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First:
My un-biased tested and compared
recommendation to most people for most
applications for any brand printer, with a free
shipping coupon code shown here:
Inkgrabber
Ink
This is the ink I USE, and that I've
tested to be superior to any of the dozens of
available second and third party alternative
inks. All inexpensive inks ARE NOT ALIKE- most
others give inferior color. This includes off the
shelf retail alternative cheap ink sold in places
like Office Depot, Staples, etc- which is not
good at all.
It is generally 50% less expensive than the
cost of regular ink refills, with as good or
better color than OEM. It is even less
expensive when you but more than one cart
at a time, and this is how I purchase
ink.
There are cheaper inks than this-- but I don't
use them...
Read HERE
to find out why, the
alternatives, and the difference between inks
including image comparisons.
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INK
Also See
Ink
SHOOT OUT
and
Ink Test Update
INK
Inkjet printer manufacturers make all
of their money selling replacement ink. And they do so at
SUBSTANTIAL mark-up to the consumer. I.e., rip-off to
people who use fair amounts of ink.
Not only is this bad for the
environment- throwing out all those cartridges, but it
SUCKS your green energy (money) out of you, which could
be more efficiently spent. Efficient use of money
translates into personal BRAIN HAPPINESS. You want THAT,
don't you?
I've used and continue to use ink
from Inkgrabber.com
, MIS Inkjet Supplies, "Computer Friends", Inkjet Ink and Other
Related
PLEASE FIRST READ MY DETAILS- each
company offers a distinct advantage.
As far as ink goes, all of these
companies sell outstanding quality ink at a truly
reasonable cost-- 1/6th the price of OEM ink or
manufacturers ink elsewhere. It's ink at the price IT
SHOULD BE. See details below.
I've tested and used all of these inks,
and nobody paid me to get results favorable to their ink.
My conclusions are strictly based on my own observations
and test results.
We tested and RECENTLY RE-TESTED this
ink against Canon factory ink cartridges found that there
was marginal detectable differences in color accuracy
when used in an i960 printer- Canon's best inkjet
printer, and likely the best quality ink jet made by
anybody, September 22, 2004. (Jan 2006- I still use this printer, 4 of them,
and an ip3000- works as well if not better than the brand
new models)
I no longer refill
cartridges with bulk ink however, and have found it
sufficiently cost effective, more convenient and faster,
and way less messy to simply replace a completely used
cart with a $2.79 aftermarket G&G cart that provides
me with excellent color and accuracy.
For ordinary use, the G&G ink
supplied by Inkgrabber ink seems to be very good
and more than sufficient. Nearly undetectable differences
between this and the official Canon ink, and its even
better than it was a year ago. Inkgrabber (and others)
sell G&G carts for Canon ink and it has been tested
by others and found to be extremely accurate color, and
it is improved greatly over just a year ago and our
tests. The neutral grays look perfectly fine now, and
even so, you can still tweak in your printer properties,
although I don't ever do this, the color is that
good.
MIS ink and Computer Friends ink (for
bulk refills yourself) are also spot-on for matching
Canon color. I've used MIS ink in bulk for well over a
year, and I've always been totally satisfied and haven't
had to make any adjustments to my printer
settings.
If there are any
differences, they are now microscopic.
We are talking SMALL
SMALL differences here. Most people would not even detect
the slightest difference if they tried.
The MIS bulk ink is very light fade resistant
and can be used for family photos stored well. No inkjet
ink print will last forever if you tack it up on your
refrigerator. If you want photos to last 50 years, you
need to take good care of them- please read further for
details on archival quality prints elsewhere on this
site.
Don't put any prints in the sunlight
(this is true of color lab photos as well
folks.) Wilhelm testing
does report increased problems with color fastness with
the G&G ink (Inkgrabber) so don't use this for
archival prints, prints you store in bright light, ie.
family photos you need for 10 years. G&G will be fine
for most use, throw away prints, ads, brochures, etc. MIS
ink is not a problem in this regard. In any case, if you
are printing for the AGES, you should be using pigment
ink- not ordinary injet dye in- anyway. Do your
homework.
You will never buy your ink at Office
Depot again unless its an emergency. Replacing entire ink
cartridges is still not as cheap as bulk ink refill of
cartridges, or Continuous Flow Systems (see below), but
it still beats retail price for replacing ink- which in
my opinion is far too expensive for people who do a fair
amount of printing. Apparently Inkgrabber makes their
money on shipping, which is a bit high, but it is still
far cheaper in the long run than paying standard ink
refill prices. Maybe eventually the other ink
manufactures will catch on.
GENERIC REFILL KITS - BAD
NEWS
I've tried ON THE SHELF- OVER THE
COUNTER (from your local office supply, Best Buy, etc)
refillable inkjet kits, and reconditioned inkjet
cartridges before, and they all
SUCK (sluurrrrrrrp!) with the exception of recycled
BLACK only Office Depot cartridges (their may be a couple
others out there). Generally, either the re-conditioned
cartridges don't work at all, or the color of the ink is
awful. TYPICAL refill kits are messy, too expensive for
all the work you have to do, and they don't work even
after you go through it all (my experience with HP
cartridges anyway, and these are excellent
cartridges.)
