Generic or compatible ink cartridges

[zakezuke]

Measekite said: Snipped per request.

They never actually said generic ink sucks.

"We found that third-party inks can save you money,
and that some produce prints on a par with the output of printer vendor
inks.
But we also encountered third-party inks that produced poor-quality
prints and
clogged up printheads. The impact of generic inks on printer warranties
is
ambiguous. And if you frequently print photographs, you should steer
clear of
these inks: The prints might look fine, but Wilhelm reported that none
of the
clone inks he tested came close to matching the permanence of
brand-name inks."
--Bob Headrick quoting PCworld Mar 20 2004 11:10 pm

http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,111767,pg,1,00.asp
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,111767,pg,2,00.asp

Note this article was from "September 2003". And "sucks" is simply not
in the PCworld lingo. They did find that four brands were "Comparable"
to oem, depending on what printer was used. They found inks that were
"Significantly" and "Somewhat Worse".

So unless you are quoting a newer reference than Sept 2003, you are
lying.

 

[Frank]

Measekite said: Snipped per request.

They never actually said generic ink sucks.

"We found that third-party inks can save you money,
and that some produce prints on a par with the output of printer vendor
inks.
But we also encountered third-party inks that produced poor-quality
prints and
clogged up printheads. The impact of generic inks on printer warranties
is
ambiguous. And if you frequently print photographs, you should steer
clear of
these inks: The prints might look fine, but Wilhelm reported that none
of the
clone inks he tested came close to matching the permanence of
brand-name inks."
--Bob Headrick quoting PCworld Mar 20 2004 11:10 pm

http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,111767,pg,1,00.asp
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,111767,pg,2,00.asp

Note this article was from "September 2003". And "sucks" is simply not
in the PCworld lingo. They did find that four brands were "Comparable"
to oem, depending on what printer was used. They found inks that were
"Significantly" and "Somewhat Worse".

So unless you are quoting a newer reference than Sept 2003, you are
lying.

For that moron meashershithead to be quoting a 3 year old technical
article is downright silly if not really extremely stupid.
But we've come to expect such bullshit childishness from his corner.
Frank

 

[zakezuke]

For that moron meashershithead to be quoting a 3 year old technical
article is downright silly if not really extremely stupid.
But we've come to expect such bullshit childishness from his corner.
Frank

The problem isn't that he's quoting a 3 year old article. Well, that
"is" a problem as they don't make those printers anymore.

The problem is the artical he is quoting only tested 4 brands and one
refill kit, 3 years ago. And even 3 years ago they found inks that
were "Comparable" though not in all areas. If they could pick 5 brands
at random and actually get "Comparable" results I imagine that someone
with a little bit of research can find a brand that is adquate for
their needs.

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Your first assumption is usually not correct. Most countries actually
have laws preventing manufacturers from excluding the use of 3rd party
during the warranty period. They are obligated to prove that an inferior
ink actually caused the claimed defect.

3rd party inks vary considerably. Most are just fine, and considerably
less costly. Sometimes they are inferior and can cause problems like
clogs. Even OEM inks can cause clogs, however.

There are Durabrite and Ultrachrome equivalent inks on the market,
however, Epson has some patents on their ink which make them difficult
to produce at a reasonable costs. The saving may vary from $.50 up to
$20 per cartridge, depending on the type used.

The best way to manage to avoid the pitfalls of bad ink is to keep in
touch with other users (such as here or groups) and groups specific to
your printer brand. People who use bulk or 3rd party inks can express
their experiences on the ink and paper they are using and leave it to
each of us to decide.

Art

 

[Taliesyn]

Your first assumption is usually not correct. Most countries actually
have laws preventing manufacturers from excluding the use of 3rd party
during the warranty period. They are obligated to prove that an inferior
ink actually caused the claimed defect.

From what I've read, some of the ink sold as aftermarket is made by the
same companies who make OEM ink. Therefore, they could end up trying to
prove their own ink is inferior

-Taliesyn

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Just for the sake of accuracy and ease of understanding:

Inkjet, bubblejet, or giclee printers use INKS

The inks come in cartridges either with or without a printer head.

The inks may be dye colorant (the color is dissolves in the liquid base,
usually water), pigment colorant (the color is made of particles
suspended in the base, usually water plus an adhesive water based
plastic), or a hybrid sometimes referred to as "pigmented" which can
have pigment grains that are further dyed.

Laser printers and photocopiers use TONERS

Most toners also come in cartridges these days. They are a dry powder
usually made of a mixture of pigments, dry dyes, and finely ground
plastic. The cartridges may have integrated drums, or not. Some, mainly
older units, have separate "developer" toner, and drum (color ones may
use a "transfer belt). The toner transfer from the drum to the static
charged
paper which is then heated to melt the plastic components to fuse the
color to the paper.

Today, most toner systems integrate the developer into the toner or use
a developer free process.

I'm not saying this to be pedantic, just to help make things clearer
when people write their postings.


Art

 

[Ed Light]

pcworld is reputable. one the things i do not like is they include price
as part of their recommendaitons. many times i do not care what something
costs until i first determince what are the best choices and why. and
they do not always tell you why they choose one item over the other.

but they do state that generic ink sucks.

