Squeeze More Ink From Your Printer

Fri Apr 14, 2006 1:56PM EDT

See Comments (16)

Printers today are somehow able to shoot a fleck of ink with exact precision onto a sheet of paper at incredible speeds, and yet somehow they aren't able to suck all the ink out of the cartridge before declaring it empty. Given that new cartridges can run from 30 to hundreds of dollars (and printers can require several cartridges), it makes sense to try to squeeze every drop of ink out of them that you can.

Leave it to the Russians to figure out how to do exactly that. This utility, for Epson Stylus printers, runs on all versions of Windows and provides a much more accurate view of the amount of ink left in your cartridges and allows you to "reset" the level when printer thinks the ink has run out, allowing you to milk a few more drops out of the "empty" cartridge.

Thanks to Boing Boing for the link, and for pointing out a reset utility for Hewlett-Packard printers, too.

Comments on Squeeze More Ink From Your Printer

Post a Comment

Join in the discussion. Here you'll see the comments in the order they were posted.

  • 1 Posted by khandaddash@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:50PM EDT Report Abuse

    Thats how they get us. Cheap printer, Expensive printing... I use re-usables because they're cheaper. If you're on a budget, I'd suggest you do the same.

  • 2 Posted by haydu_computer on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:17PM EDT Report Abuse

    YOU CAN GO INTO MOST PRINTER OPTIONS AND TURN DOWN THE QUALITY TO DRAFT. PRINTS FASTER AND SAVES INK, AND IS OK FOR MOST TEXT DOCUMENTS.

  • 3 Posted by don_kjohnson on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:47PM EDT Report Abuse

    I have a lexmark x1150 and have tried to use one of those refill kits. I couldn't get the cartridges to work after that. They leaked, and the colors mixed. What kind of re-usables can I use and where can get them?

  • 4 Posted by alien_nails on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:50PM EDT Report Abuse

    I have an HP deskjet 3820. I tried using some off brand in in it. Now it only prints in magenta. the Cyan, and yello do noit work, and the black slowly got choked down to the point it does not work either. I went through the properties to se if theyre was a utility to clean the head, jets or whatever. And could not find any. Do I have to manually figure out how to clean them?

  • 5 Posted by chexmixmaster@verizon.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:23PM EDT Report Abuse

    OK ok im currently in the market for a new printer. Ca someone please tell me what would be a good printer to buy?

  • 6 Posted by qazwsxl on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:23PM EDT Report Abuse

    Buy the cheapest printer you can get. Use up the ink. Throw out the printer. Buy new printer.

  • 8 Posted by fast3756 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:58PM EDT Report Abuse

    Just wait till you move up to a LAZER, it doesn't get cheaper. Example: a Brother 9420CN Color Lazer cost about $900.00 The refills are $125.00 per cartridge, yes that adds up to $500! Count your blessings and keep your money stay with ink jets.

  • 9 Posted by rgenovese@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:38PM EDT Report Abuse

    Can someone please help me because it doesn't seem like the Epson help desk can. I have an Epson Stylus C86 and have just replaced the ink cartridges with Epson cartridges. Now I can't get the darn thing to work. Prints, looks like it is working but doesn't print on the paper. Have tried everthing possible and still won't print. Would appreciate any help I can get at this point. Thanks

  • 10 Posted by dinouye6@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:43PM EDT Report Abuse

    for older epson and canon ink jet printers. buy from amonditech.com. the prices for their ink cartridges is very cheap. i have used their cartridges for a few months now, and they work great. now i use my printer all the time, before i seldom used my printer because of the high prices of ink.

More Posts: First Prev 1 2 Next Last

Post a Comment

Sign In to Post a Comment