BC-60 cartridges). There are other disadvantages to this
inkjet, so check out our refilling instructions for this one first.
- The HP Laserjet 4550 is a superb low-cost color laser and is easy to refill. We have
customers who print entire books for sale with this product.
Multi-function Machines and Faxes
- Low-speed -- Look at the Lexmark products. These are easy to refill and support for a
beginner. The color cartridge is also easy to refill. Be aware, though, that the cartridges can not be refilled as many times as the HP
cartridges used on the current Officejet and PSC family products. Brother products that use
the LC02 and LC04 cartridges are fine and easy to refill, but have small cartridges.
- High-speed -- We like the HP Officejet V40. It scans, prints, faxes, and is easy to refill
the black cartridge. It even faxes in color if you have a color fax receiving! But it lacks a
flat bed for book copying.
Low-End Copiers
- Avoid low-end Xerox refill, since they use a Sharp-designed dual toner/developer system
which is difficult to refill yourself. Brother and Canon are much easier to use.
- Ricoh products have little support in the after-market.
- Brother and Canon products are easy to refill and work just fine.
As always, take these brief comments as guides. And remember that
the models that are being demonstrated on the showroom floor are
heavily used. We suggest bringing your own paper to test. Where
possible, you might even want to bring your own pages to print
out.
© 2001 by . .
Printers Inkjet & Supply, Inc.
ink-refill.rankguard.com