Cheapest printer brand to run (cartridges)

My HP printer has died.

I spend 1000s on printer cartridges, and want to buy the most economical option this time.

Can anyone recommend the best make for good running costs?

Epson seems to have very cheap cartridges, but they also seems to have very little ink in them.
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Comments

  • SystemSystem Posts: 2,096,970
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    I would stick with an HP but buy one that uses the big cartridges not the little ones you can buy in Smiths and Tescos. I think HP are the best printers. I have recently bought a HP Laserjet P2015 and it's very good.
  • dmpdmp Posts: 3,242
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    Buy one with single cartridges, these are cheaper as you only replace the colours that you use rather than the whole lot.
    Dave
  • ErrodielErrodiel Posts: 4,479
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    Or investigate refillable ink cartridges. The manufacturers don't endorse them, but they can work just as well.
  • fat controllerfat controller Posts: 13,757
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    I'd agree with the HP suggestion - I was always a fan of Epson printers, simply because of the quality of the prints off them, but all of my Epson printers required frequent cartridge replacements - so I decided to give HP a try, and found their printers to be much more frugal on the ink, whilst giving results as good (if not better) than the Epsons
  • Magic8BallMagic8Ball Posts: 3,808
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    Epson also have a scam going where their printers count how many times you change the ink/do head cleaning. After the counter gets to a certain level, it warns you to take the printer to a certified Epson dealer to clean the waste ink pad. A while later it refuses to print until this is done.

    An official Epson dealer will charge £15 to reset the counter (which is what is stopping it printing) and more to actually clean the waste ink pad (which actually needs done very infrequently) - it is a scam by Epson to try to claw back money they are no longer making from their ink due to people using compatibles.

    Or you can download software to reset the counter for free off the net if you know where to look.

    Regardless, it is a money grabbing scam by Epson and the reason I will never purchase one of their products every again.

    I have had decent ink life from a Canon, although the cheapest long term option is to get yourself a laser printer.
  • SystemSystem Posts: 2,096,970
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    Thanks for the advice everyone. Sounds like HP is the probably way to go.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 6,940
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    Use one of the refil places!

    You'll save a fortune.

    I've used these guys before:

    http://www.smart-cartridge.com/map.htm

    They'll guarantee a colour match against the manufacturers cartridges. If it doesn't match, you can get a refund. A refill from them costs about 50% of the price of a new cartridge ...
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 14,589
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    I know it's not what you want to hear but have you thought of going to a laser printer. Dixon's/PC World will probably have special offers on over Easter.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 121
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    Lasers can work out more expensive than ink jets imo. I have one and its constantly requiring not just toner refills but transfer roller, fuser, imaging unit - costs me a bomb.
    I've used all types including the wax type and they are also dear to run - compatible refills are a good option - I buy from cartridge monkey. Rule of thumb the cheaper the printer the more it costs to run.
  • cazzzcazzz Posts: 12,218
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    I refill mine...have a refill kit. It can be a bit hit and miss...I found that the brother cartrdges would leak but Dell are not too bad and I get 4 or 5 runs out of a new cartridge so save quite a few ££'s. I also buy the remanufactured cartridges so again save a bomb rather than buying direct from Dell.
  • rhythmic_dreamsrhythmic_dreams Posts: 216
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    Excellent thread !

    Does anyone have any suggestions on what HP model to look out for that uses cheap cartridges ?

    Many thanks
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,867
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    depends what you are gonna do with it. I have just recommended the hp photosmart D7160 to my mum, but that is because she wanted a printer to print photos with. This takes 6 separate colour cartridges, each costing approx £6 (£24 for a cartridge pack)

    www.ebuyer.com/product/118845
  • HelixHelix Posts: 1,485
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    Excellent thread !

    Does anyone have any suggestions on what HP model to look out for that uses cheap cartridges ?

    Many thanks

    HP Printers that take cartridge number 339 (Black) is good. I have 2 the HP Photosmart D5160 and HP Deskjet 5940 not sure if they are still available now. Also printers that take the XL cartridges would be good these tend to be slightly more expensive than the cheapo £30 ones.
  • SystemSystem Posts: 2,096,970
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    have to say epson is the cheapest.
    i pay 70p for a new and boxed cartridge,you may be able to get them for a bit less than that.
    i use an epson R200 but there are plenty of other epson printers with cheap cartidges around 70-80 pence to £1
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 3,068
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    I have always been very happy with HP. We used to have a Laserjet 1300 for everyday printing, and a Deskjet 940c for colour prints. This worked out very cheaply for us.

