[MarkSullivan]

Cool idea. Would should do a story about that. -Mark (editor of printer ink story)

[MarkSullivan]

...

[MarkSullivan]

Hello,

Thanks for alerting us to this coding error. We have fixed it. -Mark

[MarkSullivan]

Dave,
Thanks for the comments. In our tests, performed at the Rochester Institute of Technology, we found that third-party cartridges do fail much more often that OEM cartridges, for reasons that are not all the third-party's fault. We also found that when third-party cartridges do work, they typically yield higher numbers of usable printouts.

As to your remark about our testing methodology: Testing methods followed the ASTM F2555-06 testing standard. We used Images from the International Organization of Standards (ISO) to calculate our page yield and cost per page numbers. The results are the average of three seperate sets of cartridges tested in three seperate printers for each ink brand, as per the testing standard.

As we say in the article, we intended only to take a "snapshot" of ink performance for five popular printers, we have neither the time nor the budget to conduct an exhaustive study. Still we stand by our results and our testing methods, and believe most people will derive helpful information from the story.

-Mark

[MarkSullivan]

There is no printer manufacturer influence over this article. I know because I helped organize the testing and edited the article. We chose to test third-party inks like Walgreens because we wanted to test the ones that are commonly available to most printer owners across the country today. We certainly did not pick the ones we thought would perform the worst against the OEMs, as you seem to be suggesting. -Mark

[Anysia]

Ah, that might explain a lot. I get my '3rd party' inks from a company that specialises, rather than 'off the shelf' at the local discount store. That could be why when I did a side by side comparison of two photographs printed, one using the Branded ink cartridge, one using the 3rd party ink, and you can't tell the difference.

[MarkSullivan]

nicesites:

That tallies with what we have heard anecdotally during research for this article. -Mark

[TomTerrific]

been buying 3rd party ink for 4 plus years - never a problem. No fade issues either.



Cannons - HP - Epson. Don't know why you folks freak out on this --- most comapnies been doing it longer than I have.

[nicesites]

Hey Mark,

If you guys want to do another article on ink, how about that it doesn't ruin your warranty? I remember you had a blurb on it in a myth type thing a while ago, but it would really be nice to have it artfully laid out so common printing people could understand that using refills will not "kill their printer" I'd love to see that.

[pgettys]

It HAS been several years (probably 12 or more) since I bought the non-HP ink for my HP 690C, so I don't remember all of the specifics. I bought it at CompUSA, and it was probably a CompUSA brand ink cartridge. I do remember that the package stated it was specifically for my printer, and came with two cartridges. I returned one unused and the other still leaking ink everywhere the next day. Someday I may try non-OEM ink again. I know Canon has changed the ink formula and cartridge once for my printer, and will probably someday stop making them. I would definitely consider non-OEM replacements then, and I don't doubt there are better ones out there than what I experienced. I just don't like to change when I don't see a reason to do it.

I don't think I'd save that much on non-OEM ink. I don't print all that much any more. When I replace the tanks, I usually buy the three primary colors together in a blister pack at Sam's Club for about $27. Individually anywhere else they would run $36.

With HP, I always ran out of one color far sooner than the others. I'd throw out a 3 color tank with half the ink still inside. That's why I went with a Canon with 6 individual tanks.

Even with two printers using the same cartridges I only buy an ink tank about once every three to five weeks.

[Floricat]

Consumer Reports also evaluated ink..Office Depot was good quality.
WHERE is the evaluation on HP ink? A major player and no review? How about Dell also.Please do a followup on ink.
Thanks

[Beatkat]

"I REMANUFACTURE the
cartridges using state of the art equipment and processes. I replace
internal critical parts, test every cartridge and seal them for
delivery to my customers at a price that's less than a big box store
DELIVERED TO YOUR DOOR"


While this may pay for an expensive HP cartridge, with an integral print head, I can't believe that it's worth it for a Canon or Epson, HP, etc. individual color tanks. With retail around $14, it's just not worth it....unless you're willing to make less than a $1 an hour for your labor............ there's only so much "remanufacturing" that one can do to a catridge before it becomes non cost effective, and you're still selling a "used" cartridge......I applaud you're efforts in the area of recycling , and most post offices here in CT will collect cartridges to be recycled...

