What is the most refill friendly printer?

When buying a new printer, it is very important to look beyond the bells and whistles of the printer "in the moment" of the sale of the printer.  Oftentimes, the inkjet or laser printer manufacturer will offer rebates to the retailer who is carrying the printer on their retail shelves, which is passed down to you, the end consumer and buyer of the printer.  So the price of the printer, before or after rebate, could be enticingly cheap.  You can find inkjet printers brand new at retailers sometimes for around $100 or even less.  It is even not impossible to find an inkjet printer with reasonably good features (prints per minute, page capacity, print quality and print resolution) for $50 to $75.  In the market for a laser printer? Laser printers take toner cartridges, and are a slightly more expensive print technology than inkjet printers, but can still be bought for very cheap deals.  It is reasonable to find a monochrome (black prints only) laser printer for $100.  It is also possible to find cheap color laser printers (typically 4 color printers black, cyan, magenta, yellow) for under $300.  Samsung for example has had a consistent line of color laser printers in the $300 price range, starting with the Samsung CLP300 a couple of years ago, and the more recent Samsung CLP310 / CLP315 color laser printers.  But there are 2 important things to take into consideration:

1. The cost per page using the starting toner cartridges that come with the new printer (also known as the starter cartridges), and
2. The cost per page for using the printer with replacement toner cartridges

The answer to these 2 points is different in each case some of the times because "starter cartridges" often carry less toner than replacement toner cartridges. Take for example Brother laser printers.  They often will take a smaller "starter cartridge" and a higher capacity "replacement cartridge".  For example, the Brother TN330 toner cartridge is the starter cartridge for printers that will also accept the Brother TN360 toner cartridge (which is around double capacity).  The same is true in the case of Brother TN430 vs the Brother TN460, and the Brother TN540 vs Brother TN570 toner cartridge.  HP ( Hewelett Packard ) also does a similar thing, the way to typically identify a lower capacity vs higher capacity toner cartridge by HP is to look at the ending letter on the toner cartridge model.  For example the HP Q7553a is the low capacity version of the HP Q7553x (printers that accept the HP Q7553a will also accept the HP Q7553x).  Another example is the HP Q2624a vs HP Q2624x, the HP CB435a vs the HP CB435x and more.

When considering which printer is the most "refill friendly", consider the capacity of the cartridge (page yield, that is how many pages can be printed with 1 toner cartridge based on a 5% page coverage), as well as how easy the cartridge is to refill and if there are any anti-refill mechanisms on the cartridge or printer.  As far as anti-refill mechanisms, toner chips come first to mind.  These are "page counting" electronic chips that allow the printer to keep memory of the pages printed (and therefore the pages remaining to be printed) with the cartridge installed in your printer.  But they are also anti-refill devices because when you refill an empty toner cartridge (one in which the chip has counted down to "zero" pages left for example), that chip still "remembers" the zero toner left, so adding toner to the cartridge is not enough.  In cases like this, the printer or cartridge either needs to be reset (if possible), or the toner chip needs to be replaced.  New replacement toner chips can add typically $5 to $15 to the price of the replacement cartridge, and usually the newer the cartridge technology the more expensive will be the chip.  So for a true refill friendly printer, consider those that accept cartridges without such chips (also referred to as "lock-out" chips in the case where the chips will not allow the cartridge to print once the chip has run out).  Printers that don't have chips include models by Brother (printers that accept the Brother TN430, TN460, TN540, TN570, TN580, TN650 and other toner cartridge models), as well as some Samsung and HP models among others.

What is a toner refill kit?

A Toner refill kit is a do it yourself (DIY) product that is designed to allow a user, be they a home or small business user, to refill their own toner cartridge. Toner cartridges are expensive, in fact they sometimes cost almost as much money to replace than buying a new laser printer. So customers look for alternative options to buying new original toner cartridges. One of these options is to buy a toner refill kit, also referred to as toner refills. Toner refills in the form of a toner refill kit come with tools and toner to fill your existing empty toner cartridge. The toner refill kits sold by 123 Refills are the Uni-Kit brand, which is the most well known and trusted toner refill kit brand and comes with a full customer satisfaction guarantee. Quality and page yield for the toner refills that we carry is almost the same as buying a brand new toner cartridge, but at amazingly lower prices, often as much as 75% off. So what exactly comes with a Uni-Kit toner refill kit? Unless otherwise stated, the refill kits come with everything you need to successfully refill your toner cartridge. This includes a toner refill bottle (at least equivalent to a high capacity toner refill, and in some cases enough for more than 1 refill). It also includes a refill pouring funnel, toner wipe (which is used to wipe off and attract toner particles to ensure a cleaner working environment), and detailed illustrated toner refill instructions which are also supported by free full time access to Uni-Kit technical support.

Some toner cartridges have chips, or memory devices, which may need to be replaced. In such cases, 123 Refills offers the chips and/or sells the toner refill kits with chips.

The toner refill kits available include universal toner refills, as well as cartridge specific refills, and are available for all major and popular laser toner printers.http://123refills.net/cic/category.php?category=Toner+Refill+Kits

Epson continues to lead way in eco-awareness and pioneering the recycling of used ink cartridges

While many companies may consider environmental awareness a trend or a marketing tactic, cartridge manufacturer Epson has taken it seriously for a long time.

