I need a new printer and I am currently deciding between HP and Cannon.
I plan to refill my cartridges, so ease of refilling is my utmost
importance. I also care about speed. I print mostly black and white
text, rarely any photos. Lasers may theoretically cost less per page,
but refilled ink costs even less and refilling toner is too much of a
pain. I would appreciate some advice.

Canon is WAY easy and fast to refill, also a very fast and quiet printer.
Takes me about 2 min per tank to refill and put back in the printer.



<techman41973@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1112668075.105260.91420@f14g2000cwb.googlegro ups.com...

On 4 Apr 2005 19:27:55 -0700, techman41973@yahoo.com wrote:


So you'd rather get ink all over your hands twice a week than pour a
bottle of toner into the cartridge every other month?

I get approximately 4,000 pages from an $18 bottle of toner. No way
you xcan match that with inkjet.

Dan G wrote:
and these 2 min includes one beer in between... :-)

Bill wrote:

Andrew White wrote:
trivia: just about all the major companies buy their printer engines
(inkjet & laser) from Canon.

My trusty old Epson prints for less than that, I paid $4-5 per 24ml
cart, but now they're even cheaper, for black. At the std 5% coverage,
Epson site sez I should print 4-500 pages, forgot the exact no., cuz
it's unrealistic anyway, the 5% coverage. The average filled-out tax
form is at least 10% coverage.

If I were really ambitious, could drive 30 mi to the burbs, buy a whole
pint (470ml) that's 19+ complete fills, for $21.95. (oddparts.com)

my latest cheapie: 5 carts, black

http://tinyurl.com/47cox
private.abacus24-7.com

189EVP5 Valu 5-Pak / S020189 black $5.95 5 Pack

On Wed, 06 Apr 2005 17:43:50 -0400, Jon von Leipzig <JonL@myway.com>
wrote:


But they still smear when they get wet.

My experience has been that it's far cleaner to refill a laser toner
cartridge thanit is to refill an ink cartridge. I've done both, and
there is no comparison. Of course, when the only tool you have is a
hammer, all problems look like nails.

How long does it take you to clean the print heads if the printer sets
for a couple of weeks? My lasers are always ready.

On Thu, 07 Apr 2005 00:20:06 GMT, Bob Ward <bobward@verizon.net>
wrote:


More or less have to agree with Bob. I've got both and tho it takes
me longer to replace my toner cartridge, I rarely do it (that is
probably why it takes me longer because I forget how to do it just
right). I may have to replace my toner cartridge once every 3 or 4
years (of course it depends on how many pages you print). And if
print quality counts my laserjet 4 is still better in text than my 3
other canon inkjets (one is a ip3000). I don't plan on giving up my
laserjet4 till it goes bad (heavy and built like a tank). In that
case I expect to replace it with another laserjet tho I'm at a loss
which model as I'm not educated on the new ones.

Bob Ward wrote:
I have a roof over my head, plus, I'll be in an a/c'd clubhouse at the
track, no worries about moisture. 90% of mine is black throw-away
stuff, so no concern w/quality.

True. That is interesting....going 4000 pages w/out having to stop,
refll,etc. Really need to update this snail (3ppm), but have no idea how
durable these cheaper lasers are. With lots of practice, I can now fix
mine quickly, if it has a problem.

have my own concoction of de-clogging juice, plus special syringe w/tube
to feed nozzle.

trivia: if ink ever goes up (unlikely) like gas prices, can always
tinker with making my own. Only need some oil-based offset ink, glycol,
hi-grade alcohol, and water. Preferably, but maybe not necessary,
triple-distilled & de-ionized water.
One poster at Frugal once claimed he just used stamp pad ink, with a few
drops of glycerine. Another, in UK, sez she uses a good quality fountain
pen ink.

Jon von Leipzig wrote:
I have used Windex liquid (window cleaner from it spray-bottle) as a
solvent-cleaner and for dilution for my HP6122 and Cannon BJ cartridge
refills. I also have retrieved the black gunk-ink from the drip-pad.
There is a lot of black ink in them that can be retrieved that way. A
bit messy, but you can be creative in salvaging.. sort of like
dumpster-diving...

Likewise for the toner cartridges for my Konica copier. The powder
refuse collector chamber of the toner cartridge can be opened. Dump
toner there onto the center of a sheet of paper, Carefully reassemble
the refuse chamber onto the cartridge. Use paper as a carrier to refill
the toner bin of the cartridge, then use "like new"... About a 30%-50%
retrieval rate...

The ink needs to be all soluble stuff.. zero particulates.

Angelo Campanella