Yes, like other reviewers have said, this ink does die out a little fast but that is understandable seeing as how it is a small ink cartridge. People on here are starting to blame Amazon for some reason which is weird. I don't really have a problem with this ink but I do have a problem with my printer. It tells you that the ink has died out and you need to replace it way earlier than you actually need to. Don't pay attention to your printer or the levels it shows on your HP ink level chart on your computer. Don't change it until the actual ink starts to fade on your prints. HP 564 Black Ink Cartridge
The HP 564 Original Black is really inexpensive to buy. In addition, they do a fairly decent job of printing. However, I seem to be replacing these cartridges way, way too often. I am experiencing roughly 50-75 prints before the printer tells me it's time to replace the cartridge. HP advertizes up to 250 yield. I'm getting nowhere near that claim.
Overall, this product is horrible.
And, I refuse to purchase the more expensive "XL" version (3-4 times the cost of the non-"XL" version), even though HP claims they last 3-4 times longer than the original. HP advertizes up to 800 yield on these "XL" versions. I don't believe their first claim of 250 yield, so what makes you think I will believe their second claim.
You've heard it before I'm sure. HP Vivera is great ink, vibrant colors, nice skin tones, pretty decent blacks.. But if you are an occasional printer - maybe do a batch of photos once a month or so, go with the smaller (not the XL) cartridges. The XL's will actually time out before they run out. You're better off buying more of the smaller carts.
December 2010 UPDATE: I'm not sure if it's a direct result of the class action suit against HP for their approach to expiring these cartridges or what - but the way that they report their remaining qty and expiration has changed. Now when the cartridge reports its remaining ink, it says that it's an estimate - based on the amount of time you've had the cartridge installed. Now it allows you to print even if it "estimates" that one of your carts is empty. This has solved the problem for me when I would print a dozen pages of black text and then a month later it would prevent me from printing because I'm out of Cyan or something.
Bottom line: For my HP Photosmart C6380, this problem no longer exists. Thanks HP.
I'm amazed at how fast this new HP Photosmart printer uses ink in comparison to my old one. The colors are brighter, but are they deeper - no. I'm trying the XL ink now, and if the usage doesn't improve the printer is going back. With the cost of the ink, the fact you can't refill the cartridges, and constantly reordering, it's just not worth it. It hardly makes me want to upgrade even further to the even more expensive ink. Not real happy with HP right now. Had my old printer for 4 years and very pleased with it, it just couldn't handle the Vista upgrade, so in their planning, you have to purchase new...Not better.
I purchased a HP 6380 printer last January & although I am reasonably happy with the print quality & ease of use, the output from the ink cartridges is abysmal. A standard HP 564 black ink cartridge is supposed to produce 250 sheets (according to the information on the box) I have been getting 35-50 sheets of standard text (no block color printing). I have spent considerably more than the original purchase price in the last 10 months alone on ink for what I consider to be light home use. Needless to say, I will not be buying an HP printer again in the future.
Ink uses up too fast. On the first day I installed the cartridge, I haven't even printed anything out yet, but the printer, after moving its cartridges around, already used up about 40% of the ink. Within a month I had to buy new ink cartridges again.
Used the 564black that was shipped with my printer. Even with below average printing (occasional) and always using fast-economical prints, the printer now says I am very low on ink! I am going to let it drain all the way until it prints no more. In any case, I can understand that this being a small cartridge and all, but its not worth wasting so much plastic to house such a micro sized ink. I dont know what HP achieves by these low volume cartridges (other than being able to ship a cartridge with the printer).
I agree with some of the other comments that this ink cartridge runs out very very fast. We only use the fast draft mode for efficient ink use and yet despite being a smaller cartridge, proportionately we get very few prints out of a cartridge in comparison to our old HP printer. This seems to have been the trend as HP keeps making the printers less expensive and finding ways to get you to spend more money on the ink. I'm going to seriously rethink my next HP printer purchase and likely opt for a different brand despite having been relatively happy with my last 6 HP printers over two decades. I hope someone from HP takes notice - their short term gain and ink business had gone too far and will be a long term loss of previously loyal customers. - Inkjet Cartridges - Photosmart - Hewlett-packard - All In One Printer'
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