Epson continues to address ecological-related issues and is committed to the relentless pursuit of innovation in compact, energy-saving, high-precision technologies to reduce environmental impact across all areas of operations.

"We do not follow the trend, we create the trend together with you," said Epson executive officer Akihiko Sakai.

The company's environmental strategy, called SE15, is a long-term vision that showcases Epson's vision for 2015 and outlines how the company plans to become indispensable to customers and society.

The 2015 environmental goals cover halving of life-cycle environmental impacts in key products by reducing CO2 emission, expansion of recyclable products and services, environmental applications of advanced technologies, legal and regulatory compliance and the fostering of an environmental community.

Epson, together with competitors including Canon, Brother, Dell, HP and Lexmark has run a joint initiative for collection and recycling called "Ink Cartridge Home Coming Project".

According to Epson, approximately 500,000 to 700,000 used ink cartridges are sent to a sorting facility, where they will be separated by brand. From there, the cartridges will be delivered to their respective manufacturers, who will take responsibility for carrying out the recycling process. Epson's policies promote biodiversity and their 3 R's (reduce, reuse, recycle).

Epson has also teamed up with its competitor, Canon, reducing CO2 emissions by using a consolidated transportation system. With this service, the products shipped to some sales outlets are consolidated with the products of Canon for delivery by the shipping company. Both companies choose and use the delivery lines.

Epson showcased eco products including energy-saving projectors and recycled materials used in new products, such as inkjet printers. Eighty percent of printer products are recycled to be new items, such as pens, bottles, packaging boxes and truck gear. Each year, the company collects approximately 11.5 million used inkjet cartridges from its inkjet cartridge home initiative and takes them to its recycling affiliates.

Epson and other IT companies strive to achieve their business profitability along with environmental-friendly initiatives. 123Refills is committed to an eco-friendly business and a recycling strategy that emphasizes on green practices. For more info on how 123Refills makes a difference visit: http://123refills.com/difference/difference.php

Best selling printer ink combos

Many customers ask about our best selling combo packs. Based on the most popular printers on the market, 123 Refills has bundled the best selling cartridges into combo packs that offer incredible savings on the highest quality best selling printer ink cartridges. The latest best selling printer ink combos are listed on the "new products" section of the 123 Refills online website. This includes:

Brother LC51 Compatible 4x HIGH CAPACITY Ink Combo (5 pack of cartridges with 4x CAPACITY)
Sale Price: $27.99
Includes: 2 x Black Ink cartridges - compatible with Brother Innobella LC51BK / LC51 Black with 2x capacity as compared to original Brother 1 x Cyan Ink - compatible with Brother Innobella LC51C / LC51 Cyan with 4x capacity as compared to original Brother 1 x Magenta Ink

Brother LC61 / Brother LC65 Compatible HIGH CAPACITY Ink Combo (5 pack of cartridges with DOUBLE CAPACITY)
Sale Price: $27.99
Includes: 2 x Black Ink cartridges - compatible with Brother LC61BK / LC65BK Black 1 x Cyan Ink - compatible with Brother Innobella LC61C / LC65C Cyan (more than 2x capacity as compared to Brother LC65) 1 x Magenta Ink - compatible with Brother Innobella LC61M / LC61 Magenta

Canon PGI5 Black, CLI8 Black, CLI8 Cyan, CLI8 Magenta, CLI8 Yellow Compatible Ink Combo (5 pack)
Sale Price: $24.99
Includes: 1 x Black Ink cartridge - compatible with Canon PGI5 / PGI-5Bk Black 1 x Black Ink cartridge - compatible with Canon CLI8 / CLI-8Bk Black 1 x Cyan Ink - compatible with Canon CLI8 / CLI-8C Cyan 1 x Magenta Ink - compatible with Canon CLI8 / CLI-8M Magenta 1 x Yellow Ink

Epson T069120, T069220, T069320, T069420 Compatible Ink Combo (4 pack)
Sale Price: $24.99
Includes: 1 x Black Ink cartridge - Remanufactured Epson T069120 1 x Cyan Ink - Remanufactured Epson T069220 1 x Magenta Ink - Remanufactured Epson T069320 1 x Yellow Ink - Remanufactured Epson T069420

HP 02 Compatible HIGH CAPACITY Ink Combo (5 pack of cartridges, DOUBLE CAPACITY)
Sale Price: $27.99
Includes: 2 x Black Ink cartridges - remanufactured HP 02BK Black with double capacity 1 x Cyan Ink - remanufactured HP 02C Cyanwith double capacity 1 x Magenta Ink - remanufactured HP 02M Magenta with double capacity 1 x Yellow Ink - remanufactured HP 02Y Yellow with double capacity

Consumers prefer Brother printers to HP printers - PCWorld study

According to a recent PC World report which surveyed over 79,000 technology customers, consumers prefer Brother printers and Canon printers to HP printers.

Read more of the results from the article here:
2010 Reliability and Service Survey: Printers - PCWorld

Brother ink and toner refills are reliable, and Brother printers are easy to refill. Refills are available at Brother Toner Refills

How to Identify Counterfeit Ink - PCWorld

How to Identify Counterfeit Ink - PCWorld