Your experiences with Generic Ink Cartridges with Epson?

[Antoneo]

I have a Epson 880 and recently bought a double pack of black ink and a double pack of color ink for a total of $95 from Costco. That's nuts man, and it leaves a large hole in my wallet .

I just checked out Ink4Art.com and Megatoners.com and the prices for the generic ink cartidges for my model and others are so low. What I am afraid of is my ink heads clogging through the use of generic inks... Your experiences would be helpful, TIA!

 

[Macro2]

RE:"I have a Epson 880 and recently bought a double pack of black ink for a total of $95 from Costco. That's nuts man, and it leaves a large hole in my wallet."

Yeah it's nuts.

Get a Canon. I save $1000s every year refilling cartridges.

OTOH, go with the generics for your epson.

 

[Wingznut]

I've used generic ink twice in my 880, both times purchased off of eBay...

The first time, it worked fine but the colors weren't nearly as vibrant. The second time, one of the colors quit working very quickly.

 

[krackato]

I buy off of megatoners.com for my 880. I honestly don't print in color enough to really tell if it's good or not, and the non-photo paper I'm using ain't helping things.

That being said, the color printing work fine for me, and the black ink works great for all the text that I print. I bought a Double Pack of Black ink for $4 from Megatoners. You do the math.

 

[ssanches]

I've used generic ink for my Epson many times. However I use it only for the black cartridge and I take out a lot of monochrome printouts. I occasionally print in color, hence I've stuck to the epson inks for color. IMHO they're more vibrant, dry very quickly and cause very little smudging.

 

[Macro2]

I want to set the record straight about refilling cartridges. All of the printer manufacturers do not want people to refill their cartridges. Why??.. because they will lose exceptional revenue. Think about this for one moment, the average color cartridge holds approximately 12 cc of ink per color chamber and I am being generous. Go to the gas station and fill up your tank with 12 cc of gas and then pay the attendant 30.00 dollars. Are we crazy? I have no problem with them making money. Yes, they developed the printer and the cartridge and they need to make back their investment and I have no problem with that. I have a problem with being over charged for cartridges with so little ink!

So what are some of the manufacturers doing to prevent you from refilling? They are now putting lock out chips on the cartridges. This stops you from refilling a cartridge that can be filled at leased 2 or three times. Here are some of the manufacturers that have incorporated a lock out chip. Epson most of all their new models, Hewlett Packard and Brother. Lexmark will soon follow.

I applaud Canon, they do not use any lock out chip on their cartridges. Their newer printers use simple inexpensive cartridges either to purchase or to refill. They are sold separately so if you only need yellow then you only buy yellow. Xerox has a similar inking system using separate ink tanks.

--from theinkplace.com

 

[Mem]

I always use generic ink carts ,from my old Epson 600 to my current Epson C70,yes it has saved me a lot in cash over the Epson ink carts,also the quality has been very good for the generic ink carts I`ve been using.

Btw you can get special cleaning head cartridges for the 880 and most of the other Epson models,so far I`ve never had to use any.

 

[phatj]

I have an epson C80 and tried using those inks... black and white seems to work find, but the color just isnt nearly up to par

 

[fitzhue]

i bought a color and b&w cartridge for my c60 and it was absolute crap. i tried for at least a couple days and couldn't get them to work at all.

 

[teckmaster]

Get your ink cartridges from Extra Cartridges. I buy over 1000 cartridges from these guys per year for my place of employment. Never had a bad cartridge yet.

 

[Sephora]

I've been using cartridges by Ko-Rec-Type from a local computer dealer for my 880, and they're fantastic.

I've used them for both black and colour, and do plenty of colour photos on Epson Photo Paper. Comparing an Epson cartridge to the Ko-Rec-Type, I couldn't find any noticable difference. Especially with the savings involved.

 

[ssanches]

Originally posted by: Macro2
I want to set the record straight about refilling cartridges.

We're talking about using generic ink cartridges instead of epson branded ones and not about refilling cartridges. It's pretty difficult to refill epson cartridges. Also for thermal inkjet printers like Canon and HP, the head on the cartridge wears out very soon and the cartridge has to be changed after a refill or two. There are cheap generic cartridges available for epson inkjets in the market and it does make sense to go for them, especially for monochrome printouts.

 

[NFS4]

I order all of my Epson refills for my C62 from Megatoners (just as I did for my C60). Blacks and Colors look great and you just can't beat $4.00 for black and $5.00 for color per cartridge.

Why pay more???

 

[Redviffer]

Same here, all of my Epson ink cartridges have been after market (professionally refilled - I'm not doing it), and I've had no problems OTHER than the fact that I have to run a self clean every once in a while. For $3.50 black & $4.50 color, that's a small chore I'm will to put up with. I buy them from an Ebay seller: Ms.Ink

I've even been able to get Canon or HP inks from them, the Canon's are still way cheap, but the HP ones are still about $20+ (but I guess are bigger and *should* last longer).

 

[Macro2]

RE:"Also for thermal inkjet printers like Canon and HP, the head on the cartridge wears out very soon and the cartridge has to be changed after a refill or two. There are cheap generic cartridges available for epson inkjets in the market and it does make sense to go for them, especially for monochrome printouts."

1. Canon has a separate printhead. It has a lifetime warranty. They fill easy and there are good generics.

2. HP incorporates the printhead into the cartridge.

3. Canon is the less hassle and cheapest printing alternative and has the best quality to boot.

4. Epsons have a piezo-electric printhead. They are more expensive. It may last longer. OTOH, as technology progresses it's better just to up grade your whole printer after a year or two.

5. There are generic cartridges and there are generic cartridges. Some better than others. I refill because I can select my inks.

6. I can tell you that Canon offers the best bang for the buck and quality. There are many reasons. Search general hardware for printers.