All
brands of ink are NOT the same, you can't use the same
ink in all printers- because many of the printers work
differently and handle the ink differently. Canon, for
example heats their ink when printing, Epson does not.
Ink is NOT generic. If you get third party ink, get
the good stuff specifically formulated for your model
printer.
If
you decide that you need the extra savings of REFILLING
your ink cartridges I have used both "Computer Friend's"
and "MIS " for ink, syringes, and in the case of MIS, a
permanent Continuous Flow (from big bottles) ink
system. They
both make specifically formulated inkjet ink for every
current and older model printer, just like the
manufacturers. They further supply you with syringes that
work properly- unlike those cheapo accordion shaped
devices with generic re-fill kits. Further, the ink is
sold at an actual reasonable cost if you are willing to
refill your cartridge. (You'll need cheap plastic gloves
to keep your hands clean, and a few minutes of time to do
this.) Their web site also explains how inkjet printers
actually work-- (I always wondered this
myself.)
See: "Computer
Friends", Inkjet Ink and Other
Related
NOTE: For ink only I have used
MIS Inkjet Supplies , in particular the 4 oz bottles
and they have similar high quality ink at about half the
cost of the above Computer Friends, plus many additional
products.
STAINLESS STEEL SCREWS &
THE MAGIC BLUE PLUGS
IMPORTANT UPDATE:Jan 2006:
Several carts use a
longer black ink-fill hole seal as opposed to the Canon
plastic ball bearing type seal. These days I recommend
DRILLING A NEW HOLE next to the original fill hole for
refilling, then using the Computer Friends Blue
Plugs.
I have not had much
success with using a stainless steel screw and O ring,
although some people will swear by this. I have also used
a hot glue gun with some success. The sure fire
successful method for me has always been the little
expandable blue plastic plugs from Computer
Friends.
You
CAN reuse the G&G Inkgrabber carts this way and fill
with bulk ink from MIS for example (excellent ink). Drill
a hole any place EXCEPT the manufacturers fill hole in
the top of the clear reservoir part of the cart (not the
sponge side). Use a drill bill size that allows the screw
to screw in tight and firm- if its at all loose, the cart
will fail.
*********
COMPUTER FRIENDS FAMOUS
BLUE PLUGS FOR REFILLING CANON CARTS!!
My experience is that Computer Friends has a
better initial system for refilling at least the Canon
brand cartridges, with easier to manage cartridge plugs-
I recommend the first refill kit from them. Once you've
gone through the ink, MIS sells the same ink at a better
price. I'm NOT that crazy about the MSI own brand of
Canon refillable cartridges which have teeny tiny black
rubber plugs that are a bit hard to manage. Either way
however, you can make do with each company. Don't let the
ink cartridges go completely dry before refilling, or
they will give you some trouble- monitor the
levels.
The Computer friends blue tab plastic plug is
far superior to the MIS rubber plug and their refillable
cartridges, no doubt about it. I use my S900 and i960 for
COMMERCIAL use, i.e. I have reused cartridges DOZENS of
times using the Computer Friends plugs and syringes with
original Canon ink tanks. I've printed THOUSANDS of 8X10s
at this point.
Do you feel like you're wasting valuable
PERSONAL TIME and Energy?
Click link to get Best Brain Bang
Efficiency
REFILLING
CARTRIDGES
For details on refilling
ip4200 and similar Canon Models with CHIPPED carts go
here
FIRST OPTION: DON'T REFILL AT
ALL-
Go to Inkgrabber and get ink for $2.79 a
color as opposed to spending $12 a color at your local
Office Depot. We tested this ink and it actually
looked BETTER than the official factory Canon
Ink-
gave what looked like more accurate flesh tones-- maybe
we were hallucinating- maybe not. There ya go! Easy
and cheap.
If exact color accuracy is REALLY
CRUCIAL- I SUGGEST YOU BUY YOUR CYAN AND PHOTO CYAN FROM
MIS-- because these colors are more accurate than
Inkgrabber. Otherwise, all the other Inkgrabber colors
are just fine.
The MIS carts are $5 each.
I have found that the PHOTO CYAN and
PHOTO MAGENTA colors are used up two to four times faster
than any other color.
On top of this, if the cartridge goes
completely empty before refilling-- nine times out of 10
you are screwed and you will never be able to get that
cartridge to work properly again. Why? Air inside the
sponge ink filler inside the cart will block the flow of
ink, and there is NOTHING you can do to remedy this once
it happens except replace the cartridge.
Regarding NEW CHIPPED CANON CARTS (update Oct.
2010)- All the problems with second party (inkgrabber)
chipped carts are solved. They work great.
I
use the second part carts as well as refill my original
carts- all without issue. I have two Canon ip 4600
printers and they are the best printers I've ever
had.
Refill
Information for Bulk Ink
Second Option-
This is the most economical and accurate way to
re-ink.
