Okay, back to the topic. This is a question we hear quite often. As customers gather information to make an informed purchasing decision, they almost always want to know how many times they can refill their ink cartridge. Refill in this case means using a refill kit or a refill service.

Unfortunately, there is no definite answer for this. The best we can give is an average. So, on average your printer ink cartridge can be refilled 3-4 times (and still print). In some cases you won’t be able to use your refilled cartridge at all, in other cases  you’ll be able to refill and reuse upwards of 10 times. Why so much variance?

The variance is caused by the cartridge’s print head, that shiny copper colored strip on the bottom of the cartridge. The print head facilitates communication between the printer and the cartridge. A damaged print head means no printing! Even a small scratch will cause your printer to be unable to recognize your refilled cartridge. If you think back to when you originally purchased your cartridge you should remember that the print head was covered (typically with tape) and had instructions that you should never touch it. Even finger prints on the print head could cause cartridge failure.

There are other parts of the cartridge that will wear out over time, but none cause as many failures as the print head.

Another factor that will determine the success or failure of a refilled printer cartridge is how often you used it, while it still had ink in it. The less often you use a cartridge, the more likely it is to fail when refilled. Ink dries inside the printer nozzles and impedes the amount of ink that can flow out of the cartridge. Once the clogging process starts, each successive print will cause more clogging.

So, to increase the odds of having your refilled cartridge successfully print, remember to treat the print head with the utmost care and to use your printer cartridges on a regular basis.

Do you have any cartridge refilling tips you would like to share? Take a minute to let me know. Thanks!

If you own this printer, let me know what you think about it. Thanks!

— CNET Rating: 3.5 Stars —

The good: Intuitive scroll wheel; large 2-inch LCD for photo viewing; wireless; auto-duplexer included; dual paper trays.

The bad: Mediocre print speeds; competition offers better image quality for less.

The bottom line: The Canon Pixma MP560 multifunction printer and its flashy 2-inch LCD screen and auto-document feeder may seem appealing at first, but the average consumer will find that Lexmark’s Impact S305 offers faster performance and higher quality results for $50 less. (Read the full CNET review)

— PCWORLD Rating: 3.5 Stars  —

Pros: Very nice photo quality; Automatic duplexing and roomy paper trays; Fast scanning speeds

Cons: Mediocre print speeds

Bottom Line: For a reasonable price, you get automatic duplexing and dual 150-sheet input trays, but the trade-off is mediocre print speed.

— Consumer Ratings: 4 Stars —

A positive comment from Amazon.com:

Nice printer, nice scanner, great for novice users

This printer was purchased as a birthday present for my mother, who has been hampered by a Windows Vista computer and a malfunctioning HP Printer (it worked great with XP…). We purchased the Canon PIXMA MP560 printer for $85 (free shipping) on Amazon, and comparing the price to other retailers online (and the retail price), it was no contest.

This printer has some features that you may already know of via the product description page, but I’d like to elaborate on some of these features.
Thoughts out of the box:
-The MP560 has a folding LCD screen that covers the function buttons. The screen is not too large, but it does seem to have large enough text (and a simple GUI) to work well for novice printer users. There are not too many buttons, and they’re large, well-marked, and simple enough for anyone to recognize.
-The printer has a lower paper tray (for regular inkjet/copier paper) and an upper vertical tray (for thicker photo paper and other things). The vertical tray has an automatic two-sided width adjustment/alignment, so any size paper is aligned to the proper position every time (and the thickness is adjustable from maximum printing width of the printer, down to only an inch or so).
-The basic instruction manual is printed on paper, and easily guided me through the process of installation of the print head/ink, paper, software, and wireless network capability. This guide has simple words and illustrations, though it does not include every detail of the printer’s operations (the more complex instruction/user manual is electronic, and is installed with the printer software). There is a Network Troubleshooting guide, as well, that seems to be rather detailed (though unnecessary in my case). The printer comes with a sample pack of 4″x6″ photo paper, which we immediately tested (and it passed the test with flying colors). There’s other throw-away junk included, but nothing that surprising.
-The printer is clearly labeled so as to make it simple to place cartridges in the right location, once the print head is installed.
-The fact that the MP560 has multiple single-color ink cartridges may seem expensive at first, but with tri-color cartridge printers, we would always seem to run out of a single color much faster than other colors… so we were wasting a good amount of ink each and every time we replaced a cartridge. This printer seems to have ink cartridges that would be easier to refill than some other cartridges, as well.

