First thing to do. Go to control panel, printers and faxes. Select your printer(Dell 948 printer), select printing preferences. Make sure to have the setting set for automatic. Also make sure to have everything else selected with the right selections.

I usually use the standard ink cartridges in my Dell Printer. Depending on the homework for my daughter, they usually last for some time. The ink cartridges that come with the printer, aren't up their full capacity, so you may notice they go out quickly. I also order my ink from Dell's website.

Dell Series 11 ink cartridges have a sensor in them that cannot be reset. Article on refilling Dell ink cartridges.

Dell Series 11 ink cartridges can be purchased at Staples, Walmart or Dell's Website.

Same problem here. Every time I print one B&W page, the estimate of pages remaining drops by 25-40 pages. I raised the issue with tech support and they sent me out a replacement cartridge. Same thing is happening again and clearly I'm not alone here. This would appear to be a serious fault with the 948 or perhaps Dell thought that we wouldn't notice how many expensive ink cartridges we were all buying.

I'd appreciate some ideas on how to solve this problem.

I've only ever used the high capacity ones but each time I print one page I'm seeing a 23-40 page drop in the estimated pages left. It appears that I'm not alone. It looks like the 948 cannot determine the true level of ink in a cartridge, meaning that it thinks that cartridges are emptying more quickly, a lot more quickly than they really are. Why won't Dell admit that there is a problem with the 948?

 fergusq,

Not quite sure about the Dell Series 11 ink cartridges, but with the Dell Series cartridges fopr my printer, using the high capacity cartridges do last a longer time. Not sure how quickly my cartridges drop as quite a few people use my printer for homework. Now that summer is here, it won't get used as much.

Rick

 fergusq,

Question,

Does the screen on the printer showing the ink levels, match the one on the computer?

I have seen two different readings.

Rick

Probably not worth doing as there are a number of users on this forum with the same problem. I'm just going to file that complaint here.

Thanks for your help.

 fergusq,

All the Dell printers that I have tried, Dell964 Photo and a Dell V715w Wirepess Printer, neven have the ink drop that quick.

You Dell Printer was made for Dell by Lexmark, if it helps with researching the issue. Look at Lexmarks website and see if you can find a similar model(s) that have the same specs as yours. See if people are complaining about these printers using ink.

Not sure I can give anymore advise, as I'm a Dell user, just like you.

Rick

Yes, the levels on both the printer and my laptop are identical. I'm just not sure what my next step is. The printer is out of warranty now although I've only actually used it for about 9 months. It's clearly not the cartridges and so I'm stuck having to buy an expensive cartridge that prints about 25 pages, about €1.50 per page or get myself another printer. It's just not on and I find it difficult to believe that Dell didn't know about it.

I filed a complaint here in Ireland to the National Consumer Agency, part of the EU Consumer Protection Organisation about the cartridge but they now say that I need to file a complaint regarding the printer and if a replacement is not forthcoming that I may have to file an action in the small claims court here and proceed through the consumer protection system for the EU . Not what I want to do but if this is happening to a lot of people then it should be dealt with by the EU. They know how to deal with companies like Microsoft and Dell.

dont know if this is late but i was able to make it work. lexmark makes this printer. The exact model is 

Lexmark X6570

here's the link and download their driver

 http://support.lexmark.com/index?page=product&segment=SUPPORT&productCode=LEXMARK_X6570&locale=en&userlocale=EN#2

hopes this works for you like mine :)