Not satisfied with USAInkjets

beatle

Diamond Member
Apr 2, 2001
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At the advice of some forum members to use ink cartridges from USA Inkjets, I picked up a set of them for my IP3000. I never used the original Canon ink, rather I went straight to generics this time. My USA Inkjets black cartridge finally gave up the ghost after 6 months - that's pretty good, IMO. I haven't ordered any more ink lately, so I decided to crack open my genuine Canon ink that has been sitting in my filing cabinet since my printer purchase.

I rarely, if ever, print a photo from my IP3000, but I print a lot of maps from Streets and Trips. I noticed that street names (in black) seem blurry with the generic ink. I had always attributed it to the printer itself. I used a Canon i850 previously and the text was clearer.

I don't think I'll be buying any more ink from USAInkjets. Has anyone used their ink and SwiftInk's ink back to back? How do they compare? I'd like to support a fellow AT'er if possible, but not if the ink is of substantially lower quality than OEM.
 

Zepper

Elite Member
May 1, 2001
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I've got SI (SwiftInk) black in my iP3k right now (had USA in just previous). With the iP3k, all black in graphics and photos is the mixed (tricolor) black - the BCI-3e pigmented black is used ONLY for text in the 3k. If you want true photo/graphic black, you have to move on up to the iP4k or higher.
. I found the colors (M, C, Y) in the USA to be much less intense than the OEM (although they were at least equally intense as OEM in the BCI-24 tanks I used to buy for my i450 - they must be 'watering' their colors to stretch the dye stocks now). That is why the photo/graphic black looks muddy - particularly in anything less than HIGH quality mode. You'll never get a true photo/graphic black from the iP3k.
. These dang ink tanks last so long - I've been "running on empty" for so long with my USA Y and M tanks that I don't know if I'll ever get to use my SI color tanks. :)
. The SI black does very good text. I'll post my analysis here as soon as I get to put my SI color tanks in and blow the USA stuff through. I may break down and just pitch the USA so I can get a look. Those M and Y tanks have been claiming to be low for weeks now but every once in a while I pull the tanks to check and there is still some in there and my prints look decent. Yada yada... Just a tightwad here - can't bear not to use it all up. I squeeze my nickels 'til the buffalos cry...

.bh.
 

beatle

Diamond Member
Apr 2, 2001
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FWIW, I'm not looking for photographic prints, just clear graphics. I'm not sure if that's a more demanding task than photos, but I was satisfied with the few photos I've printed on my IP3000 (I'm colorblind, btw :cool: ).

If I still had some of the old prints with the USA ink, I'd scan them in for a comparison with the OEM. I don't think I'm picky enough to pay OEM prices for ink, but it would be nice to get a little more quality from generics.

You're right about the USA inks lasting forever. Cyan and yellow still look relatively new. Magenta is starting to get a little low, but the warning hasn't come on yet. I generally replace them when the warning comes on. I guess that's the ink paranoia that was ingrained into me from years of owning Epson printers. ;)
 

Zepper

Elite Member
May 1, 2001
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The low warning is VERY early - it will actually stop printing when it thinks it is really out of one tank or another - but it still won't be anywhere near really OUT. Press the top bar button when it stops (light will be amber) and you can continue right on until the tanks truly run out (may have to press the button more than once along the way). That's the way I do it - just be sure you don't really go dry as you can damage the head.
. Manually selecting the print mode within the driver instead of letting it run Auto all the time can improve output significantly. You may want to force Graphics mode and see what happens - you also then have the options of Light, normal or dark. Try them and see what you get.
. Also make sure you are running the latest driver (it's still 1.80a for Win2k/XP the last I checked).
Uninstall old/disconnect printer/install new/reconnect printer 'by the book' is the way.

.bh.
 

beatle

Diamond Member
Apr 2, 2001
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Thanks for the insight on squeezing the nickle. :) I'll definitely try that on my OEM inks. I'm pretty satisfied with the printer output as-is when I'm using the OEM black ink. Maybe I'll break down and buy an OEM black ink but continue to use generic colors...
 

Zepper

Elite Member
May 1, 2001
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Actually, its is the higher intensity of the OEM COLOR inks that makes the graphic black look darker - as I said, in the iP3k the true black ink is ONLY USED FOR TEXT.

.bh.
 

beatle

Diamond Member
Apr 2, 2001
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Interesting, but it was the replacement of only the black ink (my colors are still from USA) that made all the difference in clarity in these maps. I print very little text only documents, but black was the first to go, despite its larger size.
 

Zepper

Elite Member
May 1, 2001
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Well I broke down and replaced my color tanks early - my USA blue still had a half-inch in the supply chamber :( - not much left in M and Y... The photo prints are much more saturated and colorful than with the USA and the tri-color black is much darker. I guess it is possible that the text black is used for line art as well as text. I hadn't noticed that my USA text black was much different from the OEM. Perhaps the tri-color black is used for area fills and such.
. I will now try printing some greeting cards from PrintMaster to see how the graphics printing looks.

.bh.
 

beatle

Diamond Member
Apr 2, 2001
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Cool, :thumbsup: for SwiftInk then. :) Awaiting results on graphics.
 

Zepper

Elite Member
May 1, 2001
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I printed out some greeting cards and a map from MapQuest (used Graphic - Normal mode for all) and the blacks look nice and black to me. Also the grays look gray. If you have some other map, beatle, that I can DL and print for comparison, just post a link here.
. I used to have to use Photo - Dark to get decent saturation with USA and even then prints looked kind of washed out. Now I can use Photo Normal or even Light and the prints look good.

.bh.
 

beatle

Diamond Member
Apr 2, 2001
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I'm having difficulty getting a map out of Streets and Trips that can be easily printed as they are on my printer. I printed to a .prn file, but I'm unsure how to print that.