Best Quality aftermarket ink cartridges for EPSON printers?

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NewJack

Member
May 3, 2000
91
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I have an Epson Stylus C84 Printer. I am looking for the best quality aftermarket brand ink cartridge.
I have used G&G in the past with my Epson 740. I needed to frequently clean the printer heads due to clogging but overall the quality was good. I read there are other brands such as "rainbow" and a brand called USA. If anyone can suggestion a "GOOD, cheap" ink I would appreciate it.:confused:
 
Budmantom

Budmantom

Lifer
Aug 17, 2002
13,103
1
81
Your printer clogging is all Epson. I use Tylermartin.com for my ink (rainbow and usa) and if you want the real cheap stuff try Megatoners.com.


Tom
 
allanon1965

allanon1965

Diamond Member
Mar 14, 2004
3,427
1
81
sorry but your epson(like mine) only works well with epson inks, i have tried almost every cheapo ink out there, and all of them had symptoms such as yours, when i went back to epson branded inks, the problems disappeared....but they are a bit more expensive, but well worth it.....so pay more or get a cheapo printer with cheap ink carts....like an hp3520 or such..can be had for under 40 dollars...hp ink isnt too high either....depending on the printer app though....some are high, gotta check out ink prices before buying...
 
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Zepper

Elite Member
May 1, 2001
18,998
0
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OT - belongs in the Peripherals section.

There is an AT Forums denizen that runs an ink cart bidness and his Epson compatible carts are supposed to be unusually good - all pigment inks just like the originals. Cost a bit more than the cheapies but if it helps with the clogging problems they would be worth it and still much cheaper than OEM. You'll have to search some of the printer and/or "cheap ink" threads to find him as I forgot the name - actually I'll need to do that too so I'll have it handy at my time of need. First to find it, please post it in a reply here. Thanks!
. Actually I think it is something in the Epson inks that cause other brands to clog the heads. I would use some of those "cleaner" tanks you can get or make to blow the Epson OEM ink out of the heads before trying to use compatible ink. Any company that would chip their carts could easily do something else equally stupid and troublesome to their customers...
. I would suggest getting rid of your Epson anyway. You don't really NEED those clogging problems, do you? The Canon iP3000 (and even some of the higher models - go with the iP4000 if you can afford it) is being blown out {I've seen it several times for under $50. shipped AfterRebate - usually Newegg has the best price on 'em ($53. shipped AR right now) - and Staples has a deal on 'em this week ($59.98 AR + sales tax if applicable)} in advance of new model intros this summer and it really blows anything you can get at anywhere near the price into the weeds. It would cost more than that for an OEM set of carts for your Epson, wouldn't it? Check the "Hot Deals" section here and on ResellerRatings.com and elsewhere for the latest best prices on Canon.
. Canons almost never clog regardless of the cheap compatible ink tanks (or refill ink) you use. The OEM ink carts that came with mine lasted a bit over FOUR MONTHS. A replacemet set is $12. from one place (USA Inkjet on eBay) and about $20. from the guy I mentioned above. Which is where I'll be buying my next set as the $12. colors aren't as intense as they should be (but I'm using a set of the $12. tanks now - just have to crank up the color intensity in the driver a bit to compensate). I put the replacements in over a month ago and only the black is showing down much.
. Even better, there are NO CHIPS in Canon tanks so they are easily refilled to save even more $$s!

.bh.

Here, have a :beer: !
 
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Macro2

Diamond Member
May 20, 2000
4,874
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RE:"I can't tell you how many Epsons and Canons I've seen destroyed by aftermarket ink.
"

I've got 12 Canons running on generic ink. I do buy good ink though. They only time I've had an inkjet die was after running it in the ground...like 15-20k pages and that was a printhead. By that time its cheaper to buy a new printer than a printhead.

Epsons are cloggers and HP and Lexmark...forget running them cheap.
 
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mattburk

Member
Feb 9, 2005
174
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I do a decent amount of printing on a daily basis, for maps and rates.
I use printpall ink cartridges for my old epson 880. For maps and docs that are meant to be short term, the printpal ink works great, but not for photos.
There is no way I am going to pay $30 for the epson cartridges to print up stuff that will be trash within 24hours. The print pal catridges run me less than $5 each.
 
Googer

Googer

Lifer
Nov 11, 2004
12,576
7
81
BUY the original for best picture quality. Also you wont be getting the dura-brite feature and archiviablity found in Epson inks.
 
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RyanM

Platinum Member
Feb 12, 2001
2,387
0
76
Originally posted by: mattburk
There is no way I am going to pay $30 for the epson cartridges to print up stuff that will be trash within 24hours.
Click to expand...

Learn to print in draft mode. Duh.

Use aftermarket ink cartridges all you guys want, I just don't want to see your sorry asses bitching when you have to clear head clogs every week or kill your printheads.
 
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Stephan28

Senior member
Feb 25, 2003
266
0
0
What has been the long term experiences with Swift Ink or any others?!!? Has anyone found a good ink (besides OEM) that doesn't cause problems? I'm not overly worried about precision color matching...I just want a reliable aftermarket cartridge.
 
jjsbasmt

jjsbasmt

Senior member
Jan 23, 2005
485
0
71
First Printer was the Epson Stylus Color and now the CX3200. Never have found aftermarket ink that performed as well as the original. Blacks never looked as sharp as you would want and colors always fell short of the OEM inks. My solution is to use "draft mode" when appropriate, and don't print "crap" just for kicks. Otherwise both printers have always produced great documents and photos with the OEM carts.
 
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Zepper

Elite Member
May 1, 2001
18,998
0
0
Can't wait until the Canon models that can print on CDs get to the states - then we can tell the Epson owners with the R series too: " the solution to your problems is to buy a Canon printer - costs less than a set of Epson OE tanks, almost never clog, you can use ALL the ink in the tanks whether OE or 3rd party and refill tanks are the least expensive of all"...

.bh.
 
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NightCrawler

Diamond Member
Oct 15, 2003
3,179
0
0
Originally posted by: Stephan28
What has been the long term experiences with Swift Ink or any others?!!? Has anyone found a good ink (besides OEM) that doesn't cause problems? I'm not overly worried about precision color matching...I just want a reliable aftermarket cartridge.
Click to expand...


Inkjets clog when you don't use them and Epsons especially clog if not used. Epsons also waste lots of ink with auto cleaning operations.

Don't expect generic ink to clog less because the problem is the printer.
 
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