Sorry, still confused... (ink choice)

jopereira

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Hi all,

I'm still using original cartridges in my MX870. Since refilling will be future option, I've already choose German refill method, OEM cartridges, but ink is still in doubt.
I've been reading a lot but I'm still confused about what should be my 'best' ink choice... reports are not consistent.

I'll choose an ink with as close as possible match to OEM ink (necessary to use printer's copy function), the best fading resistance in the same price range. Although is not THAT important, fading resistance is always a good thing, don't you think? :)
I do prefer buying from UK or Germany.

Please, any advice will be appreciated since some reports are dated and could lead to wrong information.

ps - I was almost decided to go with IS ink, but I saw reports telling IS is the worst when it comes to fading resistance...
 

nche11

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The number one consideration is to choose an ink that won't clog your print head. Then you need to realize that no 3rd party ink really matches colors exactly to OEM. It is a marketing pitch by manufacturers or resellers to say how close their inks matches. In my experience avoid dirt cheap inks. If the ink is dirty cheap it is formulated with cheap materials. This is not possible for a good ink to be formulated cheaply. Avoid very high priced inks too. I have used some and found it a waste of money. If you buy on eBay read the feedback log of the seller and find what buyers have said. You can find words buyers said about the ink but not words about how fast the seller shipped. I have used both IS and Hobbicolors inks. I am using Hobbicolors only now. Check it out. Their web site has a good information page that explains why ink clogs print heads. The only problem to you is it is a US based company. It may be a bit expensive to pay shipping to buy from a US company.
 

The Hat

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jopereira
As you are looking for ink in the EU theres lots of sellers to choose from but theres only one that I could recommend
because I have purchased ink from them and found it meet my standards in good quality ink.

You should check out as many ink sellers as you can around the EU, but try this one as well.. :)
http://www.octoink.co.uk/home.php
 

jopereira

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@nche11
Yes, importing from US is out of question, high shipping costs and taxes.
And yes, I'll go for inks from big companies. I've bought very cheap inks for my Brother but they don't match (not even close) OEM inks, although they have been VERY KIND to my printer head: not a single problem, always consistent printing.

@The Hat

That was (is) my first choice. Reports point to a good match to OEM inks, but fading fast. Is this your experience?
This choice is also good as I can use KMP pigmented black ;).

I also having the choice (ebay.de) to buy InkTec inks @ same price as Octoink's IS (4-5/100ml).
Any experience with these inks?
 

nche11

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I hear you. But Octoink gets ink from the US too. It has to pay for shipping and tax as well. Do a math and see which one comes out ahead of the other. IS ink is probably the most expensive brand in the US. There are a few other brands in the US. Sensient Technology is one that is probably over 1 million times the size of IS as a company. It owns the brand name of Formulabs but this brand name is swallowed by Sensient and is long gone now. I am not sure where you can still get Formulabs ink now. Alotofthings was a reseller of the brand name. It's prices used to be much more economical before. Inktec is available in the US market too. Its prices are more reasonable too. Just avoid the cheap Chinese stuff. If you don't use much ink at all then pricing won't be much an issue.
 

l_d_allan

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nche11 said:
The number one consideration is to choose an ink that won't clog your print head.
Agree, especially when getting started with refilling. All the reputable inks are so much less expensive than oem that it is classic "penny wise and pound foolish" to get all that concerned about which is plus or minus 10%.

The list of recommended vendors on the FAQ may be out of date.

Irv Weiner has put together this list, that is more current:

TMI, but ...
I've found printing to be a real roller coaster...

* Big Fun to be able to make 8.5x11" prints for ~12 in paper cost.

* Big Drag when I had my first cart run out, and realized how unbelievably expensive oem ink is.

* Big Fun to realize that refilling has the potential to make ink cost a non-factor. "How hard can it be?"

* Big Drag when I had a Big Mess on my first refilling, and realized there is a definite learning curve.

* Big Fun when I got to the point of being able to reliably refill carts in a reasonable amount of time.

* Big Drag when I encountered my first print-head clog ...

* Big Fun when I resolved the clog problem and back to printing ...

* Big Drag when the clog came back a day later ....

* Big Fun when Canon agreed to replace the print-head under warranty ...

And so it goes
 

nche11

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Here you see the most obvious. Get the ink that won't clog your print head at any cost.
 

stratman

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Patent laws, specifically the threat of costly legal action, keeps aftermarket ink manufacturers from making exact chemical copies of OEM ink sellers. Therefore, color fidelity and fade resistance will be altered in aftermarket inks. Printer profiling can help a great deal with color fidelity, but longevity seems to always suffer.

Druckerchannel.de has a nice article on refilling the cartridge types used in your Canon MX870. They list a few of their choices for compatable inks in the article. The German language article is at http://www.druckerchannel.de/artikel.php?ID=2192&t=workshop_canon_patronen_pgi_520cli_521_refillen. You can use Google Translate, found on Google, to translate the web address into different language pages, such as in English -- http://translate.google.com/transla...rkshop_canon_patronen_pgi_520cli_521_refillen.

Druckerchannel has had articles on various aftermarket ink performance, so search around to find them if you'd like. I don't know if they have reviewed MIS inks like Octoink.co.uk sells, but many of us use this Image Specialists ink are are happy. A notable European source of quality inks for your Canon MX870 is http://www.tintenalarm.de/druckerpatronen-tintenpatronen-canon-pixma-mx-870-patronen-c-61640.html . There are more, I'm sure, but this should help get you started.

No aftermarket ink will be as fade resistant as Canon OEM inks. Some aftermarket inks are better than others. Search for discussions on fade resistance her on Nifty Forums for more. One older test Grandad35 did on fading can be found at http://www.nifty-stuff.com/inkjet-fading.php . Who knows how things may have changed since then, such as different formulations.
 

fotofreek

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I've been pleased with IS inks and have used them for almost eight years. I used to buy them from MIS. When Precision Color started selling IS inks (and absolutely identifying their inks as IS) I switched to them as my vendor of choice. They are in Canada. Their service is excellent and their prices are better by far than MIS. I don't know about purcases in Europe.
 

stratman

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FYI people...

jopereira said:
Yes, importing from US is out of question, high shipping costs and taxes.
There are several high quality inks that are manufactured/sold outside the USA in addition to Image Specialists sold in North America and the UK.

Let's help jopereira from Portugal with refill components available closer to his area of the planet first if possible.
 

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