# printer ink quality - Canon vs. generic



## wgreene (Jul 20, 2001)

I've had a Canon i850 printer for a couple of years and have always bought Canon ink cartridges. I'm wondering if certain generic brands, such as Inksell, are worth the half-price difference.


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## MysticEyes (Mar 30, 2002)

They will generally work well, but keep in mind that you may have to make some color adjustments. Try them and see if you like the results.


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## erick295 (Mar 27, 2005)

Generally, they will print, but not very well. For photos? Definitely not. Everything else? Well, if you're more interested in saving money than in getting good prints, then they're a valid choice. There is a common misconception that all ink is the same - nothing could be farther from the truth. Ink is a very carefully engineered product that requires a lot of chemistry and tightly controlled manufacturing to produce. Canon ink is not only a higher quality, but it is specifically engineered to work with your Canon printer. You should not expect to get the same results from a third party that cuts as many costs as possible while manufactering their ink.


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## wacor (Feb 22, 2005)

if you are doing much with color there is no question there is a difference.

on the other hand if you do mainly documents that are black and white i doubt anybody would be able to tell the difference. for work where all i do is print documents i go with the ink station refills. think that is the name. other than sometimes being a little messy when refilling saves a ton of money


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## MysticEyes (Mar 30, 2002)

The generics for my older 740 Epson do a decent job on glossy photo paper, but on regular porous paper not as well. Go figure.


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## thecoalman (Mar 6, 2006)

My experience with the generics on my Epson 820 was that I was spending more time cleaning the heads thatn printing. No savings at all, possibly cost me more. If I was doing a lot of printing they may have worked better but in my case it was waste.


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## slipe (Jun 27, 2000)

There is a big difference between one ink fits all &#8220;universal&#8221; ink and aftermarket ink made specifically for your printer.

Universal color inks are terrible. The pigmented black ink for the large cartridge in GP printers can be OK, but the color ink has to be formulated for the specific brand and series. Many negative comments about refill ink come from people who don&#8217;t know the difference and buy a generic or universal kit.

There are some good brands of aftermarket ink. There are also aftermarket replacement cartridges that run the quality gamut. I trust refill ink from a known source over cheap aftermarket replacement cartridges. But even the cheapest aftermarket cartridges probably don&#8217;t actually use a universal ink that is anywhere near as bad as the stuff that comes in the universal refill kits. They usually use ink specifically formulated for at least the brand of printer and maybe even the series that takes the cartridge.

I&#8217;ve been refilling my own cartridges for over ten years with excellent results. The cartridges from your printer are falling off a log easy to refill and if you get good ink it is hard to tell from the Canon ink in both photos and graphics. Some of the better inks have a profile you can use to make them even closer. And I don&#8217;t find that good quality aftermarket inks are any more prone to clogging than the original ink. That has been true over the years for Canon and HP, but I have no experience refilling Epsons.


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## wgreene (Jul 20, 2001)

Thank you all for you input.


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## Fait2 (Mar 4, 2006)

I have to disagree with the "use only genuine inks" crowd. I have been using ink-jet printers since the first very slow Apple B/W ink jet (made by Cannon). In color printers I have had H-P, Cannon, Epson, and a couple of others. I have used generic inks in most of them and have never had a single problem.

Yes, I print a lot of photographs as photo-restoration is one of the things I do. I have never had a color problem, head-clogging, longevity, or anything else with the generic cartridges.

I use them exclusively on my Epson printers and just today bought a black cartridge for about $3.45 and a color cartridge for $9.75, both for my wife's C45. This is cheap enough that, even if they didn't last as long, they would still be a great buy.


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## Danyo (Jan 29, 2004)

The people that are using "generic" brand ink with no problems. Where are you getting the cartridges from? What company are you getting them from? Its good to hear from people that are using the "generic" cartirdges, and good quality ink for refills. Nobody has mentioned where they are getting them. Let us know who the dealers are and where they can be pruchased.


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## slipe (Jun 27, 2000)

Danyo said:


> The people that are using "generic" brand ink with no problems. Where are you getting the cartridges from? What company are you getting them from? Its good to hear from people that are using the "generic" cartirdges, and good quality ink for refills. Nobody has mentioned where they are getting them. Let us know who the dealers are and where they can be pruchased.


Ive had good results over the years with MIS ink at www.inksupply.com

Formulabs ink is also highly though of. This site claims to fill their pro color cartridges with Formulabs ink. They also have some interesting links: http://www.alotofthings.com/

Hobbicolors ink has also gotten good user reviews. I used some Inkjet Goodies ink in my S9000 on recommendation from several people at dpreview and it also worked out well.

You might read through some of the posts on this forum. Some of the members seem knowledgeable. http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewforum.php?id=12


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## Fait2 (Mar 4, 2006)

Excellent point! I apologize for not mentioning it. I have used http://www.lasersharp-imaging.com/ with great results on price and service. The only problem I ever had turned out to be my fault! I entered the wrong number for the cartridge and, naturally, it didn't fit.

I also have to say that I have had a long and happy experience with Epson printers. Their print quality and reliability have been outstanding. As with Lasersharp, the only problems I have had were my fault. For example, I once had the feed mechanism set for thick paper and put in regular. It fed several sheets at once and jammed. Now, the newer printers automatically detect paper thickness and prevent we absent-minded folk from making that mistake.

I have many pictures that I have printed on them with generic ink on the photo-paper and, once framed, they cannot be told from film prints. They only problem with them is they do tend to fade from the sun. I just reprint them every couple of years and have no complaints.


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## wgreene (Jul 20, 2001)

Thanks for the additional info!


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## Cyps (Jan 3, 2006)

A brand name called Print Rite has given me excellent results for 4 years now and even cleans the printer head while printing. Only problem has been when I didn't use the printer for a couple of months but this applies to all inkjet printers as we're supposed to print at least one colour sheet per week to keep the ink flowing. Remembering that little tip, I've had no problems since.


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## Fait2 (Mar 4, 2006)

Cyps, you are correct about the Print Rite. I can get that here in Brazil and we use it in both printers with never a complaint. I didn't know it was available elsewhere. I thought it was a Brazilian thing. Good tip about using the printer now and then, too.


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