After powering it on:
-It was EFFORTLESS to set up the MP560 on our wireless network. It quickly detected the network (our router is on another floor in the house, on the other side of the house), and it still had a good quality signal, and it only took a few minutes (and only a couple pushes of a button… plus entering our internet security key) before the printer was connected. There is a rotating pad (similar to an IPod) on the printer that lets you select any security codes you may have (and navigate through the GUI)… so it may take awhile if one has an alphanumeric password, but it was rather quick for a numeric 8-key code. Heck, my mom is not too familiar with computers, and I have no doubts that she could have set up this printer with the network.
-The printer comes with easy to use software (again, in Vista), though it does take a few minutes for the software to install itself on a PC. The basic instruction manual makes it rather easy to install everything, whether using Windows or Mac. Once installed, the printer is rather effortlessly found (remember to have attached the printer to the wireless network), and before you know it, you’re ready to print.
-The printer has a laser ink level meter for every cartridge, and it can be displayed on the computer and on the 2″ LCD screen on the printer (actually, pressing one button on the “Home” screen will allow you to see each ink level). So far, it does not appear as if this printer over-uses ink… in fact, printing on glossy photo paper seems to suggest there’s less “gunk” on the paper than some other printers, perhaps due to the finer ink jets this printer allegedly uses.

Using the printer for the first time:
-The printer and software actually WORK WELL with Windows Vista!
-The printer does take a few seconds to warm up, but after the first print job, it seems to be much faster.
-The MP560 didn’t have a single problem feeding thicker photo paper.
-The quality of printed pictures is very good, showing very tight pixels even on plain paper. Photo paper shows an excellent picture quality, and the software included with the printer makes it effortless to print photos with certain photo papers… no need to change printer settings manually.
-The scanner/copier seems to produce quality pictures, although this isn’t the fastest, nor the quietest, copier I’ve seen in a multi-use printer.
-The Duplex printing feature is a great thing to have in a lower-cost home printer, as few documents are of an official, legal nature, hence there’s no need for one-sided printing. It gets to be inconvenient to flip the pages by hand each and every time one wants to print on both sides of a piece of paper, so it is great to find a lower-cost printer that has this feature. This printer does not print internally, it prints on one side and extracts the page, then gathers the page back inside the printer and prints on the other side, so I don’t know how well Duplex printing would work on thicker media such as fabrics.

All in all, this is a great printer so far. It beats anything I’ve ever owned, in terms of print quality and functionality, and I’d say it’s a pretty good value to boot. Mom is certainly happy about this printer, and she’s going to test it with some of her crafts… let’s see how it stands up to the test of time when she puts it to use.

A negative comment from Amazon.com:

Are you Kidding Me?

It’s no wonder Canon took so long to come up with wireless printers–they had no idea of what they’re doing. I got this MX860 the other night and there are about 60 pages on how to setup one’s network. Apparently, one can not setup the network from the printer and printer screen, as they could with normal printers like Brother, HP, etc.
You have to start a USB connection and run an install program that runs as slow as dirt to run wireless on this printer. This is like starting a jet by pulling it by horses. It baffles the imagination that Canon could make this so convoluted and over-complicated. In addition to that Canon fills up your computer with garbage.
It loads up about five programs into your startup tray, which bogs down your computer, and really serves no purpose at all.
No thanks! This baby is shipping back and I’ll look at a company that knows how to make a printer like Brother or Epson. (Read all Amazon.com user reviews)

NextLife is a company the specializes in partnering with other companies to assist in implementing sustainability measures within the partner companies. In short, they are ‘green’ consultants.They come in to your company and help put programs in place that make you more environmentally friendly.

