Epson R210 and 3rd Party Ink

[dawgbyte77]

Hello. I'm a recent semi-proud owner of Epson R210 and saw that 3rd party ink is 1/2 the price of original ink.

Last time, my reasoning is this: Cheapest Epson printer = $90 with free set of ink. Original ink cost $20 and 3rd party cost $10. So at the 7th change of ink, the savings will give me the amount for a new printer. I know that Epson is infamous for clogging and my old Epson choked to death.

My question is: Anyone here used 3rd party ink for R210? Care to share what brand? How many times you have changed and how long have you owned the printer? Is quality okay? Ever had your printer clogged before?

For those owners who want to know just like me, please help me upz this as well. Thanks.

 

[espn]

Nope.. as with my support for Nikkor glasses, I will only purchase original Epson inks... but it's just me

I'm using all original inks for my Epson R210.

You can try sykestang, think he has a few sets (packs of 6) to let go for Epson R210.

 

[ckiang]

I only use originals. Unless you are using the high quality third party inks (the brands which I can't remember somehow) like those they use to do authentic looking B&W prints, the cheapo inks probably don't give you good quality prints or may fade, or worse, clog the printer even more. Definitely avoid refills.

One thing tho, I noticed that though printers like R210 using individual cartridges are supposed to save money, I still find that the cartridges are consumed at almost the same rate. I just replaced light magenta and yellow, but the remaining colours are rather low.

Regards
CK

 

[dawgbyte77]

Thanks for the response. Its just that I print a lot of drafts (i.e. outlook calendar once a week, some flowchart here, walkthru of games there, excel sheet of my daily expenses)... so my heart painful to see my black level going down.

 

[destiny_star]

Thanks for the response. Its just that I print a lot of drafts (i.e. outlook calendar once a week, some flowchart here, walkthru of games there, excel sheet of my daily expenses)... so my heart painful to see my black level going down.

IIRC.. Epson R210 is more suitable for printing photos.. it'll be a great waste for wat u've been printing using this printer. Seems like u've been greatly under-utilising this wonderful printer..

why not use other domestic printers such as HP printers for ur drafts??

 

[Adzz]

a laser printer would be good for daily prints. a toner which costs ard 100 last for 3k prints. I have to change my toner only once a year, considering the fact I print notes for school everyday, its more worthwhile, color and inkjet will kill...

 

[dawgbyte77]

IIRC.. Epson R210 is more suitable for printing photos.. it'll be a great waste for wat u've been printing using this printer. Seems like u've been greatly under-utilising this wonderful printer..

why not use other domestic printers such as HP printers for ur drafts??

no no.. i mean i do print photos occasionally but it would be more impractical to have 2 printers so for photos i dont mind original but normal text is kinda wasteful (no draft mode in this printer). my computer space is already cluttered and spending on a new printer for text defeats the purpose of trying to save money on ink. Anyway, it seems either no one buys 3rd party ink or those who do are shy to say so.

 

[idor]

no no.. i mean i do print photos occasionally but it would be more impractical to have 2 printers so for photos i dont mind original but normal text is kinda wasteful (no draft mode in this printer). my computer space is already cluttered and spending on a new printer for text defeats the purpose of trying to save money on ink. Anyway, it seems either no one buys 3rd party ink or those who do are shy to say so.

Hmmmm I use those CIS systems instead of Epson Ink. I bought 1 set from ebay for US 50 dollars(over here original Epson ink cost 59.99 a set) to tryout.... worked pretty well for me... Only problem is that after using this third party ink, is that I need to profile my printer. Also, how long will the ink last on the print I dun know... Since I dun sell photos, this ink fulfill my purpose...

 

[teerex]

Hmmmm I use those CIS systems instead of Epson Ink. I bought 1 set from ebay for US 50 dollars(over here original Epson ink cost 59.99 a set) to tryout.... worked pretty well for me... Only problem is that after using this third party ink, is that I need to profile my printer. Also, how long will the ink last on the print I dun know... Since I dun sell photos, this ink fulfill my purpose...

Can you share how you profile your printer to the third party ink. I'm getting colours which are off tone from the original.

Thanks

 

[idor]

Can you share how you profile your printer to the third party ink. I'm getting colours which are off tone from the original.