Mac

 

[LouPoir]

Generics work great on Epson printers. Unless you plan on printing photo quality.

Lou

 

[saber800]

Originally posted by: fitzhue
i bought a color and b&w cartridge for my c60 and it was absolute crap. i tried for at least a couple days and couldn't get them to work at all.

I had the same problem with my C60 printer. The generic cartridges just don't work in C60 printer that I had. I can't afford paying 30 bucks a pop for the genuine epson cartridges so I sold it and got a Canon. I'm much happier now with the Canon printer because it can handle generic cartridges without a hitch (generic b&w only cost me $1.80 and color about $2).

I'm sure whats causing the problem with the C60 is that IC chip on the ink cartridge. If the printer doesn't read the IC chips on the generic cartridges correctly, the printer just doesn't work. I believe Lexmark printers also have the same problem.

 

[Justorq]

Wait ... you mean that if the printhead on the Cannon get's clogged up ... Cannon will change it for me for free??
For the past month I was looking around for a good printer and I came up with two choices ... the HP Deskjet 5550 and the Cannon i850 ... I still haven't made any decision ... but I was leaning towards the HP cuz the cannon didn't incorporate printheads with their cartriges, and it would be a hastle when the time came to change it ...
But i never knew that cannon had a lifetime warranty on the printheads

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: saber800

Originally posted by: fitzhue
i bought a color and b&w cartridge for my c60 and it was absolute crap. i tried for at least a couple days and couldn't get them to work at all.

I had the same problem with my C60 printer. The generic cartridges just don't work in C60 printer that I had. I can't afford paying 30 bucks a pop for the genuine epson cartridges so I sold it and got a Canon. I'm much happier now with the Canon printer because it can handle generic cartridges without a hitch (generic b&w only cost me $1.80 and color about $2).

I'm sure whats causing the problem with the C60 is that IC chip on the ink cartridge. If the printer doesn't read the IC chips on the generic cartridges correctly, the printer just doesn't work. I believe Lexmark printers also have the same problem.

Where the heck were you getting generic cartridges for your C60?? I got mine from Megatoners for well over a year and had NO problems whatsoever.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

Actually, I'm a photographer, and I printed many letter-size photos and hundreds of CD covers using the special coated paper and generic ink. I am very pleased with the results!

I use Ko-Rec-Type as well as other two really cheap third-party brands, and I've never had any problems. I've had my Epson 740 for three years already, and the ONLY time I used original Epson cartridges was when I bought it - they were pre-installed...

I only had to clean the printer once in three years - go figure!

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: AnitaPeterson
Actually, I'm a photographer, and I printed many letter-size photos and hundreds of CD covers using the special coated paper and generic ink. I am very pleased with the results!

I use Ko-Rec-Type as well as other two really cheap third-party brands, and I've never had any problems. I've had my Epson 740 for three years already, and the ONLY time I used original Epson cartridges was when I bought it - they were pre-installed...

I only had to clean the printer once in three years - go figure!

I agree 100%. I've printed out MANY photos on photo paper with Generic cartidges on my C60 and the colors/results were simply marvelous. And just like your, I NEVER used another genuine Epson cartridge after my first ones ran out. $25 - $30 per cartridge is highway robbery.

 

[SXMP]

As an owner of the Espson Stylus Photo 780, I too have only used the original Espson carts when I first bought it. After that, megatoners.com all the way. Thus my opinion on print quality is somewhat biased, as I cannot recal printing any photo quality pictures on the original carts (which come half empty) with any much sucess (I was still calibrating photoshop and the printer as well as my monitor).

However, what I can say is that I've been printing photo-quality (as well as graphics and text) for about a year and a half now, and have ordered from megatoners 5 times, for a total of 10 carts of color and 10 of black. I have had nothing but great experiances with the printing results. Even more appealing has been the service from megatoners.com, I don't think I've waited more than 4 days after ordering carts to recieve them, not to mention the unbelievable low prices (2 color and 2 black shipped to my door for $15... compared to $25 for 1 black that I have to pick up at the store).

My only quais with using generic inks: (and this is technically unsupported, so if someone could please clarify). I was reading about how Epson's inks have something called "dura-brite" or some marketing phrase like that, and how they are supposed to print pictures that keep their original color for decades to come if you use that ink and the epson paper. Now my question is, all these photos I am printing: if stored properly (no sunlight, low moisture, etc.) will they fade? If so, that worries me about the generic carts. Of course having no experiance with either ink cart brand, I can only speculate. But if someone could shed some light on this issure, it would be appreciated.

 

[Macro2]

RE:"If the printer doesn't read the IC chips on the generic cartridges correctly, the printer just doesn't work."

It is possible the refiller didn't reset the chip. Canon doesn't have this problem.

 

[Macro2]

RE:"Wait ... you mean that if the printhead on the Cannon get's clogged up ... Cannon will change it for me for free??
For the past month I was looking around for a good printer and I came up with two choices ... the HP Deskjet 5550 and the Cannon i850 ... I still haven't made any decision ... but I was leaning towards the HP cuz the cannon didn't incorporate printheads with their cartriges, and it would be a hastle when the time came to change it "

Canons have a deep cleaning option that will clear any clogging.

If you buy the HP you will know how HP makes money after the first cartridge replacement or two.

Get the Canon and stash the money you save on cartridges in an account. After a year you'll be able to buy several new...state of the art at that time, printers.

Mac

 

[Macro2]

RE:"We're talking about using generic ink cartridges instead of epson branded ones and not about refilling cartridges."

You'll find that all HP generic cartridges are refilled/recycled I suspect most Epsons are too.

I'm really happy for those people who have 3 year old Epsons running well. Personally I perfer more state of the art printers. After a year an inkjet is pretty much "out of date".

Mac