Question about Epson Stylus Pro 3880 ink usage

[Venice]

Does anyone know which color is being used the fastest when printing with Epson Stylus Pro 3880 printer? I purchased the ink system from the Inkrepublic and I'm just wondering how soon I'd have to reorder the ink, and whether I could just buy one or two colors that are used the most.

Also, can any vendor's ink be used as long as it is pigment? In other words, can I shop around for the pigment ink for the best price, or do I have to stick to the same vendor forever?

 

[The Hat]

Does anyone know which color is being used the fastest when printing with Epson Stylus Pro 3880 printer? I purchased the ink system from the Inkrepublic and I'm just wondering how soon I'd have to reorder the ink, and whether I could just buy one or two colors that are used the most.

Also, can any vendor's ink be used as long as it is pigment? In other words, can I shop around for the pigment ink for the best price, or do I have to stick to the same vendor forever?

Because the 3880 have such large cartridges youll be the first to notice which inks
are been used up the fastest and can make that decision with plenty of time to spare.

The ink vendor never really matters when it come to purchasing inks
because its the quality of the ink that really counts not the vendor, buy cheap pay twice.

Sit emptor cavete

 

[pharmacist]

Does anyone know which color is being used the fastest when printing with Epson Stylus Pro 3880 printer? I purchased the ink system from the Inkrepublic and I'm just wondering how soon I'd have to reorder the ink, and whether I could just buy one or two colors that are used the most.

Also, can any vendor's ink be used as long as it is pigment? In other words, can I shop around for the pigment ink for the best price, or do I have to stick to the same vendor forever?

Actually 1 ml per A4 fully covered, so do you math. Most used colours: LB, LLB, LM, LC and Y. AFAIK Inkrepublic.com sells a proprietary ink, not available at other vendors. Formerly they sell Image Specialists ink (IRK2), but changed to another formula.

 

[thanhhuy123]

It much depends on what you print: print text only then of course pigmented black and maybe cyan,...
I'm living in Vietnam and I have much more problem than you trying to find ink specific for HP. Epson's everywhere....

 

[Venice]

Thanks everyone for your replies. Even with the refillable ink it is still pricey. Well, c'est la vie, there's not much we can do, unless to develop our own ink formula! :-D

 

[Venice]

The ink vendor never really matters when it come to purchasing inks
because its the quality of the ink that really counts not the vendor, buy cheap pay twice.

How do I know if the cheap ink is actually bad? I'm not very knowledgeable about printing, so I probably won't be able to know the difference until I actually print with different inks and then compare. For example, here are two sellers:

Set of 9 colors
500ml each color
Price: $660.00 USD
http://www.inkrepublic.com/IRK4-nano-3880.asp

Set of 9 colors
250ml each color
Price: $241.00
Two of these sets will be 500 ml of each color and the price will be $482.00
http://www.amazon.com/InkOwl®-9x250ml-Compatible-Pigment-Stylus/dp/B009PAML76

The second one has a much smaller price. Does anyone know if these inks are good or bad? If bad, then why? I'm just trying to understand the difference and get the best price for good product. Is there a good reputable ink vendor with reasonable prices?

 

[jtoolman]

Why don't you just use OCP inks
If you are in the USA order from Rjettek.com
Example, pint size bottles x 9 $ about $129.40 total including shipping to Maryland USA!
NONE of the 3rd party inks except maybe CONE will give you the gloss that OEM will provide.
Now there is a "NEW" Vivid Magenta and Light Vivid Magenta from OCP that is supposed to be much better in the gloss department.
This Monday I will have them delivered so we will see.

If you print Matte and Art Papers, it is outstanding and you simply can not argue with the price.
So I would not even considered anything else at this time for the 3800 / 3880 if you are going to do the 3rd party route for the lowest cost per ml.

Image Specialist inks are also excellent. But again the all suffer from Magenta related gloss.

 

[Venice]

Thanks Jtoolman! I never even knew of the OCP inks. I'll definitely look into their inks, the price is really good!

 

[jtoolman]

The only Catch is rjettek does not seem to have the Vivid magenta or Light Vivid Magenta. Other here have just substituted other maker's magenta and used the other 7 colors from OCP.
I actually use OEM Vivid and Light Vivid Magenta purchased as 110ml and 220ml OEM carts off of EBAY.
Example:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Epson-T...8054?pt=US_Ink_Cartridges&hash=item58a56d0796

Not as cheap but still not too bad:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-4-EPSON...363?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5d4474906b

Shop around and you will definitely find some good deals on real OEM Vivid Magenta.
Replacing the OCP Magentas with OEM does wonders.

Joe

 

[Venice]

This is great, thanks so much for the links!