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HP Officejet 4630 e‑All‑in‑One Printer
Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit)

I recently installed my instant ink cartridges, but now found that I need to print some documents that will cause me to exceed my limit.  Can I switch to non-instant ink cartridges for a short time, and then go back to the instant ink cartridges?  Will that cause any problems with my account?

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@JaJu14

OK, I understand a bit better now.

For a quick fix you can remove Instant Ink cartridges and insert the cartridges you have on hand to print over the 15 pages but ALL cartridges need to be changed out.  If you leave even 1 HP Instant Ink cartridge you will be charged.

 

Once you print the tax forms you need, then make sure to switch all cartridges back to Instant Ink so we can ensure we keep track of your ink and ship when needed.

 

Hope this helps.

I am an HP employee.
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@JaJu14

 

Hi,

If you have a short term need you can easily change plans to a higher plan for a month and then change back to the lower plan the next month.

Sign into your account at Instantink.com and go to MY Account, change plans.

 

If you prefer not to change plans you can buy 15, 20 or 25 additonal pages for $1 depending on your plan.  Once you print over the plan amount you will get the addtional pages automatically and be charged the $1 which is still cheaper than buying ink cartridges.  You will be sent an email before this happens.

 

If you switch out to regular cartridges the service can no longer monitor your ink so it won't know to ship you more ink as your cartridge gets low and you run the risk of running out of HP Instant Ink.  You also keep paying for the Instant Ink service.

Hope that helps.

 

I am an HP employee.
Say Thanks by clicking the Kudos Star in the post that helped you.

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I am on the free plan with 15 pages per month, but this month I need to print out tax forms that will cause me to go over quite a bit.  I bought some extra black ink catridges before I started the instant ink program, so I want to know if I can use those temporarily to print the slew of forms I need, and then go back to the instant ink program, without causing any problems with my account.

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@JaJu14

OK, I understand a bit better now.

For a quick fix you can remove Instant Ink cartridges and insert the cartridges you have on hand to print over the 15 pages but ALL cartridges need to be changed out.  If you leave even 1 HP Instant Ink cartridge you will be charged.

 

Once you print the tax forms you need, then make sure to switch all cartridges back to Instant Ink so we can ensure we keep track of your ink and ship when needed.

 

Hope this helps.

I am an HP employee.
Say Thanks by clicking the Kudos Star in the post that helped you.

Please mark the post that solves your problem as Accepted Solution
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Perfect Jill, just what I needed to know.  Thanks for your help.

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Jill,

 

I stumbled upon this exchange while researching the subject for myself. Let me just recount the points and please correct any misunderstanding on my part:

 

1. While setting up a new HP printer, I have to decide whether to buy regular ink myself or subscribe to Instant ink. (If, say, I bought the printer a month ago but haven't set it up yet, this time doesn't count.)

 

2. The plan goes into effect the moment I install the first Instant ink cartrige received by mail. (Again, if I don't do it right away, that time doesn't count.)

 

3. The ink itself is exactly the same in regular and Instant cartriges; the difference is in the control chip communicating with HP server.

 

4. I still can use non-Instant HP ink or generic ink; once I replace ALL Instant cartriges with non-Instant ones, the prints I make with them DON'T count towards the monthly limit. (And once I put the Instant cartriges back, obviously the level of ink in them remains the same as when taken out.) And there's no penalty for doing this.

 

5. It applies to all your plans, including the free one.

 

Is this pretty much the deal? Or am I wrong in any of the above?

 

Thank you,

 

MB_B

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Hi MB_B.  Your summation is spot on!  I could not have worded it any better myself.

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Hi MB_B.  One thing I feel I should mention is that whenever you change the ink cartridge(s) from regular to instant-ink or vice versa, the printer spits out an alignment page.  This pages does count against you page allotment for instant-ink.  I have not found a way around this.  I wish HP could allow for it, but apparently they cannot.

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Thank you. One extra page per change is a minor thing, in my opinion. I understand you're speaking from your own experience (while my HP printer is still shrink-wrapped). I'd just like to hear a confirmation from the horse's HP's mouth that everything I recounted was correct.

 

A side note: What I find misleading is the use of word 'INSTANT' for the whole thing. Somehow it implies to me that those inks should be formulated differently, but I guess they are not.

 

Thanks again,

 

MB_B

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I agree that the term instant ink is a bit misleading.  A major advantage with the program however is that the ink cartridges are larger than the ones at office supply stores and they are sent out with free shipping so it is really convenient.  I would definitely recommend going with the program. Good luck!

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