We all know Dell, computer manufacturing giant turned printer and printer cartridge manufacturer, so we don’t need to go in to much depth on them.

Together NextLife and Dell will be producing a product called ‘NextLife Ink by Dell’. They tout NextLife Ink as one of the most sustainable printer ink cartridges available in the marketplace.

The press releases and blogs throw around a lot of fancy adjectives to describe this printer ink cartridge, so what on earth are Dell and NextLife REALLY talking about?

NextLife is taking this opportunity to debut a new package label. The describe the new label as:

Our proprietary “Environmental Facts” label (soon to be as ubiquitous as the FDA’s “Nutrition Facts” and “Drug Facts” labels).

A bold statement, as ubiquitous as the FDA’s, but very cool to think about if it happens to be. I would like to know the environmental footprint of a product I use. Hopefully they are able to provide some real information and not just some general fluff. According to the label for these cartridges, NextLife cartridges:

• Have a 30% lower carbon footprint than newly manufactured cartridges.
• Have a higher percentage of recycled content than competitors: 43% – 62% is reclaimed.
• Have packaging that is comprised of 50% post-consumer waste and is 100% recyclable.
• Will print up to 20% more pages compared to branded ink cartridges.
• Will save users up to 20% compared to branded ink cartridges.
• Will be available for about 70% of the most popular inkjet printers in use today.

Time for my opinion . . . Glorified remanufactured cartridge.

Yes, understand this, Dell and NextLife are getting in the printer cartridge remanufacturing business (Dell specifically refers to the cartridges as remanufactred in their blog). I am not exactly sure which company is doing what, but my guess would be that Dell is the marketing and distribution arm. NextLife adds more credibility because they business is ‘green’. No, not green as in money, but a good guess (I’ll explain what I mean shortly). It is possible that neither of them will be doing the remanufacturing (that is my speculation).

I call them glorified remanufactured cartridges because someone with some serious money is finally giving remanufacturing a shot. For that reason this is very interesting to me. To date there really have not been any large companies, with substantial  financial resources, to make a serious run at properly advancing the status of remanufactured cartridges. Both Dell and NextLife are seeing ‘green’ (explanation of my reference in previous paragraph) at the possibilities. Green refers to profits . . . money.

But I am left wondering why  Dell is doing this. We saw them take, what was estimated to be, a 13% share of the printer market share in just about one year. Huge number in such a short amount of time! Then we saw them fall off the printer map. We also saw them draw the ire of HP and fight some legal battles for just becoming a threat in the marketplace.

Now what do they think will happen when they are financing the production of cartridges that threaten the profits of not only HP, but also Lexmark, Epson  and Canon. HP, Lexmark, and Epson have already shown a propensity bring law suits to those that threaten their ability to earn money in the printer cartridge arena. Are Dell and NextLife soon to be added to the list?

NextLife stands to gain, or suffer, depending on how the cartridges are received. Dell, on the other hand, seems to be set up to fail. They are drawing the attention of the other big printer manufacturers and they are cannibalizing their own line of printer cartridges. They’ve spent millions of dollars promoting their Dell brand ink cartridges, but are now pushing a cartridges that costs 20% less and prints 20% more pages than their cartridges do. I’m confused.

Oh, but here’s a kicker. NextLife cartridges are not yet available for Dell printers . . . Read that again to be sure you understand. Dell is offering remanufactured cartridges for HP, Lexmark, Canon, and Epson but NOT Dell. Sneaky! They claim they will be adding remanufactured cartridges to replace Dell cartridges in the very near future. Can anyone else see a HP and Epson lawyers furiously working away on this right now.

Okay, let’s wrap this up.

Dell is going in to the business of distributing remanufactured cartridges. This might be a really smart move. This might be a really dumb move. Either way it is very interesting.

Take a minute to let me know what you think about this. Like it? Have you had a chance to use a ‘NextLife by Dell’ cartridge yet? Share your thoughts. Thanks!

