Average Customer Review: ( 69 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.

The price is somewhat on the high side and can add up quickly if you print a lot of full text pages. Most likely you're going to use this cartridge in a color printer, so better buy a few ahead of time.

Unfortunately, Lexmark's cartridges are proprietary so you won't find any 3rd party brands on the market (Compaq Printer = Lexmark Printer). This will ensure that Lexmark has full control over the price you pay.

Lexmark's proprietary design isn't flawless. Should a paper get jammed at the printhead (by a corner curled by a bad feed), you'll have to pray that the head wasn't damaged.

Be sure not to leave the printer (cartridge) unused for more than two weeks, otherwise the ink will dry on the heads. This can sometimes be solved by placing the cartridge in a dish with COLD water for about 5 minutes. But usually it's the end of the cartridge - so much for a 3/4th full cartridge!

If you encounter a problem with the cartridge (or the printer), don't bother calling Lexmark's support number. You'll have to deal with ill-manered and inexperienced technicians.

41 of 42 found the following review helpful:

these work well when fresh, those saved for later are riskyJul 31, 2001

Don't buy these for keeping as a backup; these cartridges in actuality work very well when they are fresh, but I am finding that there is a 50% risk that a saved backup cartridge won't print right. I have now had two new cartridges that I have bought at different times as a backup supply and not used right away that have failed to print right (truncates text horizontally), even after cleaning the nozzles numerous times and re-aligning the cartridge according to the printer's control program. This problem occurs right after installation of the replacement cartridge (not after a period of printing correctly), and this seems to now always happen with the cartridge that was not installed when purchased, but some time later (2-3 months later). A fresh cartridge has resolved the problem in the past. ....

27 of 28 found the following review helpful:

Waterproof, but definitely not smear-proofApr 05, 2000
By Erik Harris
Lexmark's waterproof black ink seems to degrade very quickly. After having a cartridge for a few months, the ink starts to smear badly when touched (even after drying for days or weeks). After 3 cartridges, I'm convinced that this is a consistent problem with Lexmark's ink. Unfortunately, with no alternative available, those of us with Lexmark's printers (that use this ink) are stuck with smearing ink, and no help from Lexmark (repeated emails have yielded no interest in resolving the problem. They say "some minor smearing is normal," and don't address the major smearing).
The NON-waterproof COLOR ink does not have this smearing problem. (12A1980)
Other than the smearing ink, I love my Lexmark 5700. If I could get good black ink for it, it would be perfect.

19 of 19 found the following review helpful:

It does the job.Dec 30, 2001
By Janice Adelson
Ink is wet and that's the biggest drawback. Nevertheless, I'm reasonably satisfied with the black Lexmark Ink Jet Cartridge -- except for the ... price and the damp smudges that occasionally occur in the process of paper being expelled from my printer. Although the finished product is not up to laser quality, it is sharp, dark, and presentable when dry. Now, how about increasing the volume of the cartridge and reducing the cost?

15 of 15 found the following review helpful:

will it last a normal lifespan? toss a coinJan 30, 2004
By Eric J. Anderson
I have used about 5 of these 12A1970 cartridges. I don't do a lot of printing, therefore the ink tends to degrade over time somehow. I have not tried the cold water method suggested by some, but I will remember it.

2 or 3 of the cartridges I bought did not not even last the normal number of sheets printed before the print started getting so bad it was unusable. I think Lexmark has designed the ink to be bad, or the printheads to be unreliable, so that customers are forced to buy new cartridges regularly, even if they don't print a lot of pages.

Never again will I buy a Lexmark printer. If the cartridges were $5 or $10, you could easily put up with these problems. But at $25-30, this level of performance is inexcusably bad. Boo hiss.

See all 69 customer reviews on Amazon.com