I think I need some ink! (Cartridge World)

Member Name: grahamt

Product:	Cartridge World
Date:	15/01/09 (397 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Local; convenient; reasonable prices

Disadvantages: Still not as cheap as on-line though

You may have read my recent review of a new HP All-in-one printer that I have bought for myself and my wife to use at home for our respective jobs. Whatever else may be problematical with this machine, at least it give a decent amount of printing with its ink cartridges (HP363), all six of them, though nothing, of course, lasts forever.

I have been buying replacement cartridges on the Internet. I've found an on-line store that I think is very good value for money and gives excellent service. I will be writing a review of them just as soon as Dooyoo pulls its finger out and adds them to the appropriate category.

I have been buying genuine HP replacement cartridges rather than manufacturer compatible ones as I didn't want HP to have any excuse not to honour its guarantee but the printer has been in use for a goodly amount of time now and, other than the issue I have with it that I mentioned in my review, it has performed OK so far.

I must admit that I hadn't been keeping an eye on the ink levels for some time and so it was my wife who yelled down the stairs that the printer wouldn't print and was demanding a new ink cartridge. Now, the HP does give you warnings well in advance that a new cartridge will shortly be required but that message hadn't been relayed to me else I would have ordered a new one on the Net. Now it was urgent as my wife had a print run that she desperately needed.

Fortunately this wasn't at the end of the day so I was able to get out into town to the shops to see what I could get. The usual suspects (Rymans, Dixons...) had cartridges but at horrendous prices, certainly far more than I was prepared to pay. Then I remembered that a new Cartridge World shop had opened; I'd seen it when I had passed it on the bus. I thought I'd give it a try.

This Cartridge World shop seems to be run by just one person. I've been in there a few time now and she's the only one I ever see. It certainly has a comprehensive range of printing products, not just cartridges but paper and various special forms, such as sticky labels, at quite reasonable prices. They even had a pack of 2x3 labels that I hadn't been able to find anywhere else.

Fortunately I had brought the old cartridge with me. I brought so as to make sure I got the right one. The HP363 is a "chipped" cartridge. HP use the chip to try to prevent users getting away with simply refilling them. When she saw it, however, she told me that Cartridge World have sourced a supply of replacement chips and so can not only refill them but re-chip them as well, so they behave like new. I simply handed over the old one and she gave me a replacement straight away. I didn't even have to wait!

The printer accepted the cartridge although it didn't say it recognised it as a genuine one. It still worked as good as a genuine one though, and all for just £4.80. This was the yellow one but since then I've had refills of other cartridges as well and they all work and last as well as the genuine HP ones, at a fraction of the price.

As our Cartridge World is so close I know I won't be caught out not able to get a replacement when I need one. It's still not as cheap as I can get it on the Net so, so long as I get enough notice in order to be able to order on-line, I will continue to do so. However, the difference is acceptable, especially for the convenience.

Summary: A good local source for emergency printer supplies.