Epson Ink Cartridge Advise

[Iron Sights]

Hi everybody.....

I have a Epson DX4400 and wanted to know either:

where the best and cheapest place to buy genuine epson ink cartridges from?
(T0711-black) (T0712-cyan) (T0713-magenta) (T0714-yellow) (T0715-Multi Pack)

OR

whether I should go for a cheaper compatible ink cartridge, if so please
recommend one

I normally buy geniune ink but i just wanted to know if I'm wasting my money

Thanks

[MadduckUK]

go for compatibles, any. the paper feed will go wonky long before the print quality declines. the sx205's im using at work at the moment use the same cartridges as your dx4400 - think they end up just under £2.50 a cartridge from a local place

[Saracen]

I can't recommend cheap places, but as for the choice of genuine versus compatible, you pay your money and take your chances. Epson take care with both the cartridge design, with ink chemistry, with the matching of flow and droplet size and with calibrating inks to media types and driver design. You also know there's a given level of quality in the manufacturing process - that they have very sophisticated quality control processes designed to monitor tolerances in production and to either adjust or halt the production line before assembly goes out of tolerance. You also get cartridges that are assembled in a clean room, with positive air pressure, airlock entry-exit procedures and high pressure air blowers to remove dust from staff, all of whom are dressed in lint-free body suits with boots, face masks and just their cheeks and foreheads exposed. So the chances of contamination of either ink or cartridge mechanism is all but eliminated. Cartridges are also assembled by robots, and by robots designed and built by Epson themselves. Will you get that degree of control and care from compatibles? No. Does it matter? Only you can answer that.

So, on the one hand you get that level of reassurance, of quality control and of consistency, and on the either hand, you can save a lot of money. Which you choose is up to you. For me, it would come down to issues like :-

• the cost of the machine. I'd be more inclined to risk it with a £50 printer than a £1000 printer.
  
  
• how much ink I used. The savings are LOT more significant if you change cartridges a couple of times a week than a couple of times a year.
  
  
• the importance of the work. Sometimes, assurance of colour consistency or colour accuracy outweighs cost saving. There's no point saving money if you're printing for a client and they reject the job because your compatible inks are the wrong colour.

As I said, you pay your money and take your chances.

[Flibb]

Depends what you print, if its general stuff then go compatibles, if its photos to keep then go original. Just be aware that compatibles invalidate your warrenty if it fails on a print head fault, and Ive seen a few epsons die with this using compatible carts

Main reason I stick with originals for photos is ink fading, my Canon prints are holding up suprisingly well, where as I've seen a lot of ink fade with compatibles.

[dangel]

With my epson i stick with the official paper but use Jetec cartridges - this combo works really well for glossy photos

[Iron Sights]

wow i had no idea that they could invalidate warrenty, I got it in Nov 07, so I'm guessing the warrenty is gone.

btw, I only really use it to print off uni work, notes etc, (the black ink goes fast) but nothing fancy like printing photos

[Flibb]

Originally Posted by Iron Sights

wow i had no idea that they could invalidate warrenty, I got it in Nov 07, so I'm guessing the warrenty is gone.

btw, I only really use it to print off uni work, notes etc, (the black ink goes fast) but nothing fancy like printing photos

Save your money and get compats then, or try and pick up a laser cheap (mono). I pulled an old HP laser out of a skip, got a cheap toner on ebay and it lasted years, thats with it printing my Wifes post grad work so quiet heavy use

[Iron Sights]

just went on amazon, there are people selling what appears to be geniune cartridges cheap but with no retail packing, mabye to on save delivery costs... hmm not sure

[Saracen]

Originally Posted by Iron Sights

just went on amazon, there are people selling what appears to be geniune cartridges cheap but with no retail packing, maybe to on save delivery costs... hmm not sure

Knowing eBay, my suspicion would be that they're either fakes, refills or out of date. Of course, that might just be my natural cynicism showing .... again.

Part of that manufacturing process I mentioned is, of course, protecting thre cartridges by vacuum sealing them while in the clean room. Does the package they lack just refer to the box, or to the vacuum sealed wrap as well?

[Iron Sights]

it doesnt say anything about the vac seal, just no retail box.

I was also reading the customer reviews for the compatbles on amazon and well most of them look rubbish (some dont even work!)

I would be grateful if anyone knew any decent compat cartridges

[GoNz0]

you will get OEM inks in vaccum packed form, no fancy box etc.

as for Madduck saying the paper feed will go wonky, well as an epson engineer we make a killing off people who dont know how to clean the paper feed roller, we charge £157 + VAt to go and spend 30 seconds giving that a spray with alcohol and a quick rub on some of the A3 plus models.

obviously no one is stupid enough to call us out for a £50 4400

dont buy cheap ink unless you want to buy a new printer. it will kill it faster. once the waste inkpads are full its time to skip it anyway.