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c/everyday-tech-fixes•faithg26faithg26•1mo ago

My $80 printer cartridge saga and a hard lesson learned

I spent about $80 on an off brand ink cartridge for my HP printer last month, thinking I was saving money over the name brand ones. It worked for maybe two weeks before it started giving me error messages and the printer refused to print at all. I called tech support and they told me third party cartridges can actually mess up the printer's software, which I hadn't realized. So I ended up buying the official HP cartridge for $45 anyway, plus I wasted the original $80. Has anyone else dealt with this kind of issue where saving a few bucks cost you more in the long run?
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2 Comments
noahclark
noahclark1mo ago
You mentioned the off brand "messed up the printer's software" but I've used third party cartridges for years without that issue... maybe it was just a bad batch or a compatibility thing with that specific model. I usually check reviews first and buy from sellers with good return policies so I'm not stuck with a dud. Sometimes the generic ones work fine if you do a little homework up front.
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the_felix
the_felix1mo ago
Yep, I've been there too. Learned that lesson the hard way with my old Canon.
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