Printer dilemma

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Mon May 10, 2021 4:36 pm

I have an HP printer/scanner that is not printing even though the diagnostics say that the ink level in the carts is 50%. I ran the head cleaning program and I got the cartridges out and rubbed the heads with wet kitchen paper. No Black but a feint blue comes out. I have been tinkering but no luck. Now the HP 301 combo colour and black packs are very hard to find, even through HP direct. I thought I would buy some refills to get me by but even they are not available. I went into an ink place today, why are they all w*nkers?, and after pressing the bloke his answer was to buy a new printer for £40 like a Canon as I have those carts in stock.

I really do not need a printer that often but I do need it on occasion. I will buy another printer to get out of jail but I would ask for recommendations on what makes have cheap cartridges as the cheap printer is clearly a loss leader to the supply of expensive cartridges.

Any advice appreciated.

DWD

wine~o · Post by **wine~o** » Mon May 10, 2021 4:55 pm

Tesco do a remanufactured range of 301 cartridges, may only be available online though (you need an account to order)

Dave54 · Post by **Dave54** » Mon May 10, 2021 5:49 pm

I was having a look literally a couple of weeks back. Replaced the colour cartridge in this printer / scanner here. They're 301 cartridges. Looked for replacements, and thought "Expensive!" but then a bit more research revealed that the more modern version of the same printer scanner uses cartridges that are pretty well the same price. More availability possibly though.
If you look at the cost of running them they all come out about the same. Some are cheaper, but you really need to do a lot more printing than I do to warrant the extra cost.
I don't take any notice of the estimated ink levels. I read somewhere ages ago that it's an estimate based on the pages printed.
If you're running on remanufactured cartridges, it might be even further out.
I decided to hold fire in the end. I might get a new printer when these cartridges run out.
The 301s are available on eBay, and / or Amazon. Can't remember offhand where I found them.

kellys_eye · Post by **kellys_eye** » Mon May 10, 2021 6:23 pm

Mrs k_e got a HP printer 'on contract'. ISTR she only paid £30 for it, new. She pays £1.99/month and gets 10 'free' printed pages for that sum (might be 20 can't recall). Additional pages over the 10 (20?) 'free' cost 10p each. The printer automatically reports when a cartridge is close to empty and replacement tanks arrive in the post promptly.

You might think this is 'average-to-poor' value (works out at 20p/page worst case, slightly less if she prints more) but she only uses the printer to print full page, photo-quality colour images that, after 4 or 5 prints, empties the useless, tiny quantity cartridges you normally get in printers these days. The cartridges are replaced as part of the £1.99/month fee WHENEVER THEY EMPTY so as far as printing full colour whole-page is concerned she's quids-in. She can get 2, 3 or even 4 deliveries of cartridges in a month! I don't think HP thought people would use the printer ENTIRELY for solid colour printing but....meh..... their loss!

At least she never gets the chance to have a cartridge run empty or even dry out!

If all you print is b&w text/letters then consider a cheap older-style laser. We have two 'old' Dell mono lasers (identical) that we got for £30 each (used, ex-ebay). A print cartridge is good for 3,000-5,000 pages and costs £15. Two pages/penny!!!

Neelix · Post by **Neelix** » Mon May 10, 2021 7:51 pm

We've got an Epson ET 2710 , had it nearly 2 years and we're still on the ink supplied with it except the black - and I do a lot of business printing.

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Mon May 10, 2021 8:21 pm

Christ, that Epson is £190, I really do not print often enough to justify the expense. I think I will see if I can source some HP301 refills as that might be the way. It is a bleedin' racket, none of the carts are cheap.

DWD

APDIY · Post by **APDIY** » Mon May 10, 2021 8:30 pm

I've had a Canon, Pixma, MG5750 for some years and apart from having to fiddle with the
paper feed it has worked well.
Tesco doesn't stock their own brand of ink cartridges but many other shops do and at a hefty discount.
One of this printer's advantages is that the coloured inks are contained in their own separate cartridge
so if one runs out I don't have to buy all of the inks, just the one that's dry.

