Color laser printer toner refilling, who does it themselves?

[Russ in Vancouver]

Hello,

I just bought a Canon MF8080CW color laser printer and OMG the dang refills are like $120 each color........$480 to buy 4 new cartridges. CMYK
Before I bought it, I googled DIY refilling and it seemed like something I could confidently diy. Online they charge $85 incl shipping, for CMYK all 4 colors, a hole melter and 4 chips to replace on the cartridges. Seems reasonable for 2000 or so prints with 5% color on each page.

Has/does anyone here refill their own color toners? How is it working for you.
I have not opened the Canon box yet so I may return it if refilling color toners is a hit and miss type scenario.

Another question, I have a perfectly working Brother MFC 8840D laser printer that pretty much does everything this new one does however I cannot print PDFs anymore since I upgraded to WIN7, MS does not support the driver for this model because it is 8 years old.

If I installed acrobat would this be a work around to scan to PDF?

Thanks and HAPPY NEW YEARS to all of you SMBs

[billbenson]

I bought a hp color laser a few years ago. The reason I did that is my wife plays with a lot of graphics stuff and I wanted the color for her. I have the same problem. The cartridges are outrageously expensive.

I tried refilled cartridges. They almost ruined the printer. They printed black and white print jobs with red yellow and blue all over them. I suspect you will have the same problem refilling your own cartridges although I have never tried that.

My suggestion is to print in black and white unless its something you really need in color. My color cartridges last for a year or more and don't go dead at the same time. If you need to print a bunch of brochures or something I'd take it somewhere to print in quantity.

If it's only an occasional brochure or document you want to print in limited quantities, it's probably worth the expense of the cartridges for the convenience.

Oh, and I can buy a set of cartridges for under $200. If you buy a set rather than color by color as they need replacement you may come out ahead in the long run.

[rob0225]

Wait for specials/rebates/sales to roll around and it's cheaper to buy a new printer.

[nealrm]

We had good luck with the ones that were reclaimed. They are about half the cost and you don't have to do the refilling your self.