	HP Officejet 6500 Wireless All-in-One Inkjet Printer Speed Up to 7 ppm Black and Color, Maximum 32 ppm Black and 31 ppm Color 2 Line Text LCD Display and Embedded Wireless 802.11g Networking Color Print, Color Copy, Color Scan, and Color Fax 250-Sheet Input Tray, 50-Sheet Output Tray, Automatic Two-Sided Printing, 35-Sheet ADF 32 MB Memory and Processor Speed 192 MHz
	Canon PIXMA MX860 Wireless All-In-One office Printer Fully-Integrated 35-sheet Auto Document Feeder for rapid built-in two-sided document copying and scanning Super G3 High-speed fax with memory to store 100 coded speed dials and up to 250 incoming pages when receiving ITU-T No. 1 Chart Various security features including password protected PDFs
	Canon PIXMA MP560 Wireless Inkjet All-In-One Photo Printer (3747B002) Keep it Green – Built-in 2-sided printing helps the environment and cuts your paper usage by 50% Amazingly compact printer with both wireless and built-in 2-sided printing Maximum 9600 x 2400 color dpi2 for exceptional photo quality Use the new “Auto Photo Fix II” to automatically adjust and correct your photos Easily print your photos from compatible memory cards3 and USB Flash drives
	HP Photosmart Premium All-in-One Printer (CD055A#ABA) Print, scan and copy from a single, energy-efficient device with 3.45-inch touchscreen for printing directly from Snapfish Connections include Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n) and Ethernet networking, Bluetooth, USB, and PictBridge Rotate and crop, adjust brightness, or apply color effects before printing with TouchSmart control panel–no PC necessary Up to 33 ppm black and 32 ppm color print speeds; scans up to 4800 x 4800 dpi (8.5 x 11.7 inches) Borderless photo printing up to 8.5 x 11 inches; 125-sheet input tray and 20-sheet photo tray
	HP DeskJet F4480 Inkjet All-in-One Printer (CB745A#B1H) Print, Scan and Copy Up to 28 ppm black and 22 ppm color 29 Second 4×6 photos Borderless photos up to panoramma Uses HP 60 Series ink cartridges

If you own one of these printers, please take a minute and give us your review of it. Thanks!

If you own this printer, let me know what you think about it. Thanks!

— CNET Rating: 3.5 Stars —

The good: Rapidly prints graphical and text documents; includes Wi-Fi and Ethernet networking; attractive design despite its bulk; easy to set up.

The bad: Slow to print photos; large footprint; lacks automatic duplexer.

The bottom line: The Epson WorkForce 610 meets the needs of both businesses and home offices that are shopping for a competent, dependable all-in-one device. Whether it’s printing, faxing, copying, or scanning, this Epson is a cut above the competition. (Read the full CNET review)

— PCWORLD Rating:  —

No Review Provided

— Consumer Ratings: 4 Stars —

A positive comment from Amazon.com:

Recommended Home/Office General Purpose Printer & Scanner

I replaced an older Dell All-In-One printer with the Epson WorkForce 610. I have owned multiple HP all-in-one home/office printers that originally cost $300+. By far, this Epson WorkForce 610 is the best of the bunch.

Setup was easy. I downloaded and installed the latest Epson software from their website. It installed on my Windows 7 laptops very easily. One laptop directly connected to the printer and the other has a wireless connection. In both cases the install, printer discovery, and test prints/scans went well. The software takes longer than expected to install but there were no scary questions or screens so it was just patience.

Setting up the printer to work on my WEP enabled wireless network was easy to do from the printer’s front panel. There were front panel diagnostics that allowed me to check if the printer had an IP address so that i could make sure I had the right security keys installed.

The scanner and auto-document feeder work well and are much faster than my more expensive Dell or HP printers. Both a TWAIN and WIA scanner are exposed so it works well with lots of software. For me, interop with Paperport 12 was a must and this has been flawless – much better than the Dell or HP all-in-one printers. I tend to scan 8×10 and legal sizes stuff in the document feeder and that works fine. The adjustment guide only supports A4 & LTR/LGL sized paper so narrower paper may skew when being fed into the auto document feeder.

