We have an Epson Stylus CX4800 printer that uses a T0601 black ink cartridge. I’m told by more than one salesman that the cartridges are non-refillable because each one has a little memory chip. As the cartridges are about $20 each (less for the colored ones), it would be nice to find a less expensive means of printing all the homework and research papers I have to do for my classes. Does anyone have any experience with refilling them or are the very helpful and eager sales personnel correct?
A better option for standard document printing is to get a low cost personal laser printer like the Bother HL-2040. That’s an Amazon link, Staples also will put it on sale for a similar price. The laser toner cartridges are refillable and there are shops that specialize in selling recycled toner cartridges. The expensive bit in a laser printer is the drum, but that lasts a while.
Laser printers are less expensive per page than ink squirting printers. And the print is sharper and won’t bleed if the paper gets wet.
Bruce-
There are a number of inkjet compatible cartridges made. I’ve used them for years for Epson and Canon printers. I saw a couple of compatibles for the T0601 black (T060120) for 5 or 6 bucks. In quantity they’re a little cheaper. Just Google inkjet compatible T0601 and you’ll find a few. I’ve used Ldproducts and another that I can’t remember.
I own an epson C82 and it’s been a total <insert offensive word of choice> getting it to work AFTER you’ve used something that’s not original.
Original ink here costs 5 times more than the refills BUT there’s no refill I’ve used which works to expectations. I’ve used brands that fade, brands that print with a strange yellow hue to everything and brands that suddenly cause the printer software to decide that the cart is empty.
I’ve not used my printer for some months and recently I’ve tried to get stuff printed. I bought original ink but NOTHING works. I’ve cleaned out the heads, the nubs, everything and it still prints in splotches.
Now it’d be easy to recommend buying original all the time but original Epson costs as much as a brand new printer. Conclusion? I don’t know. Go figure.
It’s all about the 7800 baby!.. wish I had one.
For inkjet printers, it’s important to print something with them, or at least turn them on every week or so. At least this was the case with my older ones. If they sit too long, they seem to have lots of trouble getting all old ink out of the way or whatever’s necessary for optimum printing.
That reminds me, I’d better turn my inkjet on…
(I use a laser for most printing, as it’s much cheaper per page. The inkjet is mostly for photos, or printing stuff that won’t look good/be readable in b&w. My current Canon iP6700D seems to do better if I leave it for long periods of non-use…)
I have an Epson Stylus printer, i was reliably informed by the refill shop down the road that they could be refilled with about 1.5 times the original amount of ink for normal price wiht no problems. Never got to try them myself but they have some pretty weighty testimonies saying they worked.
OEM means original equipment manafacturer, it means the cartridge was made by the same guys who made the printer so it will deffinitely work.
This looks like a shameless plug of a site that’s trying to be covered up. Mark’s first few posts were very broken english, then this last one promoting the site is very well said… Quite suspicious if you ask me.
This depends on the printer/cartridge that you’re using. Generally with Epson, they come filled to capacity already. However, there are a lot of HP and Lexmark cartridges that come filled only 1/2 or 1/4 of their capacity.
John, the reason why your Canon does so well is because the print head is in the printer, rather than on the cartride. It’s made to last for the life of the printer. In comparison, cartridges with the print head on them (most HP/Lex, some Canon) are designed to fail after their first use, though you can ‘usually’ get 3 or 4 refills out of them before they completely fail. In my professional opinion, if you want the most money savings when it comes to refilling, purchase a Canon with an individual ink system (CLI-8/PGI-5 or the newer CLI-221 style of cartridges) and then get them refilled or refill them yourself. But make sure you’re getting the proper ink for your cartridges. There’s no such thing as a universal ink! 
Another handy tip: looking for your ass? It’s not that hole in the ground. You’re probably sitting on it right now.
the cost of refilling of HP, epson and canon are quite high. if you find any cheap ink on the net, it might be cheap in quality too. so be careful before buying.