Jim Rossman: Should you use generic ink?

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This week’s reader question is, “Has the quality of remanufactured ink improved in recent years? It was a no-no for a long time.”

This is a good question. The answer will depend on a lot of things – including who you are asking.

Inkjet printers and their ink are a lot like razors and blades. The manufacturers will sell you a razor (or printer) fairly cheaply because they know you’ll have to keep buying the blades (and ink), hopefully for a long time.

Inkjet printers include a set of ink, but what many people don’t realize is that the included ink is just a starter set, and the cartridges are only partially filled. You’ll be buying more ink sooner than you think – and a full set of color ink can cost almost as much as the printer.

Generic ink is cheaper and most of us have contemplated it.

Should you try it?

HP’s website says, “While it’s possible to use off-brand ink in most printers, it’s important to consider potential risks such as reduced print quality, reliability issues, and possible warranty implications. Always check your printer’s manual and warranty information before using off-brand ink.”

Epson says, “Epson ink cartridge printers are designed for use with Epson cartridges only, not third-party cartridges or ink. Epson periodically provides firmware updates to address issues of security, performance, minor bug fixes and ensure your printer functions as designed. Your printer was designed to work with genuine Epson ink cartridges; therefore, some updates may affect the functionality of third-party ink. Such restrictions can be avoided with some other printers such as Epson EcoTank cartridge-free printers, which use ink bottles.”

The Epson EcoTank printers use ink in bottles, and they say you’ll get two years’ worth of ink with your printer, but the printers are more expensive than the kind that use ink from cartridges.

So what’s my take?

If your printer is out of warranty, you don’t have much to lose trying generic ink, but at my house, I use an EcoTank.

Lastly, my best advice to keep your inkjet printer happy is to use it regularly. If you let the inkjet nozzles dry out, the only way to revive them is to pump ink through to unclog them. That’ll just cost more money – for more ink or a whole new printer.