Printer Cartridge Questions

[capper]

I have a few questions about my printer's ink cartridges.  I have a Canon Pixma TR7520.  For years, regardless of the model, I have been buying 'knockoff' replacement cartridges online.  Even decent 'knockoffs' can be a bit pricey, especially for the printer model I have it seems. 

Most recently, I have been using Office World cartridges that I have bought online.  Are they refillable?  Would it be more economical for me to buy bottles of replacement ink?  If so, will they work with the New World 'knockoffs'?  In other words, I don't want to buy bottles of ink only to find out that they are not refillable or the printer will not accept them after they are refilled and reinstalled.  Or the other issue is that I might have to buy a pricey device so that they become recognizable / usable.

Any advice would be helpful.  I assume that refilling my 'knockoff' cartridges will be no different from refilling the original Canon cartridges that cost the most. 

If you can suggest the best alternative for me based on my printer model (Canon Pixma TR7520), that would be great!  THANKS.

[Lisa_maree]

The Canon cartridges have one use chips to allow the printer to detect the new cartridge this also needs to be replaced each time the cartridge is refilled. They are quite cheap if you buy a few hundred at a time. Something else cannon printers need after every 4 times the cartridges are replaced is the head assemble replaced, you can delay this longer but is not advisor able.
An ink jet printer also has a waste tray for the ink used in priming the head when this gets full the printer will error which also needs to be cleaned out (messy use gloves) or replaced.
There is no cost saving in buying a small numbers of chips and the ink to do what the big guys do. Perhaps see if there is someone who will recycle the old cartridges local to you.

[capper]

I appreciate the info.; it definitely helps.  In my mind I have two options: (1) buy the authentic Canon refills and pay a ton, (2) buy 'knockoffs' and save a lot, or (3) buy bottles of ink, refill my cartridges, and maybe save even more - albeit the extra 'dirty work'.

I have been doing option #2 for the longest time.  By no means do we do what I would define as a large quantity of printing, but as a family of 4 you go through your share of materials for this and that regularly.  Before I print anything, I always ask myself, do I need to?

Anyway, in recent years even the 'knockoff' cartridges seem to be getting more and more expensive.  I think there are two reasons for this.  (1) The particular model of printer we have has a limited number of compatible cartridges on the market.  (2) I believe nowadays Canon probably manufactures their printers that way to do just that.  As we know, the printer companies likely make most of their money on their replacement cartridges, not on their printers.  It makes total sense for Canon to make it more and more difficult to use non-Canon cartridges in their printers.

Finally, in my mind, because printers are extremely cheap considering their capabilities, I am not worried about heeding the warnings about using factory cartridges only that we have heard so many times over the years.  I find that today's printers have really good technology (wireless printing, scanning, and several other great functions), do a really good and efficient job (some better than others based on the brands and models), and are quite inexpensive.  When I say inexpensive, I compare inkjet printers with their cartridges.  When you buy a set of replacement cartridges and they cost 50-75% of what your printer costs...  I was always willing to take the risk and use 'knockoff' cartridges with my printers - and still do!  Does they decrease the life of the printer?  Does they do an inferior job?  Probably.  But in the end, it's still the most economical way to go even if you have to replace your printer more frequently! 

[BC_Programmer]

I've found that with few exceptions such as photo printing, Laser or Colour Laser can be a more economical choice. The printers themselves are more expensive, and the toner tends to cost about the same as ink, but I've found that the toner tends to last a lot longer than ink, and also doesn't suffer from some of the problems I've experienced with inkjet printers (ink drying up and clogging the print heads over time when not printing often, for example).

Depending on specifically what you print, you might even find a Black and White Laser to be a worthwhile option, as they are quite affordable.