Go to Computer Friends and buy your first
REFILL SET from them. You'll get good instructions,
excellent ink, the worlds best cartridge refill plugs and
carts, and a set of syringes.
After that, I like MIS ink, because its half as
expensive, and extremely accurate color.
A couple of words of caution to those
REFILLING CARTRIDGES:
1) Fill cartridge before
it goes empty- once it runs out of ink, it's not a good
idea cause dried ink can clog the system, the
cartridge, or the print heads. Then your life will be
miserable and you will use a ton of ink, and waste your
time working to get the ink jet heads
unclogged.
>>>>>>>>Refill cartridges when
they are only 75% empty. ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION
HERE????<<<<<<<
2) Have paper towels or
bathroom paper handy-- don't do it on your grandmothers
antique desk. You may not spill a drop, and you
probably won't once you get the hand of this. Denatured
alcohol is a good clean up.
3) I can now refill a
cartridge in under a minute. I simply hold a clean
Kleenex over the outlet hole, remove, the plug, syringe
in the new ink, replace the plug, remove the Kleenex,
and wipe off the excess ink.
You may need to let the cartridge sit for a few minutes
before replacing in the printer, but not if you
refilled before it emptied completely. (Read all the
instructions FIRST before doing anything).
You have to reseal the cartridge
closed immediately after refilling, as natural air
pressure will encourage the ink to drain at a faster
rate then it should. This was true for the Canon
cartridges, other brands may be slightly different.
Once the refill plug is in, ink will not come out the
outlet plug.
4) The punch used to gain access to
the cartridge broke after a few uses. Use a metal punch
with a hammer or something similar like a small
screwdriver instead if necessary. The broken piece
which then ledges inside the cartridge doesn't hurt
anything but may sometimes (usually not) interfere with
the ink level monitor later and not give you accurate
ink level readouts, forcing physical inspection to see
remaining ink levels.
FIRST BRAIN LESSON: READ THE
INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY. (This is always a good idea in
all things.)
FINAL COMMENTS ON THIRD
PARTY INK as sent as an email reply to a
questioneer:
PS - Another question - I've
noticed that some people on eBay say
> non-Canon
>> inks ruin the print heads - true or
false? (that's what went on my Epson,
>> using their @#$@#$@!! inks.) Thanks.
NEIL
REPLIES:
> You've got
to REALLY read my article in detail.
>
> There is crappy third party ink-- and there is
perfect third party ink.
>
> I've used MIS ink to print THOUSANDS of 8X10s. It
is perfect stuff. Same can
> be said of inkgrabber and Colorbat and Computer
Friends.
> If their ink was junk, I would know and I wouldn't
recommend it to my worst
> enemy.
> As it is, at least MIS and Colorbat ink is from
the same source-- just
> different labels.
>
> The generic inks--- this is another story. I can't
vouch for any other
> companies either. I know these four are great. I
have had HORRIBLE experiences trying to get
generic Office Depot off the shelf third party refilled
carts to work--- they usually DON'T. I find it
impossible to believe that any off the shelf generic
third party ink would work. DON"T EVEN TRY IT.
Get a custom formulated ink made
SPECIFICALLY for your printer by one of the
conscientious fair priced companies referred to here---
or discover your own (their may be some more out
there). But I can vouch for these four companies
mentioned on this page after two years experience USING
their inks to print THOUSANDS of prints, without ANY
printer problems of serious consequence.
>
> I wouldn't put it past major manufacturers to post
"don't use third party
> inks or else!!!" propaganda all over the web.
> They have to figure a way to sell ink at 20 times
the price of good third
> party suppliers.
>
> The thing with Canon printers is that you HAVE TO
CLEAN THE HEADS every few
> days maintenance- even though Canon doesn't tell
you to.
> Even with official Canon ink, it makes no
difference. Canon nozzles ARE
> SMALL SMALL SMALL. Plus, Canon heads HEAT the
ink.
>
> Run a color print every day, run the normal clean
maintenance a couple times
> every few days-- and you will eliminate 90% of
your printer problems. I would suspect this is true of
EVERY brand inkjet printer.
Ink Test Update
INK
REFILLING
FIRST OPTION: DON'T REFILL AT
ALL- go to Inkgrabber
and get
ink for $3 a color as opposed to spending $12 a color
at your local Office Depot. We tested this ink
and it actually looked BETTER than the official factory
Canon Ink- gave what looked like more accurate
flesh tones-- maybe we were hallucinating- maybe
not. There ya go! Easy and
cheap.
I have found that the PHOTO CYAN and
PHOTO MAGENTA colors are used up two to four times
faster than any other color.
On top of this, if the cartridge goes
completely empty before refilling-- nine times out of
10 you are screwed and you will never be able to get
that cartridge to work properly again. Why? Air inside
the sponge ink filler inside the cart will block the
flow of ink, and there is NOTHING you can do to remedy
this once it happens except replace the
cartridge.
Refill your brain's PLEASURE
cartridge!
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