New Printer pre-loaded with compatible inks - potential damage?

Supernova

interstellaflyer wrote: »

Not strictly true, good quality compatible cartridges will have ink that is as close to the OEM formula as allowed, the really cheap ones will probably use a generic formula ie one ink fits all. As for the base liquid, that depends on the manufacturers spec, not whether it’s a cheap compatible or not.

OK thanks, I've not used compatibles for many years. Is it easy now to tell the good from the bad when buying for Canon printers? Any reputable suppliers, like Cartridge People for example?

Cheers

S

Supernova

Hi all,

So, when the compatible inks ran out I put genuine Canon cartridges in (I had some spare for my old printer which still just about works).

The printer became unusable with distorted lines and any kind of print alignment was useless to sort it.

Which? just published a report on the best compatible inks so I took a punt and ordered a double set of Colour Direct XL inks for £8.99 on Amazon (Canons would be £140) and the printer now seems absolutely fine.

Bizarre, but I'm out of time to write a review or complain on eBay so hopefully all is well now :-)

S

Supernova

Update:
The Colour Direct 550/551 cartridges have worked very well in the Ebay MG5650 but my old IP7250 will no longer recognise the same cartridges. YMMV as they say.
S

cajef

I have used compatible cartridges in my Canon MG5650 from 'Refresh Cartridges' since the printer was new and in my previous Canon printer, they give a money back guaranteed if any problems and I have never had any issues with them in the many years I have been using them.

Supernova

cajef said:

I have used compatible cartridges in my Canon MG5650 from 'Refresh Cartridges' since the printer was new and in my previous Canon printer, they give a money back guaranteed if any problems and I have never had any issues with them in the many years I have been using them.

Works for most people I think (including me for 18 months), but if the manufacturer is out to penalise people for using them with some spurious error code there will be no money back on a damaged printer. I'll be wary in future.

My IP7250 and MG5650 have both given up the ghost now with B200 Print Head and C000 Paper Feed/Cartridge seating errors respectively.

It seems impossible to replace them at the same cost for the same features without the same faults being inevitable and the manufacturers inbuilt obsolescence and ink costs seemingly out of control now.

Even Which? can only recommend Brother B&W laser printers when most people want colour prints some of the time.

Any recommendations for a cheap reliable inkjet printer for 2021? 

S

knightstyle

Cheap AND reliable  Like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Supernova

knightstyle said:

Cheap AND reliable  Like looking for a needle in a haystack.

So far...a £400 machine that won't do Duplex...a Mega/EcoTank that doesn't have cartridges but the Ink Pads will fail...a £250 machine that has a vertical page tray...HP Instant Ink...an Epson that smudges non-Epson paper...the latest Canon that guzzles ink...

Modern exploitative toss...

S

IvanOpinion

Supernova said:

Any recommendations for a cheap reliable inkjet printer for 2021? 

My HP Envy 5532 is now 7 years old and has worked flawlessly all that time.  Total ink costs is £24 per year (using HP instant ink) which gives me 50 pages per month (which is plenty for me).

Supernova

IvanOpinion said:

Supernova said:

Any recommendations for a cheap reliable inkjet printer for 2021? 

My HP Envy 5532 is now 7 years old and has worked flawlessly all that time.  Total ink costs is £24 per year (using HP instant ink) which gives me 50 pages per month (which is plenty for me).

Ah, 7 years ago, Halcyon Days...  I do find it quite difficult to judge how many prints I will need per month and might be a bit of a faff if I suddenly need to print a large document and near the limit - what are the rollover rules? 

IvanOpinion

Supernova said:

IvanOpinion said:

Supernova said:

Any recommendations for a cheap reliable inkjet printer for 2021? 

My HP Envy 5532 is now 7 years old and has worked flawlessly all that time.  Total ink costs is £24 per year (using HP instant ink) which gives me 50 pages per month (which is plenty for me).

Ah, 7 years ago, Halcyon Days...  I do find it quite difficult to judge how many prints I will need per month and might be a bit of a faff if I suddenly need to print a large document and near the limit - what are the rollover rules? 

You are allowed to roll over up to 3 times your monthly allowance - so in my case that would be 150 pages (my current roll over is just over 100).  If you suddenly need some more and do not have enough allowance left, or enough rollover to cover it then you will charged at £1 per batch of 10 pages.

More info at https://instantink.hpconnected.com/uk/en/l/