How to conserve?
 

I have two printers-HPs - one for laptop, one for desktop - upper level of house for one and office- lower level for other, and really don't print or copy on a daily basis, but I'm finding that the ink cartridges in both just don't seem to be lasting long at all. Does the ink in these things dry up? Can I take them out and tape over the "opening" when not in use, then untape and pop in when needed. I'm really tired of spending large amts of $$$$$ often for these things...and Murphy's law...they both seem to run out at same time.....how do you conserve on ink?

I noticed the same thing on my HP printers. Seems like I was buying ink all the time. I changed to a Canon inkjet and the ink lasts much much longer. I have been printing for weeks now with the pop up that my ink level is low. When it runs out it won't print at all. That's when I put in new. You can take the cartridge out and give it a good shake. That use to work with my HP for longer printing.

Look to see how much ink is listed on the box. My old print 832C Deskjet takes the old 45 black cartridge of 42ml. I think the new printer cartridges hold a 10th less. That is why I have never wanted to buy a new printer. The new H/P 61 cartridge holds 13.5 pl.

you can take the bighp cartridge out and give it a good shake and it will print on

We had a color printer by Kodak. Didn't use it much and every other time the ink would dry up. We also had another black and white after about 10 years and a lot of printing it was getting tired and bit the dust. My new printer is a laser and I love it. No ink cartridges to worry about. it's a Samsung and I love it. The prints are so crisp and clean. Got it on sale and a rebate and my rewards from Office Depot. after original cost of $400+ we ended up paying around $200.00.

I 2nd the shaking thing. We used to do that at work all the time

Geri, thank you for this post. We had an old HP that kept on printing for years and years, then one day it sprung a leak and there was ink all over the table and down the leg. I went to Costco that is more than an hours drive one way, and asked for advice from the person there in the section where they sold printers and TVs, came home with HP officejet 4635. In a months time we had spent more for ink than for the printer, and just about anything we buy has to be through the mail or UPS. No way am I ordering through that pop-up that is part of the ink level notification.
You can google for any model number of HP printer and read many complaints about them being ink hogs.
I am open to suggestions regarding what brand and model to buy because we are in the market for a new one.

I have an HP Office Jet Pro 8610 and absolutely love it. I think that my last cartridge (Black) lasted at least a year and the color a little longer. We have an 8600 (just before the 8610) at my mom's with the same results. I don't print a ton but do print on at least a weekly basis and print out some each month for our quilt group.

We have a drafting and design company and use a large plotter for some items. We used to have trouble with the cartridges (which were very expensive) drying out so we make conscious effort to use them enough so that doesn't happen. One thing you could do at home is set up a wireless network. That way you could have one printer rather than 2. I've set one up at home by myself and it's really not hard. I am no way IT saavy but the router box comes with good instructions.

I always have HP printers. I have an 8610 at my office now and am really not as happy with it as some I've had. Its a bit glitchy for some things. I have never been able to get it to print batch checks correctly so I finally gave up and just print each one individually so that they print correctly. There was another problem with it that I can't remember right now that I was able to fix by installing different drivers. Google is your friend. I found out how to do it online. :D

My suggestion would be to only have one printer. We just have one printer, but both the laptop and desktop sent the print jobs wirelessly to the printer. That way the printer get used more and the ink is not as likely to dry up. You do have to walk down stairs to pick up the printed paper -- but exercise is good for you.

Office Depot sells XL ink cartridges. Yes, it's more expensive but it seemed like the standard copies run out super fast. I would switch to one printer and use the xl's.

Several times I have bought a new printer as it was cheaper than replacing ink cartridges lol.

Never thought of shaking the cartridge when my color cartridge ran out yesterday. Thanks for the tip! My HP printer is older and I print from 2 laptops and a tablet with no problems. If you don't print that often, I would go wireless and just use one printer.

I would go wireless & just use one printer. I use 1 printer for 2 laptops and a tablet.

