i have a picturemate deluxe and the ink is pretty pricy..i was wondering if a generic one works good too? has anyone tried it?
Simple short answer = No...! Explanation = Not all inks are created equal. Name brand inks are of much higher quality than generic ink. Name brand ink such as Epson is a pigment ink that has a much higher viscosity than generic ink. Pigment ink will out last, out perform and give a much better overall look depending on what surface you are printing on. Generic inks are solvent based inks, much different and thinner than the pigment inks. Think of painting your house with a good exterior house (pigment) ink OR – Painting your house with tempura (kids finger paint) paints If you are printing pictures that you want to keep for a number of years – use the manufactures inks. And always keep brand name ink with the same brand name paper. It does make a difference, the papers are made for that certain brand of pigment ink. HOWEVER I do use 90% generic inks in my Epson printer when I print my DVD’s I can see a some what over all difference in the print quality and ink density. So I tell it to print with a heaver saturation of ink. Test it out: I have taken 2 disks printed at 100% coverage heavy colors 1 in pigment Epson ink 1 in generic solution ink Spilled (poured) water over them – rubbed my finger all over the surface of the disks. Well the was damage to both – BUT – the Epson ink printed disk sure still looked good.
The generic ink I buy from http://private.abacus24-7.com/home.aspx? for my Epson R200, looks as good, and lasts as long, as the Epson ink. I have been using it for about a year, with no problems. I print my covers on glossy photo paper, and let them dry overnight. The discs I print on are dry in 2-3 minutes, and look as good as the original. I [bold]do[/bold] set the slider up one notch, to make the print job a tiny bit darker. The Abacus inks are the only ink I'll buy now........... Good luck!
Yes I use Abacus every once in a while... Super media store www.supermediastore.com has a set {12 refills} for $26.50 http://supermediastore.com/epson-r200-ink-r300-inkjet-cartridge-combo-2pk.html With free shipping [bold][$2.21 each shipped][/bold]
@jhlent I started a forum awhile back. Asking if anyone has ordered the generic ink from Supermediastore ? http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/324166 Is it as good as the ink from abacusink ? Supermediastore's ink prices are cheaper than abacusink, when they have it on sale.
I really can't say... Supermediastore has the best price on the Epson ink And abacusink is cheeper for Canon and Xerox Phaser... I use a lot of the Epson ink
I have 2 printers. One is Canon pixma iP1500 and the other is Epson R220. Because I always need to print out papers and DVDs, I have to buy ink twice a month. In this circumstance, generic ink is my best choice. I've purchased on ABCink, abacus24-7.com, and Supermediastore. Most of ink from abcink & Supermediastore are the same, but ABCink more expensive. I find it always makes very very high price and give big discount, but the final price is still higher than Supermediastore. Recently ABCink has new Ridisc branded generic ink for Epson, I've tried but the graph is not good as the "G&G" which sold by Supermediastore & ABCink originally. About the Abacusink, I think it no big difference from the "G&G". But for reducing my spending, I like the "G&G" ink from supermediastore more. If you'd like to print best, the Genuine ink is undoubtedly the one choice. But if you just want to print DVDs & some papers & photos that doesn't need super hi-resolution, I suggest the "G&G" generic ink.
oh~ I forgot something~ Now I buy ink from Supermediastore most since it costs me lest. It's at http://www.supermediastore.com If anyone finds anywhere cheaper than it, please share with me. Thank you!!
@jasbn i did a search for some more replacement ink and you have answered my question in it's entirety~ thank you, i was planning on purchasing the Ridisc branded ink from meritline.com yesterday as they have a 30% coupon on their website making the Ridisc like $1.50 each~! i was having problems getting the coupon to work, so, it would not be applied after i had tried it several times and clearing my cookies...something is wrong with their system at this point to properly apply the 30% coupon~ there is a flashing banner on their homepage right now for this Ridisc "blowout sale" but the coupon does not work~ anyways, i will go based on your experience of these Ridisc replacement epson cartridges, i guess in THIS particular case, you get what you pay for...i'm sure they're "decent" but based on your findings i am assuming they are not as good as the abacus nor the supermediastore ink (which i've tried BOTH of them and find them practically identical in quality) i will pass on these Ridisc branded ink for now from meritline and have just placed a large order for these from supermediastore.com http://supermediastore.com/epson-r200-ink-r300-inkjet-cartridge-combo-2pk.html i actually ordered 3 of these 12-pack sets, for 6 full sets total~ comes out to about $13.75/set shipped (plus CA sales tax since i live in CA) i'm stocking up now (much like i do with media when it's on sale) as my dad has the Epson R220 and i have the Epson R300m; all these cartridges are interchangeable and compatible for both printers we have~ i go thru ink pretty quickly myself, about a full set/month and now i'm completely out, this is perfect timing to get some more in...naturally, since i live practically an hour away from supermediastore (city of industry), i get all my orders delivered next day~ which i feel is a plus since i have to pay sales tax~ anyways, just wanted to thank you for the info. in an indirect way, glad i searched on it here on AD before taking the chance w/ the Ridisc compatible inks, i don't think i will be trying them regardless of how inexpensive they are...the quality of both the supermediastore.com and abacus inks are "just fine for my purposes," so if you haven't noticed already, abacus has JACKED UP THEIR PRICES SIGNIFICANTLY now on the Epson R series compatible inks...it's like double the price of what it once was when i ordered from them about a year ago... juss FYI, private abacus is NO LONGER very competitive in terms of pricing for the Epson R series replacement ink cartridges now that supermediastore is selling their ink like hotcakes~ by comparison: supermediastore 12-pack (2 full sets) : $27.50 shipped private abacus 12-pack (2 full sets) : $54.04 + $4.95 shipping http://private.abacus24-7.com/singleProduct.aspx?pid=11670 the choice is OBVIOUS here to anyone who needs more ink in the near future, i've personally used ink from BOTH companies as i mentioned earlier, the prints/quality TO ME are identical docTY~
