Aftermarket inks - experiences?

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Jamie123

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I had to buy some new ink cartridges for my Canon ip5000 and once again was blown away by the ridiculous prices for those things. $15 for a cartdridge with 13ml of ink is an obscenely large amount of money. If I wanted to fill a regular winebottle with this stuff it would cost more than $800.

Anyways, this got me thinking about aftermarket inks. I found some no name cartridges online that cost only $3. Is there a downside to using aftermarket inks?
 
Less stability (bleaching earlier) and less consistency in the colors (between multiple cartridge sets) would be the possible (!) downsides. How about refillable cartridges? I don't know much about your printer, but for the Epsons there are several options.
 
I've been using some InkRite cartridges in my IP4000 for some time (about the same price if not cheaper than your quoted $3).

They're fine for prints for my office at the desk or if someone wants snaps printed off when they come around.

I've not had any problems with bleeding or clogging either. Sure, the colours are different but I did some manual calibration and all is good enough for me.

However, and a big however, I've used ink from other companies which has been horrible (nasty colour casts, nasty clogging &c.).

However, I normally send off anything important to an online printer (www.photobox.co.uk) great prints every time (and cheaper).
 
I used mediastreet gen3 sets of pigment inks for my Epsons for a while. I think you can still get them from inkjetart.com - I don't know if they make them for your printer.

Quality was very good - color very close to OEM. And they were pigment based, so stability was very high on good media.

Not much cheaper - in fact, not cheaper at all unless you bought bulk and had a continous feeder, but still, an option.
 
I've too grown ill everytime I've had to fork over my hard earned cash for OEM ink carts for my Epson printers. Because of this I've bought a set of empty carts, a couple of bottles of ink, and plan to turn one of my printers into a B/W only printer. I bought my stuff from inksupply.com. My total order came out to about $115. Hopefully, if all works right, I'll save some money in the long run. (Link to inksuppy for your printer)

I'll post in the near future about my results.

Take care,
Michael
 
Aftermarket inks wrecked my Canon printer. What happened was that when the ink dried after the first use the printer nozzles blocked. Even after numerous cleaning runs they stayed blocked up. Fortunately it wasn't a very expensive printer.. but had it been, those cheap inks would have proven very costly.
 
I used an Epson printer with Epson inks for years... then the book keeper suggested we save a few bucks and get cheaper inks. I think the printer lasted about 4 months and then I just through it in the dumpster.
Was it the cheap inks or was it worn out.... I'm not sure but I only use canon inks in my new printer.
-Rob Skeoch
www.bigcameraworkshops.com
 
Well, I'd been holding off till I had the full experience to report on Generations G7 Inks by Media Street.

After several clean/align cycles I was unable to eliminate a bad case of banding in my prints. I contacted their tech support. They advised me that their inks were not intended for initial charging of a new printer (what I was doing) and that I should remove their inks and let them rest overnight (foaming issues?) and use the Epson inks to get the unit working. This I did...and it worked great with the Epson inks.
I went back to take a look at their inks and noticed that one of the plastic caps form the yellow cart had come off and the yellow ink cart had emptied itself in to the plastic bag, ruining all the other carts.
So, idiot that I am, I figured...well the second set of inks I bought from them must surely be "rested," I'll try them.
Two more clean/align cycles later, I have another bad print covered with banding lines.
So, I removed the second set of inks and sure enough, another one of the plastic caps fell off and I got another mess. This time at least it was the clear gloss "ink."
Two sets of "inexpensive" inks down. No good prints. Two messes and two parts I had to find and fish out of my printer.

Now the question is, will Media Street make this right financially.

Good luck with your choices. I think I've just become a dedicated Epson ink fan.
 
I got ink from this ebay guy-http://stores.ebay.com/edealseecom
or some that looks just like that, and it works fine in my now antique but still alive canon S800. In fact, it looks better than the canon ink did, that came with the printer- but that may have been old.
 
I've got the same unit, and I buy my ink from Marlborough Supplies in Brooklyn, NY. I've been using them for 4-5 years, and am highly satisfied with their products and shipping. Here's a link... http://www.nvo.com/marlco . Their prices are great, and they'll maintain your purchase records so you can easily re-order.

Regards!
Don
 
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