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Tue May 11, 2021 3:45 pm

Update: It is a Catch 22 for me, the remanufactured cartridges have a high failure rate often not working because of the software protection on the HP (and other) machines. The printer is sold cheap so you get screwed on the carts which seems the same for all inkjet cartridge types and makes as far as I can see. I had a look at the Epson InkTank which is a very good option if you do loads of printing, which I do not, so the £180 price tag bites my mean fingers.

So searched and actually found some stock of HP 301 Combo black/colour for which I have had to pay £32 bloody quid, but they are genuine HP so they should work and be here tomorrow.

I might have a go at refilling my old ones but on the other hand I may smash the f*ck ers to death

DWD

Dave54 · Post by **Dave54** » Tue May 11, 2021 3:59 pm

dewaltdisney wrote: ↑Tue May 11, 2021 3:45 pm Update: It is a Catch 22 for me, the remanufactured cartridges have a high failure rate often not working because of the software protection on the HP (and other) machines. The printer is sold cheap so you get screwed on the carts which seems the same for all inkjet cartridge types and makes as far as I can see. I had a look at the Epson InkTank which is a very good option if you do loads of printing, which I do not, so the £180 price tag bites my mean fingers.

So searched and actually found some stock of HP 301 Combo black/colour for which I have had to pay £32 bloody quid, but they are genuine HP so they should work and be here tomorrow.

I might have a go at refilling my old ones but on the other hand I may smash the f*ck ers to death

DWD

Sounds almost exactly the same conclusion that I came to. The ink tank thing looks great. But the initial cost is off putting if you don't do much printing.
I've tried various refilled cartridges over the years and never been happy. I don't bother with photo printing for business, there are experts out there who do it better without me buying a printer, but I do print the occasional one off for out own use, and with the refilled ones they almost fade while you watch them.

But it's all horses for courses. No two people want the same thing.

Someone-Else · Post by **Someone-Else** » Tue May 11, 2021 4:09 pm

dewaltdisney wrote: ↑Tue May 11, 2021 3:45 pmI might have a go at refilling my old ones

I did that, TWICE, never again.

kellys_eye · Post by **kellys_eye** » Tue May 11, 2021 4:55 pm

If you want cheap and reliable printing the best bet is always to go for ex-business/office machines, preferably refurbished. Our HP4025 laser is 'massive' (weighs around 45kg!) but churns out b&w at 0.5p/page and colour at 1.5p/page remorselessly. B&W laser printers are even cheaper to buy/run and we could, if we chose our print stock carefully, go entirely B&W. Colour is tbh quite rarely used.

Bob225 · Post by **Bob225** » Tue May 11, 2021 5:55 pm

The print heads dry out over time, if you use the aftermarket cheap carts they use cheap water based ink, not had an issue getting genuine ink for hp printers

I run a 6940 with duplexer and 2nd tray and a hp colour laser, printer companies have got wise, they only sell printers with the lower yield carts

standard 301

https://www.amazon.co.uk/HP-CH561EE-Ori ... B003LNLPQ6

XL 301

https://www.amazon.co.uk/HP-CH561EE-Ori ... B003LNLPJS

twin pack black plus colour

https://www.amazon.co.uk/2-pack-Tri-col ... B0080DEWG2

IIRC Asda and Sainsburys both carry the 301, Currys sometimes have money off codes that make carts reasonable

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/3496006

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Wed May 12, 2021 12:29 pm

My cartridges turned up this morning, good service. They are genuine HP and at £32 it seems that is about the price for them.

I had looked on Amazon and when I drilled in on one it was a July delivery date. Argos was out of stock in every shop in Essex it seems. Anyway, sorted for another two years and I have managed to print off what I needed. Bloody printers and rip off merchant suppliers ensuring their income by cartridge disabling codes and minimal ink fill levels.

DWD

APDIY · Post by **APDIY** » Sat May 15, 2021 1:43 pm

Coincidentally, Issue 606 0f Computer Active has an article on ways to ''Unclog an ink cartridge''.
That's in the edition 19 May - 1 June 2021 due on the shelves soon and often NOT in a plastic wrapper
Page 74 - next to the back cover.