I like seeing the price in comparisons so I can eliminate the expensive
stuff.

I got some Calidad refill kits and now I'm scared they will wreck the
parking area! I thought I was safe because of getting new print heads with
new cartridges. But I think I'll be brave and use them, if I ever empty the
original cartridges. The HP 5940 isn't cleaning itself dry like my Epson C64
did, so that may take longer than I was planning on.
--
Ed Light

Smiley :-/
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[Ed Light]

There are lots of inks available that the pcmag article didn't cover.


--
Ed Light

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[Ed Light]

Sorry Ed, but I trust the word of experienced users such as myself (over
10 yrs) and others in this ng for real life experience and advice.
Something the mags simply cannot provide. The mags do testing on what they
are paid to test by the majors. It's where they get their advertising $'s
on which they survive.
Read them with a grain of salt.

Well, of course you do have do that. Yep. Agreed. I was sort of being
tongue-in-cheek.


--
Ed Light

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[Burt]

I like seeing the price in comparisons so I can eliminate the expensive
stuff.

I got some Calidad refill kits and now I'm scared they will wreck the
parking area! I thought I was safe because of getting new print heads with
new cartridges. But I think I'll be brave and use them, if I ever empty
the original cartridges. The HP 5940 isn't cleaning itself dry like my
Epson C64 did, so that may take longer than I was planning on.

Since I've killfiled the troll and most people are kind enough to snip his
responses I haven't seen his more recent posts. What I did notice on this
one is that his caps lock key has been destroyed but now his shift keys are
not working. All lower case - rather poetic --- like e.e.cummings.

 

[Burt]

Well, of course you do have do that. Yep. Agreed. I was sort of being
tongue-in-cheek.

There was a pretty good evaluation of a few Canon aftermarket inks, Canon
OEM inks, and Epson inks on the nifty-stuff forum a few months ago for UV
fading. Worth looking at. In addition, Neil Slade did a side-by-side color
evaluation of some Canon aftermarket inks and put them on his site just last
week. These tests were all done by actual users of the inks and not in a
controlled laboratory environment. Still good info. All available on the
nifty-stuff forum, including the link to Neil Slade's updated article on
inks.
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/

 

[Ed Light]

One other very important point Ed is that they have never ever tested any
of the excellent quality after market inks that are available.
And I'm not talking about "generic" bulk trash inks that hardly anybody
uses. I'm talking about the really excellent inks such as MIS and
Hobbiecolors.
These inks rival/beat oem inks.

All-RIGHT!!!

I Googled up MIS and they don't have ink for my model. But I love the
transparent cartridges.

I can't find Hobbiecolors?

I have bunch of Calidad ink from maxpatchink.com waiting to by tried on my
HP. They guarantee their carts for a year. Their blurbs say that the ink is
tested for compatibility on the corresponding printers, and for similar
properties to the oem ink. Their carts were ok on my Epson, but it clogged
up even with its own ink, and even after I serviced the landing pad.


--
Ed Light

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[Ed Light]

Calidad inks

Yes I have used them for many years in my HP670 and HP690 printers. I
never had a problem with clogging at all.

Gosh, that's great to know! Thanks, Ken!


--
Ed Light

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[Ed Light]

Since I've killfiled the troll and most people are kind enough to snip his
responses

Thanks, now I have blocked him too.


--
Ed Light

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MS Smiley :-\

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Bring the Troops Home:
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[Ed Light]

There was a pretty good evaluation of a few Canon aftermarket inks, Canon
OEM inks, and Epson inks on the nifty-stuff forum a few months ago for UV
fading.

http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/

I'll take a look!

Fortunately I've been "set free" by another poster who had no clogs for
years from Calidad inks on his HP.
I expect the color to probably be a little different on photos from the HP
inks. But I'm still wondering about fading.

Encouragingly, when I had the Epson with the DuraBrite inks I got Calidads
(great price) from maxpatchink and I have a color print in my window that I
made with them that gets some sun and that gets moist at night, and it
hasn't faded for months.

--
Ed Light

Smiley :-/
MS Smiley :-\

Send spam to the FTC at
(e-mail address removed)
Thanks, robots.

Bring the Troops Home:
http://bringthemhomenow.org

Fight Spam:
http://bluesecurity.com

 

[measekite]

this is a forum manned by hackers and hobbyists that belong to an
aftermarket ink club so anything that is said there you need to take
with a grain of salt

 

[measekite]

none of the generic relabelers that i know of will disclose either on
their website or by phone or in any writing what they are selling. they
all create a different excuse. you never know when their source changes
either.

 

[measekite]

many of the posters who tout generic inks work for relabelers and some
are even in the business. they cannot see the light of day.

 

[measekite]

There are lots of inks available that the pcmag article didn't cover.

very few. a lot of names but few formulations. why there may be 10
different labels for the same ink sold by 10 different relabelers.

 

[measekite]

I like seeing the price in comparisons so I can eliminate the expensive
stuff.

i go to pricegrabber to weed out the cheap stuff.