The paper feed mechanism is on the back of the printer and only holds 100 or so sheets. So good for lighter home / office use versus heavy use. I can easily insert an envelope over the paper to quickly print an occasional envelope. If I were printing multiple envelopes, i would remove the paper, adjust the paper guide to envelope size, and it holds 10 or so envelopes.

Making scans (to PDF, a File, or Email) from the front panel also works well.

I didn’t spend much time with the fax as that wasn’t important to me.

All in all, the best printer I have owned so far.

A negative comment from Amazon.com:

3 strikes and Epson’s out

After reading all of the reviews for all-in-one devices, this seemed to be the one to get. Setup for wireless use was very easy: I had it set up on 3 pc’s and one mac with no issues at all. The first unit I had developed a clog in the printer head which Epson diagnosed over the phone, after repeated attempts at cleaning, and so they had to send out a completely new unit. I received the second printer and had to go through the setup on all 4 computers again. One week later, the same issue occurred on the print head. Epson sent out a third unit: guess what…….. same problem. I was impressed with Epson’s customer service, but on the other hand it seemed too easy, like they know there is a problem with these units. I really wanted this thing to work, because it was very easy to setup (much easier than any HP I have owned). My other complaint is how loud the unit was, crazy loud at printing and scanning. Today I received a canon MX860 from Amazon. That unit was equally as easy to setup, but the big distinction is that the Canon has replaceable printer heads; so if it gets clogged, I don’t have to send back the entire unit. (Read all Amazon.com user reviews)

When Kodak started advertising for their line of printer cartridges they claimed consumers could save, on average, $110 per year on the cost of ink. HP took exception to this and commissioned some research to find out if the claim was true. The study found that a person would have to print at least four pages per day to realize the kind of savings Kodak touted.

In December the Federal Trade Commission forced Kodak to alter their advertising campaign to include the four printed pages per day. Ah, but are they now correct?

Nope.

The average home printer user only prints about two pages per day (Source: Lyra Research). I focus on the home user because that is who Kodak’s advertising was targeting. Kodak’s cost savings claim is based on a number that is twice as high as the actual number of pages printed. To realize the savings Kodak claims you would have to be printing almost 1500 pages per year. If the average home printer user prints two pages per day they will print 730 pages in a year.

To date, Kodak has had not response on this.

Here’s another interesting tidbit. Kodak’s inkjet cartridges are getting more expensive.

What? The company that built its printer marketing on cheap ink cartridges is raising their prices! It’s true.

The standard model in the printer cartridge industry has been based on inexpensive printers and higher priced printer cartridges. Kodak deviated from the model but looks to be coming back around with their 10B (black) and 10C (color) cartridges. The black cartridge is priced the same ($10.99) as the last generation black cartridge, but it contains less ink. The 10C cartridge is $3 more expensive than its last generation counterpart. In both cases . . . More expensive ink.

Further evidence of Kodak’s shift. Their marketing for these cartridges. They want you to think you are getting a better deal than before. One print ad claims:

“Now prints 10% more pages”

According to Lyra Research this is not the case. They’ve shown that the 10C color cartridge has a 9 percent higher cost per page, and the 10B black cartridge has a 25 percent higher cost per page.

So, yes, Kodak still offers some of the lowest priced printer cartridges on the market. But is their advertising really relaying the correct message? Are we really saving as much as they say we are?

Let me know what you think. Thanks!

As discussed, The National Conference on Weights and Measures decided they want to push for tighter restrictions on the way printer ink cartridge manufacturers must label their products. Their Florida cheif, Max Gray, was quoted as saying, “All of this lack of clarity into what should be required to be labeled on a printer ink cartridge or a toner cartridge used in copiers led me to feel that maybe this should be addressed.”

Well, The National Conference met in late January to discuss the issue championed by Mr. Gray. What did they decide? Nothing! According to reports there is no vote due on the issue. Keep in mind that any vote would just be a vote to decide if the group should, or should not, begin examining the issue of labeling on ink cartridge packaging.

Not getting the feeling that anything is going to get done here. It made for some nice Internet reading material and got all critics pumped up, but I think this group might have some bigger issues to deal with.

Let me know what you think. Thanks!

