Inkjet ink - genuine or generic?

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GavinGJ

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#205875 30-Nov-2016 15:59

We've just been given a Brother inkjet MFC6490. The ink has run out. I've got the choice of spending $100+ for genuine cartridges (you need all 4 to be good even if only printing B&W!) - for a printer that may not work. Or, as little as $11 for aftermarket ink.

How important is it to get original Brother stuff? Are the aftermarket cartridges any good (or, if variable, can anyone recommend a trustworthy aftermarket brand / source)? Can't say I've not had much luck with printers in general.

Thanks

Gavin

Dynamic

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#1680161 30-Nov-2016 16:02

It's out of warranty, so if you go cheap and the refilled cartridges leak, you've not lost much.

Brother printers have a 12 months warranty which extends to 3 years (or is it 4?) if you only use genuine cartridges/toners.

Personally I've had a bad result every time I buy recycled cartridges and toners (not often).

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Athlonite

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#1680162 30-Nov-2016 16:02

If the printer is out of warranty then just use third party inks

mattwnz

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#1680164 30-Nov-2016 16:05

I have purhcased third party ink for a brother printer, and it was fine. However HP is another matter, the inks always failed quickly, and think it is becuase the heads were built into the HP one.

1101

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#1680526 1-Dec-2016 09:27

Ive worked for 2 companies that imported/sold aftermarket toners & ink
90% of the time ,they just arnt as good as genuine (with a few exceptions)

I use aftermarket ink on my inkjet printer, just because they are so cheap . I'll take the (small)risk
Ive found that usually the colors on aftermarket are crappy, dull and washed out looking. And some of the aftermarket
inks Ive bought had a high fail rate .
Its just a matter of finding a reasonable brand .

GavinGJ

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#1680614 1-Dec-2016 11:14

Yes I guess the aftermarket ones are variable - some probably fine, others crap. Can you recommend a decent one?

Cheers

Gavin

robjg63

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#1680617 1-Dec-2016 11:17

Dynamic:

It's out of warranty, so if you go cheap and the refilled cartridges leak, you've not lost much.

Brother printers have a 12 months warranty which extends to 3 years (or is it 4?) if you only use genuine cartridges/toners.

Personally I've had a bad result every time I buy recycled cartridges and toners (not often).

They increased the warranty from 3 to 4 years at some stage recently.

I was quite surprised when I had to make a support call on our MFC colour laser that when I mentioned that I was still (just) covered by a 3 year warranty and they said - It will be 4 years now provided you have genuine consumables.

As others have said - if its out of warranty try the cheap consumables.

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Jaxson

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#1680624 1-Dec-2016 11:31

These things are like razors now. They'll sell you the body for next to nothing, and make money off the required consumables.

If the genuine inks were more realistically priced then I'd be more in favour of using them, but seriously $100+ to refill a basic printer, a device that you can buy for $39, is just crazy.

On the flip side, I purchased some Chinese razor blades and took over a week for my face to recover.

Watch out for inks that require chips to be recognised...

Jedsdad

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#1680640 1-Dec-2016 11:57

I am going to try "Affordable Ink" when my HP Printer inks run out.

My printer is about 8 years old so no worries.

I have been buying my HP 02 inks from PB Tech as they were the cheapest by far but need to find a cheaper option

Jedsdad

darylblake

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#1680657 1-Dec-2016 12:39

I tried 3rd party ink in HP printers and it was terrible.

The print heads just jammed up. It seemed like they refilled cartridges and the print heads were not good. I think for printers like canon where you replace the ink tanks and print heads separately its not actually as bad.

lNomNoml

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#1680663 1-Dec-2016 12:52

Get aftermarket ink in your case, nothing to lose, if you bought a $500 printer and wanted the warranty intact then use genuine.

josephhinvest

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#1680671 1-Dec-2016 13:06

I've bought replacement cartridges for an Epson WF-2530 from InkVenus several times with no issues.

Cheers,
Joseph