Epson Cartridges Thread

droopsnout

Hi, Loubeylou.

I have bought several times from SVP/Buyadisk, using their compatible cartridges.

They currently offer a set of each colour plus two black catridges on a BOGOF deal. My most recent purchase (last week) included a spindle of 25 CDRW disks, apparently worth £5.99, at no cost. (In addition, they were happy to despatch to France for what appears to be a set charge of £7.50).

It works out at £8.99 for 14 cartridges. I can't imagine anyone is beating that at the moment.

I think the free CDRW offer has now finished, as I just tried making a dummy order, and it was charging for them, but if you register with SVP, they'll send you emails every so often with very good offers. SVP seems to enjoy a good reputation amongst users of consumables.

Their website is at: http://www.svp.co.uk/

For the record, I have not used their compatible cartridges (brand: Datasafe) for critical work, but they are certainly more than acceptable for everyday use, and I have not experienced any clogging. The BOGOF offer can be found at http://www.svp.co.uk/acatalog/Epson_Stylus_Photo_R300.html.

HTH.

Martin100

I have just read through the comments on this particular Thread. It does seem a shame though that Epson are winning their goal in either supplying there own cartridges or forcing us to buy Generic ones. In an obvious way and especially with Epson printers, the printing head is separate from the cartridge and in basic terms is only an ink carrier. It would in the first instance seem a simple proceedure just to fill up this reservoir with the appropriate ink, however we all know that the manufacturers want to make this into an impossible task in there bid to sell ink at extortionate prices.

Many of Epsons printer inks have now moved over to the Durabrite type of ink. These are pigment based and are intended to give improved prints. This in partly becase of there improved resistance to UV so less fading over the years, and also in the way that a pigment ink lies on the paper. When injected onto the paper it is adsorbed less and consequently spreads less and defines better spatial resolution and more vibrant colour. In addition this type of ink is less prone to smudging, imeadiately after printing via handling or by water contact.

I have an Epson C86 printer. This takes the Durabrite ink and uses the T0441 (black) T0452 (cyan) T0453 (magenta) and T0454 _pale_ (yellow). You might well find that the other range of later Epson printers use this type of cartridge and with the Durabrite ink.

The "Green" way in dealing with this problem is that we should all be refilling our cartridges with the correct ink. After a lot of researching in this area I have found that there are quite a few companies who do supply compatible pigment inks. In terms of cost savings comparing refilling to purchasing Epson cartridges, it is about 10 times cheaper to refill.

Now that sounds great but the biggest hurdle for most people is the knowledge on how to fill up there own particular cartridge, with the correct ink and no mess. I have to say that for my own situation I have found out that Jettec supply "Epson" pigment based ink, (this is different to their universal ink) and has worked just as good as an Epson bought cartridge. I have also found out, with a little practice a simple way to fill the cartridge and with no mess. A chip resetter then completes the procedure and we are off again merrily printing away.

I hope that this information helps our readers. and that more people will attempt to go through the learning curve to fill up their cartridges.

In terms of the pigment type of ink I purchased mine from Ink and Media Ltd.
https://www.inkandmedialtd.co.uk
they were doing a bundle of Epson black (90mls) and colour (90mls) for £14.99 inc post & package

I hope that some of this helps,
Regards,
Martin

droopsnout

Very interesting, Martin. Thank you.

The final kit you mention is now listed at £15.99. (http://www.inkandmedialtd.co.uk/acatalog/Epson_Inkjet_Refill_Kits.html)

I always used to refill my cartridges (before I had an R300), but the price of new replacements has dropped so low that I no longer think it's worth the hassle, especially when the risks of spillage to furniture, etc., are taken into account. It depends on circumstances, of course, like how convenient it is to refill in each person's PC location ...

Refilling is certainly the green solution, so perhaps it is time I had another go at all this. R200/300 owners, though, along with owners of many other Epson machines, will need to buy the chip resetter as well, and the relatively high initial cost may well dissuade some from making the move to refilling. The long-term cost is, of course, a fair bit less than new cartridges, especially if the Jettec Epson ink is, as you say, a better quality, longer-lasting ink than the Universal equivalents.

I see that your post here, Martin, was your first. Welcome to the Board, and thanks again for a most stimulating first contribution.

Martin100

Hi Droopsnout, thanks for your reply,

I should have also stated that another reason for why I refill my original Epson cartridges is because I have control over the quality of the ink that I am putting in. On some of the cheaper refill cartridges, I wonder when it comes to "universal inks" that these are more likely to be the "Dye" based products which are not as good and cheaper to buy. The pigmented inks can give a more realistic photo type image, even on normal white paper, because of their low adsorbtion rate.

However, its horses for courses and if this is a satisfactory "solution" for each individual then go for what suites.

By the way, I notice that the £15.99 price is for the 5 colour and black kit. This is the bundle price. If you check out the 3 colour kit including the black deal it is still at £14.99. have a look at this link:

http://www.inkandmedialtd.co.uk/acatalog/Epson_Inkjet_Refill_Kits.html

Cheers Martin

Roger1247

http://www.InkRepublic.com

It's free shipping to all over the world.

check their installation and reviews page:

http://www.InkRepublic.com/installation.asp
http://www.InkRepublic.com/reviews.asp

droopsnout

Martin100 wrote:

By the way, I notice that the £15.99 price is for the 5 colour and black kit. This is the bundle price. If you check out the 3 colour kit including the black deal it is still at £14.99. have a look at this link:

http://www.inkandmedialtd.co.uk/acatalog/Epson_Inkjet_Refill_Kits.html

Indeed, Martin, but I think the previous enquirer was asking about an Epson R300, and that is why I mentioned it in my post. In fact, for the extra inks, an additional £1 to pay seems very good value for the R200/300 owner!

Martin100

I agree Droopsnout, not bad getting two extra inks for just another £1

Martin

tom_4-2

hi!

can anyone help? have been using Epsom compatibles for years - 'PrintRite' & now 'Think' from Choicestationery - but suddenly the yellow & magenta are refusing to work ie the red ink light comes on & won't budge unless I put a genuine Epsom in. Can anyone tell me why, is it something new on the C86, is there a trick round it?

many thanks for any suggestions

Tom

droopsnout

Hi, Tom.

I had a similar problem with two Magenta cartridges from Choice Stationery. I emailed them to say that two of these cartridges were not recognised, and they replaced them.

May I suggest that you email them and politely point out your difficulty, and they should do the same for you.

Since then, I have used SVP for my last two orders (as detailed above, I think) and I have been very satisfied with their inks.

If you want any further details, perhaps you could send me a private message.

Edit: This was for the R300, by the way, not the C86, but they will still probably respond in the same way to any complaint you make.

Keeno_2

Just found a full set of R300 inks for £11.62 that also includes delivery.
I found these at https://www.pdkink.co.uk
They were recommended by a friend who uses them and he says he cant fault their delivery speed and quality of ink.