Printer Ink Doesn't Last 5 Minutes!

We have a small HP printer that we do not use anymore as it used to chew through the ink. We were getting the HP stuff at first, but then we started getting refills that were cheap, but it still went through ink like crazy. So then we bought a Kyocera laser printer which is much better for what we do. It cost a lot more than the cheap printers and the laser cartridges are pretty expensive up front but they last for months and months instead of a week or two. We went through a few multi function printers before getting this one. Multi function printers just seem to have too many issues with them. We do not have a copier now, but we do not need one. And we have this really simple little USB portable scanner which does an awesome job.

I don't think any of them last as long as they say, real or not. I have a Kodak all in one printer, the ink is cheap and it does last pretty long. But Not like it says it should. Also, the longer you don'y use it, it does dry out. I don't know how much HP ink cartridges are, but I am sure it adds up.

Wow. I think original HP inks come with one of those "Original" shiny stickers. Did the ink you bought have that?

I know the feeling, but I do print out a lot of images. There are certain colours that seem to last forever, yellow for instance and ones that disappear the fastest are black and blue. I have never had them refilled at those recycling stores because a friend told me that for normal printing they are fine but in images they tend to have issues with the colour sometimes being a little off, but it does work out cheaper. I also notice that if I don't shake them well before using them they tend to not use all their ink properly. The worst printer I had was one of those that has just one cartridge for everything, the black would run out and I found it a waste to through out a cartridge that still had all the other colours, I would print out texts in weird colours to use up the ink, it was quite annoying.

Although right now those inkjet printer can be give out for free, what makes money is the ink. People have to pay for the ink in order to make those printer to be able to print. I hate that. For my inkjet printer, I have to keep order probably every 2 months, since I don't print a lot too, but it will dry out quick too. It give me a bit of headache on this one.

I am astonished at what Printer Ink Doesn't Last 5 Minutes!It is no doubt counterfeit product.At present,It is hard to distinguish the genuine stuff from poor quality one ,if you don't use it.Sometimes ,the counterfeit product has better packaging than genuine one.To my shame,my out of date computer hasn't equipped with a printer,much less colour ink.

I agree. I know mine will run out at any time now. I need to buy me some before it happens but I am trying to only buy things we have to have for now so we can save for Christmas.

Hi Janey, I have all given up on buying original inks for my printer as I have never found one that lasts as long as it says on the packaging. I now buy inks from a site called inkredible.co.uk. They are not original cartridges, but I am hard-pressed to notice a difference from what I want to print. I use a Canon and it is quite old now and still going strong. I find that it rarely, if ever blocks even using the non-standard inks. I used to use a Epson, but even with original inks in,the cartridges would often dry out and then not print correctly. My Canon can sit there for weeks not being used and will print perfectly first time. I don't tend to print photos anyway, but have done so with good enough results. I keep photos on a memory sticks that I can play back through my TV. If I do print one, I will get it in Boots or some other place if I wanted a professional print-off as I feel that inkjets, being water based can cause problems if a moist hand happens to touch the ink.. _Derek

Thanks for posting this Janey, I was going to start buying those refilled cartridges, but after your experience I decided just to stay where I'm buying them at right now !

That's why it's cheaper to buy a lazer printer for black and white and save the expensive inkjet for colour. My inkjet was very cheap - £38 - but the replacement inks cost almost as much again! I buy cheap ones off E Bay now and they work fine. An £80 lazer lasts at least 2500 pages and costs around £30 for replacement toner. But it hardly ever seems to need replacing unlike the inkjet.

You're quite right about the ink, and it really doesn't feel as though mine lasts for very long either. You have to make sure that you're printing something everyday, otherwise you might start to find that your ink simply dries up rather than actually running out, so you wouldn't get the most out of your printer. One page using a tiny bit of each colour would help you in this case. I think it's very silly how much printer ink costs, because I don't understand how a little bit of ink could possibly cost the amount of money that we seem to be having to pay for it in this day and age.

I couldn't agree with you more and what is worse is thank ink is so expensive now. I had to laugh when I realised that with my previous HP printer (using a Canon now) it worked out cheaper to buy the same printer again which came with ink than to by just the refills. It's now got to the point that I do my best not to print anything because the cost is so prohibative and found myself using pen and paper for certain things rather than typing them up and printing them out. And as for printing photos I haven't checked but I reckon it could be cheaper to take them in file form to a shop to print off than doing it yourself.

I've stopped buying printer inks. Although I have one unopened cartridge in my drawers somewhere, I try not to use it. It would be opened only in cases of emergencies (like a school project for my kid etc.) They are so unreliable. They sell the printers really cheap, and it's the ink where they milk you. And when you go to re-fillers, they're so unreliable too. Last time I had one re-filled, all the ink was a shade of maroon!

Printer ink is a rip-of. I had a Canon printer which used separate cartridges for colours. If one ran out I could not use the other colours, not even just black. I thought to be clever and buy a printer that only prints in black, but they don't exist. I now bought a new HP printer which has one black cartridge and one for all colours. I don't know yet how many pages I can print, as it is still too nes.