If you own this printer, let me know what you think about it. Thanks!

— CNET Rating: 4 Stars —

The good: Prints high-quality color photos and documents; impressive output speed; attractive design; added extras like Quick Forms, ADF, and an integrated CD drive for custom prints.

The bad: Higher than average cost for black ink cartridge; minor omissions include a hinged scanner hood and speed-dial fax buttons.

The bottom line: The HP Photosmart Premium Fax All-in-One printer makes it easy to increase productivity thanks to its streamlined user interface. The fax, copy, print, and scanning features boast helpful extras like double-sided printing, wireless connectivity, separate photo trays, and quick-access control panel buttons, all while maintaining lab-quality photos and a low cost to print. We highly recommend this printer to anyone who can benefit from its multifunctionality. (Read the full CNET review)

— PCWORLD Rating:  —

Pros: Prints on specially coated CD/DVD media; Produces photos quickly

Cons: Very expensive to purchase; Copy speeds are sluggish

Bottom Line: Well equipped for both photography and light office use, this MFP is capable–but very expensive. (Read the full PCWorld review)

— Consumer Ratings: 3.5 Stars —

A positive comment from Amazon.com:

All the features I wanted

I bought this last week after taking back two others in one week (HP C4599 and HP6310 because salesmen assured me they had both fax and wi-fi but they didn’t.) This Photosmart Premium (C309) has EVERYTHING I wanted: color fax, print, copy, scan, 50 pg document feeder, very easy two-sided printing, built-in wi-fi and bluetooth, reads from Flash drives and memory cards, has LCD screen, and can work independently of the computer.
Hook-up and software loading took me almost an hour but was fairly simple, I did WiFi setup so it isn’t physically connected to my computer at all and can be placed elsewhere in my home office. I DID follow another reviewer’s advise to custom install and skip the HP updates and shopping junk that use up space and slow you down. Great advice. My added advice: Be sure to uninstall EVERY piece of HP software you previously had on your computer before starting.
OK, so besides the listed features here are my likes and dislikes:
LIKES: appearance very pretty; instructions very intuitive; can separately pre-load photo paper; unexpected neat little add-on features like Quick Forms to print calendar pages, graph paper, even a few games like Sudokus!; can reproduce photos with one button; color resolution is intense; can even print on CD’s (if you buy the right ones); prints fast once it gets started. One other very cool feature: it prints straight from my iPhone using free HP iPrint application.
DISLIKES: takes too long getting started after you press “print” and is noisy doing it (though quiet when actually printing); the black on documents is not quite black enough (though I suspect this may save ink and perhaps can be adjusted in settings); photo paper loading didn’t work with Kodak paper (but worked fine with HP paper); ink is expensive…I don’t yet know how long it’ll last.
Overall there are just too many good features to enjoy on this printer that I can’t focus on the few flaws. I’m in love.

A negative comment from Amazon.com:

Printer Problems, Customer Service Nightmare

Although a long-time Amazon customer, I should disclose that I purchased this printer from the HP on-line store. Why, then, is this review here? Because their similar customer-feedback mechanism would not permit the printing of my submission. (”The truth? You can’t handle the truth!”–Jack Nickolson)

This new-model printer turned out to have both software and hardware issues right out of the box. Since I have access to my university’s computer support department, which offers telephone assistance/troubleshooting for non-university-owned computer equipment, I first contacted them. Over the course of several telephone sessions, three different technicians identified a software problem, plus design issues that prevent the printer from operating correctly.

A possible solution to faulty software has already been suggested by another Amazon reviewer–do not use the CD supplied with the printer itself. Instead, download the driver software from the HP download site. This potential solution was never suggested by HP Technical Support, as HP would not concede the possibility that there was anything wrong with the driver in the first place. On my operating system, the driver would continually revert to FAX mode, no matter what I did. With another OS, the bug may manifest itself in a different way. Also, I have not tried the other reviewer suggestion by downloading the web-site version of the driver. That’s because, by the time I saw his/her review, the printer had been sitting in its carton out in the garage for 3 weeks, awaiting some sort of corrective action by HP.