I have bought ink cartridges from inkjets on line & been super happy with the ink & their service. So glad to be done forking over $50-60 for them in retail stores. I buy 2 at a time,only open one & seldom even think about it any more.

http://www.4inkjets.com/deals/save-o...158153:3965313

I just got my order of two black and two color inks for $96 plus tax. I looked at this site and they would have cost less than $60 here. I bookmarked the site, and hope I remember to look there when I need ink again. I print out lots of color pictures of quilts that I really like and that think I really might make. Most of these I don't need a pattern for.

Never print coupons, quilt patterns(unless needed) or those pesky side advertisements in color. Also, get rid of banners that have heavy borders whether black or color. I have saved a lot of ink by only printing what I really need from a page. Also , there are good sources for generic ink. I use gab it and other software to cut what I need from a page, paste in in Word and print just that small "capture".

I finally bought a Brother laser printing and it last forever. When we were searching on Amazon, I read all the previews first about how this printer performs. It got a very high rating and I love it. The only thing I don't like is that the instructions are very poor about operating the machine. It should reduce and enlarge but I can't seem to do it. I have a Canon color printer and the color ink went through so fast, I was always out of color ink. It sits on my counter down in the basement, I might try using it for copying quilt tops I want to make.

I, too, have a Canon. The ink doesn't seem to go as fast as you're describing with the HP plus I buy generic ink on Amazon and get a full set for under $8.00. I've been using it for several years and no problems.

That's why I only buy HP printers. Lexmark printers are really cheap but the ink cartridges are ridiculous.

I print on draft quality most of the time. It uses much less ink.

I have an HP that uses 61. I will be trying the shaking to try to get a little more out of them. Thanks for the hint.

I use this font when printing. It uses 50% less ink. It is tiny dots not filled in so it saves a ton of ink. For general prininting you can't tell any difference: http://www.ecofont.com/en/products/g...ving-font.html Many small businesses uses Eco fonts of different types for most all their general printing. You can buy many different types but I use the free one.

I go online and buy cartridges from inkjetsuperstore.com I bought the generic cartridges for my Canon, Brother and HP. They're a lot cheaper than the name brands and I've never had a problem with them. They last just as long or longer than the name brands.

I also have a HP that seems to go through a lot of ink. I used to have a Lexmark that I loved & ink lasted me a long time. The regular HP ink doesn't last long at all but if you buy the HP HL, it seems to last a lot longer. It also costs more but in the long run it is worth it. The price of ink is just ridiculous!

Well that was certainly easy to do and I usually have issues with installing anything!! TY!

I was told at an office supply store that when not in use to always turn off the printer. That brings the ink cartridges to a point in the printer that seals the distribution point so that the ink cartridge is sealed between uses. I have an HP6500 wireless and I think I get a lot of printing out of the XL cartridges. I always buy them when they are on sale.

I have an HP printer that sucks ink like it was in the desert. Mine uses 61. I buy my cartridges at Wally-still expensive. I really hate to admit that it never occured to me to buy the generic ones or even look on line. So I thank all of you for the information.

I had the same problem, then I purchased an HP printer (HP 6830) for less than $100 which was suppose to be able to do about 1,000 pages a month; so I figured it would be better than I need. I absolutely love this printer/copier/fax. I also bought one of those $10 a month HP instantink cards, and when I enrolled I also received 3 free months of HP instantink. When enrolling my machine I had a problem so I called and the representative who was ever so nice and he told me to always use the high quality since I am in the program. You can pick what program you want from $3 to $10 a month.
I print 300 pages every month now - it's nice to print all those manuals (2 of which were 300+ pages each)and lessons for my embroidery software and machines and quilt patterns. And if I don't print 300 pages, they just roll over to next month. But just knowing that I can print without worrying about running out of ink is Great.
Since I have gotten the printer I have received all 4 cartridges (black and colors) 4 times, and I have only paid $20 so far. I am a very happy camper. If you want more info on the program just google HP Instantink.
karensue