Printer Ink

Winchester

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I have a fairly older printer, HP OfficeJet Pro 251dw. It uses HP 950 (black) and 951 (colors) ink. I started looking for printer ink and, good lord, that stuff is expensive! To get XL black and XL colored inks (HP) from Amazon is $194. I didn't pay that much for my printer! That's ridiculous!

So....do you buy the ink for your printer (HP, Canon, etc.) or do you buy off-brand ink? And, if you do buy off-brand, are you happy with the ink? Which brand would you recommend? I'm not interested in re-filling my cartridges; that's an accident just waiting to happen for me.

Any help would be very much appreciated. Thanks!
 

MoochNNoodles

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I just replaced my Canon with another Canon. Basically it got so old they don't update it anymore and everyone has had to use my computer to print from it. It just wasn't functioning for us anymore. So it was time!

I got the printer at Walmart but I order ink on Amazon and watch for deals. I would LOVE to get a nice laser printer; but unless someone blesses us with it, I wasn't ready to spend that much. I think our last several printers have all been Canons. I printed a ton of stuff when the kids were preschool aged.
 

susanm9006

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I have an HP black and white Laser printer, about ten years old. Laser printers don’t need toner as often as ink jets need ink but buying brand is expensive. I have had mixed success buying off brand. A few have been bad, printing very light, but the cartridge I have now is great, came in a set of two and were about half the price of HP brand.
 

Boris Diamond

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I have a 30 (?) year old non-color HP laser printer. I don't use it every day and I have only had to buy two HP replacement cartridges at about $70 each. So I'm not much help with finding inexpensive ink.
 

susanm9006

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I just replaced my Canon with another Canon. Basically it got so old they don't update it anymore and everyone has had to use my computer to print from it. It just wasn't functioning for us anymore. So it was time!

I got the printer at Walmart but I order ink on Amazon and watch for deals. I would LOVE to get a nice laser printer; but unless someone blesses us with it, I wasn't ready to spend that much. I think our last several printers have all been Canons. I printed a ton of stuff when the kids were preschool aged.
Most new printers including laser printers “air Print” so you don’t need a direct connection. You might be able to get a cheap laser printer (around or less than $100) to use for printing and keep your current for scanning, faxing or occasional color printing if needed for that.
 

Kat0121

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I have a fairly older printer, HP OfficeJet Pro 251dw. It uses HP 950 (black) and 951 (colors) ink. I started looking for printer ink and, good lord, that stuff is expensive! To get XL black and XL colored inks (HP) from Amazon is $194. I didn't pay that much for my printer! That's ridiculous!

So....do you buy the ink for your printer (HP, Canon, etc.) or do you buy off-brand ink? And, if you do buy off-brand, are you happy with the ink? Which brand would you recommend? I'm not interested in re-filling my cartridges; that's an accident just waiting to happen for me.

Any help would be very much appreciated. Thanks!
I have a Canon. It's OK. I have used off brand inks before but a lot of manufacturers are adding updates to the printers that detect non branded ink and they will not work.
 

lizzie

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I just checked at WalMart.com,and they have a 2 pk of your 950 and 951 for $52.99.They also have a few other brands,like lemero for $29.99.I know nothing about that brand,and I know you're not a WalMart fan,but they seem to be more reasonably priced.
 

MoochNNoodles

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Most new printers including laser printers “air Print” so you don’t need a direct connection. You might be able to get a cheap laser printer (around or less than $100) to use for printing and keep your current for scanning, faxing or occasional color printing if needed for that.
Yeah I really needed a multifunctional one to copy tests and stuff. The old one wouldn’t even wireless print for me. I’m not sure I have the space for anything else. I just love how quick and crisp they print! :lol:
 

susanm9006

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Yeah I really needed a multifunctional one to copy tests and stuff. The old one wouldn’t even wireless print for me. I’m not sure I have the space for anything else. I just love how quick and crisp they print! :lol:
I bought a separate scanner but after getting my I phone I really don’t use it. Easier to take a photo of documents with my phone and print from that.
 
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Winchester

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I just checked at WalMart.com,and they have a 2 pk of your 950 and 951 for $52.99.They also have a few other brands,like lemero for $29.99.I know nothing about that brand,and I know you're not a WalMart fan,but they seem to be more reasonably priced.
Thanks lizzie lizzie I saw that; it's not actually HP, but a replacement pack. It's a good price, though, esp for the 5 units! And it has good reviews. Thanks! We don't go to Walmart that often anymore, but we do hit Sam's Club, which is pretty much the same thing, I guess.

susanm9006 susanm9006 Yes, we bought a scanner several years ago. But then we got our smart phones and haven't really used the scanner since!

The printer we have now is hooked into the computer in the house. But I also have it set up to print wirelessly from the laptop in the Shed. Rick does it often when he's working on the laptop. He'll print something out and then text me to see if it's printed OK.
 

AbbysMom

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I have a Canon and buy Canon ink from Amazon. I feel like I don't print that often but that I am constantly having to replace ink. We got set up with Echos for Christmas and now Alexa announces to me every single time the ink is low. :cringe:
 

MonaLyssa33

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I buy re-manufactured printer ink because my printer will reject cartridges that aren't "authentic." :rolleyes3: I recently used a lot of ink because I was printing off a bunch of glaze sheets to show how combining different ceramic glazes would look, so that required a lot of color ink to show the true colors the glazes would end up as.
 

nurseangel

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When I worked at the prison, the ink plant for the state was located there. Prisons and I guess other public offices sent in their cartridges to be filled. This was one of the work programs for inmates. Printer ink costs almost nothing and we had name brand printers on our desks. I don't know what type of ink they used, but it worked just fine.

My aunt and uncle owned a hosiery mill where they made socks. I once asked her if she ever saw the socks her factory made in stores. "Oh yes," she said. "In ********** (high dollar store), they sell for $9.00 a pair. In ***********(discount store), they sell for $1.98 a pair. They just use different packaging."

Sometimes generic items are exactly the same as name brand, though I can't speak for ink. I can just buy a new printer for what it would cost to replace the ink cartridge. And as someone who tries to be environmentally friendly, I just have to print at the local library.

Sorry for my long, drawn-out pointless story. :frown:
 

catloverfromwayback

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I have an HP 3620. The current cartridges are recycled ones. Won’t buy them again unless I can’t find any new ones. The quality on this printer has always been meh but I don’t think they’re helping. Fortunately I only use it for knitting patterns and the occasional cat pic to put on the wall.
 
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