The hardware issue is twofold. First, the smaller of the printer’s two paper trays cannot detect the presence of paper in the tray, gives an “out of paper” message on the little printer screen, and halts the printing process. I experimented with full paper trays, half-full, and just a couple of pages. No dice.

Secondly, I was initially able to override the error stoppage by pressing the OK button, and thereby printed a number of 4X6 prints. After making a couple of prints in a row, however, I found that the feeding process caused the plastic fence (meant to keep paper in the tray aligned) to become looser and looser, allowing paper to be fed into the printer slightly crooked, with the result that the borderless prints I made came out with white (unprinted) slivers along opposing edges of the print.

At the time I was having multiple problems with this printer, others were (apparently) giving the unit rave, 5-star reviews on the HP store’s web site. I thought “Why just me?” and submitted a negative review that was rejected by the powers that be at HP. Now, however, the two printer design issues noted above have finally appeared, in reviews on the last and next-to-last page at the HP site. These appear to be genuine reviews by actual purchasers of the product.

This review already exceeds the desired length requested by Amazon, but I feel that an explanation as to why this dreadful printer still sits in my garage is in order. The technicians from my university felt that the problems I was experiencing were inherent in the printer’s design (and its driver software), and therefore cautioned me not to accept a replacement printer, but instead insist on returning it for a refund.

This type of problem is handled by HP Customer Care via a lengthy (2+ hour) process that includes a mandatory independent review of the product by one of their own experts from HP Technical Support. Without knowing what I’d previously been told by university technical staff, this person came to essentially the same conclusion.

However, when I was eventually able to speak directly to the decision-maker (who had access to notes recorded by the 6-7 other people I had to go through in order to speak to her) she elected not to allow the return, offering only a replacement unit, as I’d been warned. The reason? Some sort of ongoing beef with HP Technical Support, whom she regarded as a bunch of incompetents.

So that was my choice, a replacement or nothing. When I continued to press my case for a return, as I had for more than two hours, this person (called a “case manager”) hung up on me.

Having said all this, I feel obliged to point out that a (single) test of the printer’s 8 1/2 X 11 printing capability yielded a perfectly acceptable print. The scanner’s operation was less than ideal, as it required several attempts to produce a complete scan without having it stop 1/4 or 1/3 of the way, but when it finally produced a complete scan the quality was top-notch. I never attempted to use the FAX function.

With regard to the product reviews printed on their site, those on the first two pages are clearly suspect, with uniformly rave reviews accompanied by 5-star ratings. (Being subtle is apparently not the author’s strong suit.) A couple of later submissions do provide a glimpse into the printer’s shortcomings. I believe that HP’s unwillingness to print the review I submitted derives from its conclusion/recommendation, which was phrased something like this: “potential purchasers of this printer would be well advised to delay buying it until a number of outstanding software and hardware issues affecting its performance have been rectified.”

I believe that it was probably this recommendation, more so than the operational issues per se, that doomed the submission to the “round file.” It was (and is) based on several well-substantiated operational issues, and it comes from someone who has been and will continue to be a big fan of HP printers. As the owner of 5 HP printers (including 4 currently, including the one in the garage) I believe that HP produces the finest monochrome printers in the world (their LaserJet series) regardless of price.

Last year I purchased two LaserJets (from Amazon!) to replace a LaserJet III that seemed like it had lasted practically forever–requiring replacement toner cartridges at intervals nearing two years. I was wary of the smaller, plastic printers ordered from Amazon, but the one that at the time was HP’s cheapest printer (Model 1020) produced 1st-class results, and continues to do so 1 1/2 years later. Further, HP’s dismal customer support isn’t an issue, as nothing ever seems to go wrong with the LaserJets.

Color printers, on the other hand, appear to present difficulties for all manufacturers. Certain models targeted toward the professional market appear to be well-regarded. But for those of us who don’t have the thousands of dollars these printers cost, shopping for a quality, reliable color printer or all-in-one seems all but hopeless. Pick any (affordable) make and model of color printer, run a search on it, and the search is likely to reveal scores of unhappy owners.