    We still have the Laserjet 1300, but we replaced the Deskjet with an HP Laserjet 2600N which is a colour laser printer. It was really good value and although it costs about £105 to replace all the toner cartridges, they do about 3000 pages which is about 3p per page compared to about 18p/page with the inkjet printer.
    It doesn't sound like a massive saving but we do a LOT of printing as my mum works from home.

    Therefore if you do a lot of printing then consider a laser printer!
  • crazychris12crazychris12 Posts: 26,254
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    Cartridge World refill them for much less than they cost to replace.
  • SystemSystem Posts: 2,096,970
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    Magic8Ball wrote: »
    Epson also have a scam going where their printers count how many times you change the ink/do head cleaning. After the counter gets to a certain level, it warns you to take the printer to a certified Epson dealer to clean the waste ink pad. A while later it refuses to print until this is done.

    An official Epson dealer will charge £15 to reset the counter (which is what is stopping it printing) and more to actually clean the waste ink pad (which actually needs done very infrequently) - it is a scam by Epson to try to claw back money they are no longer making from their ink due to people using compatibles.

    Or you can download software to reset the counter for free off the net if you know where to look.

    Regardless, it is a money grabbing scam by Epson and the reason I will never purchase one of their products every again.

    I have had decent ink life from a Canon, although the cheapest long term option is to get yourself a laser printer.

    Yes the download is easy to find.

    If you by any printer this is for Epson mainly never turn the printer off. when you turn them off and on they spray ink on to the mat every time to keep the heads clean.

    1 it uses your ink
    2 fills the ink mat
    3 the counter still counts these as printed jobs.

    I have a canon ip5200 very good
    2 blacks
    1 blue
    1 pink
    1 yellow
    Full set of compatibles £8.00
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 121
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    I have had an epson printer for 4 years,i used to have a hp printer it was expensive to replace the inks.
    So i went back to epson and i am really happy with them.
    Even better is this site where you can get cheaper ink cartridges www.inksave.co.uk so just see.
  • Magic8BallMagic8Ball Posts: 3,808
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    markg1 wrote: »

    I have a canon ip5200 very good
    2 blacks
    1 blue
    1 pink
    1 yellow
    Full set of compatibles £8.00

    Oh, that is the same as my printer. Yes it is very good, where do you get your inks from? I was using ChoiceStationary but I don't think they were as cheap as that last time I bought some.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2
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    There is a really good comparison chart for HP inks here.

    http://www.recycleinkcartridges.co.uk - it's the more ink for your money section.

    It actually lists every printer cartridge made by HP and compares them ml for ml. I think there's an Epson one coming as well.
  • SystemSystem Posts: 2,096,970
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    I use epson printer, get carts from www.discworlduk.co.uk for next to nothing, due to copyright issues and legal cases over companies manufacturing compatible carts for epson printers, epson made things a little annoying by changing the chips regularly on printers but as long as you provide manufacturer date which is on base of printer, you can find the right compatible.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2
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    We have a laserjet 1022 at work and I use http://www.q2612acartridge.co.uk they are really really cheap - for originals as well, miles cheaper than everywhere else
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1
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    you can go black and white laser if you don't want to spend much on sustaining, there's a printer who yields 8000 pages per cartridge and the cartridge is $5-10 , you can read here more on cheapest running cost printers
  • Nigel GoodwinNigel Goodwin Posts: 58,329
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    I'd agree with the HP suggestion - I was always a fan of Epson printers, simply because of the quality of the prints off them, but all of my Epson printers required frequent cartridge replacements - so I decided to give HP a try, and found their printers to be much more frugal on the ink, whilst giving results as good (if not better) than the Epsons

    I've always used HP (and because of that all printers at work are HP as well). The inks not only last fairly well, but changing the ink gives you a brand new print head every time as well.

    People I know with Epson and Canon etc. have always had problems with print heads failing, even if only blocked and can't be cleared.
  • benjaminibenjamini Posts: 32,066
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    I have a Kodac printer. Bought because the ink cartriges were considerably cheaper.
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