Compatible printer ink - worth the gamble?
Apologies for the absence, I recently sold my IT business to take over the family farm and now have little time to log into Hexus. I've missed you all but alas life moves on...
Anyway to my question. I've always been against compatible cartridges having seen so many printers in the past that malfunctioned or suffered due to their use. However, looking today at a set of originals for my Canon MP640 which cost over £40 I'm beginning to wonder. It would only cost £100 or so to replace the whole printer, which would include a full set. A compatible set is approx £10 for a set of 5 which does seem remarkable value.
What's your thoughts - are compatibles OK?
Re: Compatible printer ink - worth the gamble?
I've used them on epson printers and have not had any problems, they don't last as long but at £5 a set its ok.
Re: Compatible printer ink - worth the gamble?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cotswoldcs
Apologies for the absence, I recently sold my IT business to take over the family farm and now have little time to log into Hexus. I've missed you all but alas life moves on...
Anyway to my question. I've always been against compatible cartridges having seen so many printers in the past that malfunctioned or suffered due to their use. However, looking today at a set of originals for my Canon MP640 which cost over £40 I'm beginning to wonder. It would only cost £100 or so to replace the whole printer, which would include a full set. A compatible set is approx £10 for a set of 5 which does seem remarkable value.
What's your thoughts - are compatibles OK?
Depends on what you're printing.
Just text then go for it. But then a laser printer can be had for £100 or less.
Re: Compatible printer ink - worth the gamble?
epson have instructed us (being an epson engineer) to leave the premises if the customer is found to be using any none genuine consumables.
imho they are not worth it, colour fastness is poor, colour reproduction is poor, the inks do not dry the same leading to the waste system blocking up if it does not trash the heads long before then.
if you want a cheap printer for text buy a cheap laser or consider binning the printer if it breaks with cheepo inks.
Re: Compatible printer ink - worth the gamble?
Random compatible cartridges I'd never recommend (unless the printer is so old there's little value to the printer), however for my Canon 9000 MKII I've bought some empty cartridges and filled them with some decent ink, as recommended on a few photo forums.
I've no idea how it compares to the genuine Canon ink for this printer (I haven't directly compared them), but the combination of new printer and compatible inks are a big step forward from my old Canon IP5300 (technically identical to the IP4000 series) which has always run on genuine ink.
I'd never recommend random compatibles, but if you do some research and your printer has decent options for a continuous ink system or refillable cartridges, then my experience has been great so far.
Original cartridges: £128 for 88ml
Compatible ink: £35 for 800ml
Considering the quality (which as I said may or may not be quite as vibrant as the genuine), I'm more than happy to take those savings.
All I would recommend is getting some latex gloves for the refilling, as little bits of ink do tend to end up all over your hands, and I can vouch for the longevity of this particular ink!
Edit:
Just had a quick glance around and here's a review of a kit for the MP640. When I was researching into the 9000 MKII system I stumbled across Fotorite, and apparently their ink is rubbish. Looking at that review, it doesn't look great.
Perhaps better way forward would be to reuse your existing cartridges and buy this kit instead. Like I said, I don't have any complaints over the OctoInkjet ink and it was recommended looking in a few forums.
Re: Compatible printer ink - worth the gamble?
i used compatible cartridges on my old printer and one of them burst inside the printer. I cleaned it out but the chip that reads the cartridges malfunctioned and would no longer register having the black cartirdge in.
We just got an awesome Hp printer on a deal so i said to the wife this time we are only using original Inks
Re: Compatible printer ink - worth the gamble?
I would never use compatible cartridges in an Epson as their cartridges do not include the print head so if ink clogs the head as compatible inks often do the whole printer is scrap.
HP printer cartridges on the other hand contain the print head so a clogged head just involves replacing the cartridge.
I have scrapped two Epsons over the years after using compatibles.
Can't comment on Canon as I don't know how their cartridges are made.
Re: Compatible printer ink - worth the gamble?
I think you might as well give it a try. Start off buying from the highstreet. If it works, then great - you've saved a load of money.
If it's rubbish quality, take the carts back and get a refund. At Tesco that might be tough, not sure about WHSmith and I know that Ryman will refund a compatible if you've got a printed sheet showing the carp quality printing.
And if the whole thing explodes in a huge ball of flame, just buy a new printer!
Re: Compatible printer ink - worth the gamble?
It depends on the cost of the printer really.
If your using a £40 jobbie, be it built in print heads like the epson, or head carts like the HP, and you don't care about the quality because its a £40 printer, then yeh use the compatables. If on the other hand your not saving the cost of the printer should the heads gunk up, then don't.
Re: Compatible printer ink - worth the gamble?
If it is anything other than an Epson which has fixed printheads (and where, as Gonz0 says, is likely to negate any service visit in future) then probably worth trying. But if you have spent a couple of hundred quid on a printer, it seems (to me) to make little sense in compromising on the overall print quality by buying ink of unknown provenance.
Re: Compatible printer ink - worth the gamble?
we are also being issues with software updates to our engineer tools that allows us to see how many consumables have been used, this also logs none genuine inks the same way it pops up on your pc screen when you try and use none genuines, there will be no warranty at all on the new printers as they will all have this feature to catch out people using cheap stuff.
Re: Compatible printer ink - worth the gamble?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
GoNz0
we are also being issues with software updates to our engineer tools that allows us to see how many consumables have been used, this also logs none genuine inks the same way it pops up on your pc screen when you try and use none genuines, there will be no warranty at all on the new printers as they will all have this feature to catch out people using cheap stuff.
Over the last 7 years and 6 "sets" of Epsons we have had, they have all surpassed 20,000 pages before the paper feed starts to go retarded. And the only original ink they ever saw was the sets that came with the printer.
The total saving over a printers lifetime is incredible.
Re: Compatible printer ink - worth the gamble?
If you do get originals 7dayshop is the cheapest or at least was I could find
http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/defa...o=SEARCH&comp=
Re: Compatible printer ink - worth the gamble?
Been using compaitbles in our Epsons for years and have no such problems with them. Can't tell the difference in quality either from the genuine to the compatibles.
Re: Compatible printer ink - worth the gamble?
The compatible printer cartridges are the best for one who has more printing needs. It has more ink than the OEM cartridges but it may cause some problem in printers.
Re: Compatible printer ink - worth the gamble?
unless doing photographs where you need exact colours I would always use compatables - have done so for may years without problems. Have also had success with the continuous ink systems but these do take up a bit more space and can be fiddly.