So my review is not meant to demean HP, just to sound a cautionary note as a counterpoint to the many positive reviews I see–particularly in view of my newly-developed cynicism regarding authorship of product reviews. However, if some product failure were to occur, I think customers deserve far better treatment than they now receive at the hands of HP personnel. And if they or any seller opts to solicit and present product reviews on their web-site, I feel that they have an ethical obligation to inform the reader when the reviews reflect anything other than (1) all submissions, or (2) an honest random sample of those submissions. Reviews by people affiliated with the company, or which have been chosen in such a way as to exclude some or all negative comments should be accompanied by a clear disclosure of these circumstances. (Read all Amazon.com user reviews)

First, this information only pertains to HP printers.

HP uses a combination of up to eleven different lower case letters at the end of the their printer number. Each letter represents a different feature on the printer. I don’t think they may single printer that has every one of these features, so you don’t have to worry about having to figure out what the HP 932dfhiknrstwx is!

d  =  Duplex
f   =  Fax
h  =  Hard disk
i  =  Imaging (card slots)
k  =  Stapler
n  =  Network
r  =  Folder
s  =  Stacker
t  =  Extra tray
w  =  Wireless
x  =  Duplex, extra tray and network (formerly dtn)

If you have the HP Color LaserJet CP3525dn, your printer number is CP3525 and it has duplex and network capabilities.

Pretty cool, huh? Head out and amaze your friends with your new knowledge. Before you do, leave a post and let me know if you knew this already or not. Thanks!

Definition time.

Remanufactured
Remanufactured cartridges are used cartridges that have undergone any of the following processes.

• Disassembly
• Cleaning/Inspection
• Repair or replacement of worn parts
• Refilling of ink or toner
• Reassembly or resealing
• Testing
• Packaging for resale

Remanufactured cartridges are also referred to as “aftermarket cartridges” and are the best option for those making a choice between the three different “R” cartridges. Most remanufactured cartridges go through a few of the above steps. A remanufacturer that is concerned about quality (not all are) will do through all of the above steps.

Refilled
Refilled cartridges are used cartridges that have been refilled with ink or toner for reuse. They are often called “Drill and Fill” cartridges because you often have to drill some sort of hole in to the cartridge in order to get the ink or toner inside. These cartridges are not as good as remanufactured cartridges because the refilling process does not involve any of the testing or cleaning components listed above.

If you want to argue semantics, you could effectively say that refilled cartridges are actually remanufactured cartridges. Look down the list of criteria for a reamanufactured cartridges. Refilling of ink or toner is on the list. Don’t miss the point though, refilled cartridges are just that, cartridges that have had their ink/toner refilled. Nothing more. Remanufactured involves processes of cleaning, testing, and sealing.

Recycled
Recycled is a broad term that could be used to explain both of the above types  of cartridges. I think I would prefer we use the, less glamorous, term REUSE. The word recycle has a few different definitions, but most refer to “the treating or processing of an object to make it suitable for reuse”. Recycling is a process of making things reusable so nothing ends up in a landfill.

So, when you use a remanufactured printer cartridge, you are reusing an existing cartridge along with some new components.The new components could be made of recycled materials. The empty cartridge is inspected, cleaned, then paired with new parts to reform a working printer cartridge.

Refilling is the ultimate in reuse, and by definition, not recycling at all. You are taking the same cartridge yo used before, filling it up with ink, and using it again. No components are replaced. Nothing is disposed of. Environmentally, refilling is the best way to go. You just keep using the same cartridge until it cannot be used any more. You have no need for new materials.

Did you know that OEM cartridges can also be considered recycled cartridges? For as much slack as the OEM’s get they deploy empty cartridge collection programs that allow them to grind up the materials that make up a printer cartridge and then use those materials to make new printer cartridges. The OEM cartridges you buy all contain a certain percentage of post consumer waste materials.

So there you have it, the 3 R’s of printer cartridges . . . Remanufactured, Refilled, and Recycled. Don’t let people use these terms interchangeably and assume they mean the same thing.  They all refer to a different type of product.

Let me know what you think of the 3 R’s. Thanks!