I heard Walgreens refills inkjet printer cartridges. Are they as good as if you buy new??

Answer 1

I don't know about Walgreen's, but several companies do refill. I have used Cartridge World and Island Ink Jet both with great success. It will only cost 30-50% what a new cartridge costs. The quality difference is not noticalbe if you use a reputable company such as those above. They keep hundreds of colors in stock so they can much it to the original manufacturer's color. And by the way, refilling is not illegal, the only reason the cartridges say singal use only is because the manufacturers don't make any money on refills.

Answer 2

Any refill cartridge you get wouldn't be as good as a generic equivilent, and that won't be as good as the brand specific cartridge (IE epson, hp, canon)

That said, in many cases a generic or refill will work the same, but you are taking a greater risk. The largest risk associated with refills is the potential for them to leak. To refill a cartridge you typically have to drill a hole into the cartridge, fill with ink, and then plug the hole, leaving a chance that the cartridge itself can leak, and cause damage to the printer.

Generic inks (those that aren't refilled, but aren't made by your printer company) tend to work better than refills, but the colors can be off, and in some cases, the ink itself can clog, or dry faster then the original ink, and that causes many problems.

OEM cartridges (ie those made by the company that makes your printer) are usually the best choice, but also the most expensive.

A couple things to keep in mind... If what you are printing is photo quality (ie picture) then you almost always want to stick with the OEM cartridge, but if a large amount of what you do is black print, and you do it regularly, then the generic cartridges will work almost always.

One of the largest problems I see at the computer store where I work, is when a customer will purchase generic ink, and then not use the printers for a long period of time. This is bad becuase the generic ink has a tendancy to dry much faster then the original inks will, which leads to print quality problems which may, or may not be fixed by installing another cartridge (depends on who makes your printer)

My last thought is the price of the printer itself will weigh in on your decission. If you have a $79 printer, you don't really have much to loose by using refilled or gerenic inks, if it messes up, you buy another printer. If your using a expensive unit though, you usually wouldn't want to run the risk of damaging the unit by saving $30 on ink!

Answer 3

I can't confirm Walgreens, but I'd say it's unlikely. The reason is that IJ printer makers rely on revenue from selling cartridges. That's why it is very difficult to refill a cartridge. It is designed that way. The first IJ I owned cost nearly $400, and cartridges cost $40 for black and white. Sales were slow because people would rather pay less than half the cost for a dot matrix printer, and $5 a pop for a ribbon.

Manufacturers of IJ suddenly dropped the cost of the printer, and sales skyrocketed. They hadn't figured out a way to reduce production costs. They realized they could sell more printers and then charge an arm and a leg later on with cartridge sales.

They want to keep selling cartridges, and will take legal action if anyone comes up with a way to threaten their bread and butter. Many a company has been sued for selling cartridge refill kits, recycled cartridges, etc. Remember, they take a loss when they sell a printer. But make a killing when they sell a cartridge.

Answer 4

It is not illegal to refill cartridges. There is no patent violation since the ink used will not be the same formulation as the original manufacturer. You may notice a difference in quality. Sometimes the colours are slightly off, as well as if the cartridge wasn't printing well in the first place that will carry through to the refill.

There is also the chance that you will lose you "ink monitor" function.

Answer 5

They are NOT as good as the one the printer's manufacturer makes. They are most likely made with recycled inkjet cartridges that are NOT designed for more than one use. The nozzles could be clogged and the ink will be of weaker quality.

Skip the trouble and hassle and just be the real deal.

Answer 6

No from my experience, it isn't as good. In fact it is ILLEGAL to refill your cartridges. If you look closely on the cartridge or its packaging, it clearly states "SINGLE USE ONLY". Of course, new cartridges cost almost double than refilling them. My advice... stick to the new ones.

Answer 7

No refill is going to be as good as the original product, but they are so much cheaper it is sometimes worth getting the substitute. Try www.ink4jets.com

Answer 8

YES they do do it, they just started doing so....It is never as good if you fill them by yourself...They are not guaranteed like they are by HP or Canon or Epson...I just looked it up on my training I work for HP and Walgreens.....

go look at this site...

Answer 9

I used to work there, and no they dont. The insurance doesnt cover it. Sorry.

Answer 10

No