[Beatkat]

We've found that
remanufactured and refilled cartridges fail as often as 20% of the time
and can print up to 50% fewer usable pages than OEMs. This article did
say there were failures, but lacked detail. Failure rates this high
“will cost you”.





See post #39, their company did exhaustive tests on HP and other brands, check out their site......Dell is Lexmark....nuff said

[Anysia]

I refill my own, and I haven't had any failure, and I get just as many prints per refill as I did with the OEM ink cartridges. Maybe I have been lucky, or more likely, I looked around first, and then followed the instructions to the letter. I have saved several hundred dollars, and haven't destroyed a single printer or print head.

[Beatkat]

There is a distinction here too, with printers that use a seperate
printhead that accepts ink cartridges, and others where the printhead
is integral to the cartridge, and therefore attached to the cartridge.
Most companies offer both types in their printer range.I think it's important to make this distinction, using aftermarket inks and refills MAY not hurt or ruin your printer, but if you decide to use them and they DO ruin your printerhead, within the time of the factory warranty, the OEM WILL NOT HONOR THE WARRANTY IN AN INK BASED WARRANTY DAMAGE CLAIM. After the typical one year warranty period, you're on your own anyway....so you take your chances. So actually just using the ink, whatever ink, of course, won't void the warranty per se, but if you damage the printer, you're S.O.L. For me, with a printer that takes individual ink tanks, it just doesn't pay to cheap out on the ink. Each OEM tank costs around $14, and contains 13ml of that ONE color, and there is NO waste because if I need yellow, I just buy yellow, and I can see through the cartridge to know how much ink there is inside. A much better way to do things IMHO. Much less waste into the waste stream as well, because one is not tossing a cartridge still filled with ink , perhaps a printhead, circuit board, etc., just to get back one color they've used up. The colors are never used up at the same rate contrary to what manufacturers would have you believe, you learn that first hand when using a printer with individual ink tanks. This is how they make money, they sell you the printer for cheap, or even give it away with the purchase of a new computer, (Dell for instance), then they figure they'll make money on you over and over again when you have to buy ink, paper, etc....and they charge outrageous prices for it. I had an HP for years that cost $55 to replace the color cartridge, and the WHOLE cartridge only held like 12 ml of ink.......a total rip off, so obviously one sees the advantage of trying to save a few bucks on that type of a system, but you take your chances......

[Bartylby]

That's when comsumers get crappy remans...all the labor here is packaging. Not a single inkjet is filled by hand by any reputable remanufacture. I use machines to do the work...the tanks are the easiest of all! Lexmarks tend to be the hardest. Everyone needs to do their homework before they post. It saves the end consumer a lot of confusion and aggravation trying to sort out what is real and made up.

[ataylor]

I have a Canon i900 and tried third party inks. I got prints and documents that were far from the true color. No more cheap ink for me.

[tomashley]

There are tremendous differences among third-party suppliers. For example, in-store refillers may simply inject "one size fits all" inks into whatever cartridge you bring in, while true remanufacturers may disasemble and clean the cartridge, replace key components, and fill with inks from the very same manufacturers that supply the original OEM inks. They often use a different ink or ink set for each cartridge model, just as the printer manufacturers do.

It is difficult to understand what value an article such as this can have if such diffeences are not recognized and sensible analysis provided.

[rrider]

Use cheap cartridges for old printers that are out of waranty. They work fine for letters,Email etc.
If you want to print a photo, do yourself a favor and upload to a photo lab and you will have a non fade good looking print for about the same price you could do yourself with premium ink cartridges.

[Dubbayoo]

I used to work for Epson. It was my job to compare Epson ink to 3rd party inks. 3rd party ink usually printed more pages but it DRAMATICALLY with each printer. Sometimes picture quality was much better with 3rd party but that was rare.
It's worth trying each for your specific printer.