I need some replacement ink cartridges for my HP 940c printer.

Original ones for the black come at £20 or £30 for the high capacity ones.
Colour ones come in at £35 or £50 for the high capacity ones.

I've been looking at some of the cheaper replacements where they are pre-filled but OEM containers. The black cartridges are priced around £10 and the colour ones for £15. That's a combined £25 against £80 for OEM, which is a mahoosive saving.

The problem is quality/reliability. I don't know what these cheap cartridges are like. I don't particularly want the printer to mess up, I don't want the print quality to be rubbish and I don't want my photos to look like photocopies!

The websites I've come across are ink2u, inkclub and phoenixdirect. Anyone used these before? Any feedback? Any other recommended companies or websites?

A lot of the time, the ink's used in the refills aren't a patch on the OEM kind.
So, if you're only doing text and longevity isn't an issue, then fill your boots, I guess.
If, as it sounds, you're wanting to photos then I suspect it's a bit of a false economy.

This is the problem. Much of the time, the printing will be for forms/coursework/formal letters etc. For this, I'd imagine generic inks to be okay. But sometimes you want decent photos and that's when you don't want cheapo inks ruining good photos.

That's why I asked.

Found some weird stuff during my research:

- Viking direct is the cheapest for the coloured inks, but the most expensive for the black
- You can buy a combo pack with a black and a colour cartridge in one box. Apart from WH Smiths, all of the other sources have them priced more expensively than if bought individually
- ebuyer is the cheapest for all of the inks I need. Staples is the most expensive.

Do you have a cartridge world franchise nearby?

I know people who have used them before, and apparently they are pretty good, although I've not had any experience.

The nearest one is about 4 miles away - not particularly far and it looks like I go past it on my daily commute.

I find if you shop around the web, look for offers at Tesco, use PC World collect at store pricing, etc then genuine ink supplies can be had for a reasonable cost. I've only used one 3rd party cartridge in my printer because black suddenly ran out on a Sunday and Nic needed to print an essay. That meant a trip to PC World and no offers were on that day. Saying that it did print text as good as I'd expect or need it to so I can't complain.

I have used a small company called Hornet for a while now - caught my eye as they are based on Isle of Wight where I used to live.

Link is here http://www.hornetcs.co.uk/p/printer.php ... 0A3044a28b

Never had any problems with them.

Well I ended up buying OEM inks from ebuyer (I've not used them for three years!). Bought the high-capacity inks so I don't have to shell out again so quickly. I will keep the other sources in mind.

I always buy generic ink for my printer. If it eventually kills the printer, it is still cheaper to get a new one than buy genuine inks.
I get my photos printed online.
Didge.

I would recommend them as well, though for photos I would stick with the OEM inks as they are best for that. Though for non photos compatible inks are just as good.

I hate the cost of ink. Luckily I don't need photo quality so I have a lazer printer instead.