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To refill or not to refill the ink cartridge is a question I've asked myself many times. Whenever possible I scour the countryside for advice before before leaping into action.
The vote came in for me recently. I will not even try to refill an ink cartridge. The maximum amount of money I would save should I endeavor such a feat is $7.00 per cartridge. Maximum damaged I could create should I fail - $19.99 for the refill kit, 1 week of embarrassment explaining why I have ink on my fingers and the possible ruination of a piece of furniture or carpeting.

I have one friend who purchases the most inexpensive replacement cartridge possible. His printer admonishes him for using an inferior cartridge, but prints anyway. The savings I could glean with an inferior brand of cartridge would be $5.00 and that's with a mail-in rebate so subtract the postage stamp also. Some things just are not worth the effort!
I've spoken to a few helpful employees at Staples and Office Depot. These people can be extremely helpful, somewhat like the service you once got at the Mom and Pop hardware store. It was explained to me by an intelligent young man at Staples one day, that there are sponges inside the cartridges that hold the ink. If you fail to get the refill needle directly into that sponge the improper fill will cause leaking and will ruin the cartridge component. Horrors! It was further recommended to me, that if I do a lot of photo printing, one of the newer printers with the 8 separate color cartridges would fit my needs. The individual cartridges were about $8.00 each.
My decision is, unless I decide to start publishing color brochures, I stay with the printer I have, grit my teeth to pay the cartridge price, and take my printing en mass to Staples for 40 cents a color page.

Learn more about this author, Wendy Naugle.
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