3rd Party Inks for Epson Printers

[Moses on the Street]

Hey Guys,

I've got an Epson 3800 and I'm looking at replacing some of the cartridges and I've come on some "3rd party" ink suppliers who have much lower prices.

One of them, swift ink, has very strong ratings on reseller ratings.com.

I'm wondering if any of you have bought third party inks for your Epsons and if you can tell me if they are worth it.

Thanks!

[Murph]

Totally voids your warranty. I would not suggest it.

Originally Posted by Moses on the Street

Hey Guys,

I've got an Epson 3800 and I'm looking at replacing some of the cartridges and I've come on some "3rd party" ink suppliers who have much lower prices.

One of them, swift ink, has very strong ratings on reseller ratings.com.

I'm wondering if any of you have bought third party inks for your Epsons and if you can tell me if they are worth it.

Thanks!

[Moses on the Street]

Originally Posted by Murph

Totally voids your warranty. I would not suggest it.

Well, isn't that probably because Epson wants to preserve business for itself?

The cost of a set of inks is 450 dollars from Epson vs. 180 dollars for the more inexpensive inks, so you save $270.00.

A new Epson 3880 costs 1200 dollars, so 4.2 inksets pay for a new printer. Anything after that is just money in your pocket.

I have been printing quite a bit lately and the Epson ink is very expensive. I've purchased 29 Epson cartridges this year so far and am just about to order several more.

Anyway, just another way to think about it.

And it's just ink. Not rocket science.

So I guess nobody has ever put 3rd party inks in their Epsons?

[ngoduyviet]

Been using 3rd party for my 1400 for a while now, totally worth it if you print a lot.

If you don't print a lot or often, not recommended.

[Fireball]

I've got an R1800 and have used both but went back to the Epson brand because it lasts twice as long. I buy mine from DVD-R, Flash Drive, SD Card, Micro SD, USB Drive, CD Case, Blank DVD, DVD Case - SuperMediaStore.com

[picman]

If you are just printing documents then for the most part ink is just ink. Printing photos and you do move into rocket science. Each batch of each color has to match the previous batch exactly. With 3rd party inks you have no idea if it's even the same supplier. Clog a head with chunky ink and your out of luck.
Plan on profiling your printer, Epson profiles probably won't work.
I have and still do refills for my Epson R320 that I converted to pigment inks from MIS Inks. Epson has come down hard on 3rd party folks. Most of the empty carts and 3rd party refills are no longer available.

At the end of the day, I found it easier and probably cheaper to send out for printing.

[Traccer]

I dont use 3rd party anymore, The colors just never looked right. I could tell a huge diffrence from OEM vs 3rd party.. But thats me, you pay for what you get. I do a ton of printing, Not really photos, but I own a Print shop....