Need Advice - I need a new color printer

[Judy Whitehead (Florida)]

I have to break down and buy a new inkjet printer for photos. I have an HP laserjet 2100 for black and white and have been using an HP932C for color photos. It has slowly been printing worse all the time and really doesn't have enough memory for three computers.

Anyway, in the past Ben recommended (I think it was Ben) the HP2200. I see an HP2230 advertised and it looks attractive because it has separate cartridges for each color. Does anyone else use this printer and do you fill your own ink? Thanks.....

 

[larryhaskell]

Judy:

I use what I believe is an earlier version an HP2000C. It has separate cartrides and I just buy them new. I would be interested to know the cost savings to refill the cartridges. The printer works great.

 

[Tim Hicks (Texas)]

Judy, you may not want to spend the money, but check out the okidata 7200c. It is a color LED (laser) printer. You don't need to use different printers. It is pricy, but at 24xbw and 10xcolor, you can't beat the speed and the pictures are clearer than my old hp 2000c. I bought mine through techdepot which is available through officedepot.com. I paid $1600, but it is worth it to me-one new printer to replace my 2000c and my hp 4+. It is compatible with XP.

 

[TC]

I have the HP 2200, works great and has 4 separate carts. Its worth the money, but why not go EDI and let the lender worry about the printer.

TC

 

[Jo Ann Meyer Stratton]

I have the HP2200 and do buy the cartridges instead of refilling. Since so many of my reports are now sent as pdf files, each cartridge lasts me 2-3 months. Ran out of a black ink cartridge last month, none available in town, bought an ink refill kit for $20 at Walmart, finally after three tries got one cartridge refilledlasted about 2 weeks. The cartridge ran out of ink before all the ink finally washed off my hands! Now I am well stocked with cartridges, so I don't have to that again!

 

[Judy Whitehead (Florida)]

We are sending more and more PDF files, but one of my largest accounts is right here in town and they want me to provide them with the originals, (I guess they save on ink) and drive them over. There was a real cute series (I think in the old forum) about someone who rigged up IV's with ink and dripped them into the cartridges by hanging them on the wall. Does anyone remember that? Anyway, I have a "store credit" at Office Depot and the only HP they have like that is the HP 2230 - I was just wondering if anyone even knew how it compared to the HP 2200. It must be newer or something. There are places on the internet that give you instructions on how to refill, including the HP2200. We have done some refilling and buy some new. I wish I could justify a color laser at this point, but I feel like Jo Ann, PDF is the way to go! Hope this is the last printer I have to buy.

 

[Judy Whitehead (Florida)]

Oh, by the way, the last ink refills I bought I ordered from www.inksupply.com. They have instructions on the internet and will do some "tech" support about refilling. Whoever it was that rigged up the refill kits for his HP2200 referred me to that site and that is who I have been using. It's a pretty good site and I had good luck with them.

One thing to remember is that when you refill the cartridge, it will never last as long as a factory new one. You just have to expect that. Practice does make perfect though, and we (the guys in my office) have gotten better over time and they last longer now. Sometimes we get a bum cartridge that doesn't want to be refilled, though and I go out and buy new ones at that point!

 

[larryhaskell]

Judy:

Considering your time to fefill the cartridges, how much do you think you save by refilling your own? How long do the refills last compared to the factory ones?

 

[Judy Whitehead (Florida)]

On the black ink, I think our refills on my HP932 were lasting almost as long as the original factory ones. The color cartridges, however, only lasted about half as long. I think I saved over 50% on ink by refilling our own. You do have to get a good refill kit, however, and have good instructions. Also, I suspect that some printer cartridges accept refills better than others. The HP932 was "OK" but there may be better ones that adapt better to being refilled. The printers are cheap - the ink is where they make their money. :roll:

 

[Tim Hicks (Texas)]

OK, if you are having to buy ink too often, then you are doing a lot of work, making a lot of money, so the expense should not bother you. If you are busy, take some of that extra money and upgrade now while you can afford it instead of later when you can't. Appraisers whine about ink costs, software costs, supply costs, printer costs, but can't understand when somebody wants a lower appraisal fee? It's a business expense to boot. Appraisal, what a profession!