Thanks

I need to first ask you a question, Do you have a scanner or can you borrow a scanner. If so, things will be slightly cheaper. cos you can either buy profilerplus from colourvision... I think thats the cheapest. i use Monaco EZColour and basically you will first print a colour chart on your printer, scan the chart together with the it8 chart provided and the s/w will do the rest for you... and in case you were wondering... you are also building a profile for your scanner. Also, you need to create a profile for every type of paper you use. This is the consumer level of creating profile. Colourvision have a semi professional method which is called PrintFix and that does not require a scanner. for more accurate profiling, you have to buy gretag Macbeth or Monaco Systems spectrometer. That little toy will cost thousands and it is a handheld little gaget which reads your colour chart prints and use the data collected to create a profile. My advice is that dun get too particular if the colour is off by a little. Always bear in mind the difference in cost between your printer and a Fuji Frontier Machine.... When I was using Epson Ink, my green is a little dark and my blue is a little towards the turquoise side after calibration. Some can argue that that is cos I am not having d50 lighting in my room.

 

[teerex]

I need to first ask you a question, Do you have a scanner or can you borrow a scanner. If so, things will be slightly cheaper. cos you can either buy profilerplus from colourvision... I think thats the cheapest. i use Monaco EZColour and basically you will first print a colour chart on your printer, scan the chart together with the it8 chart provided and the s/w will do the rest for you... and in case you were wondering... you are also building a profile for your scanner. Also, you need to create a profile for every type of paper you use. This is the consumer level of creating profile. Colourvision have a semi professional method which is called PrintFix and that does not require a scanner. for more accurate profiling, you have to buy gretag Macbeth or Monaco Systems spectrometer. That little toy will cost thousands and it is a handheld little gaget which reads your colour chart prints and use the data collected to create a profile. My advice is that dun get too particular if the colour is off by a little. Always bear in mind the difference in cost between your printer and a Fuji Frontier Machine.... When I was using Epson Ink, my green is a little dark and my blue is a little towards the turquoise side after calibration. Some can argue that that is cos I am not having d50 lighting in my room.

Thank you very much idor for your very informative reply and tips.

My colours using 3rd. party ink is slightly off, especially skin tone. Other colours still acceptable. Guess to save trouble, I will send the better shots to a lab for printing. Do all Fuji labs in Sg use the Frontier?

 

[spurssy]

My question is: Anyone here used 3rd party ink for R210? Care to share what brand? How many times you have changed and how long have you owned the printer? Is quality okay? Ever had your printer clogged before?

R210 is one of the best low cost printer I've ever got. Few pple can tell that my printouts are from Ink-jet by first glance. As for clogging, I have yet to encounter it even though I did not print for 2 mths. Unlike my previous Epson 810, which clogs badly. My advise is to wait for PC show and get those bulk discount offers nd buy 1 whole set. Should last ya enough till the next show.

For printing non photos, get a 2nd hand HP/canon that prints fast and use 3rd party inks.

 

[idor]

R210 is one of the best low cost printer I've ever got. Few pple can tell that my printouts are from Ink-jet by first glance. As for clogging, I have yet to encounter it even though I did not print for 2 mths. Unlike my previous Epson 810, which clogs badly. My advise is to wait for PC show and get those bulk discount offers nd buy 1 whole set. Should last ya enough till the next show.

For printing non photos, get a 2nd hand HP/canon that prints fast and use 3rd party inks.

You mean bulk discount buy 1 whole set..... do you mean epson ink or those CIS ink system? If its epson ink how many cartridges are there in that set?

 

[spurssy]

I think they usually sell for 20% off retail price during PC shows. Sometimes they have this discount for all items, other times you have to buy 1 set(all 6 inks) to get the discount. And no, not CIS.

PS: I do not really trust CIS to give me photographic quality.

 

[idor]

I think they usually sell for 20% off retail price during PC shows. Sometimes they have this discount for all items, other times you have to buy 1 set(all 6 inks) to get the discount. And no, not CIS.

PS: I do not really trust CIS to give me photographic quality.

Thanks for the info..... next time i know when to get my bro to help me buy ink..... Buying Ink in US really sucks your pocket dry.... must pay for ink+sales tax... online is cheaper... but then after adding the shipping cost... it back to square 1.... Thats why I use CIS for my personal photo album.... other work I send it to a studio I work with.... much cheaper than printing myself... hehehe

 

[alwayschampion]

Many people uses In*st*tion and found out that the colour production in the photo printout are not nice.

 

[digipat2003]

Many people uses In*st*tion and found out that the colour production in the photo printout are not nice.

serious !! :think: saw the demo look good, but no original epson to compare so cant tell the gap

 

[snowspeeder]

Many people uses In*st*tion and found out that the colour production in the photo printout are not nice.

I'm currently using this 3rd party ink. Print outs look great when it is printed on photo glossy paper (btw I'm also using the OEM photo paper). I suppose the print out quality has to do with the settings. For me, I let photoshop do the settings instead of letting the printer do the color management. In the end, the quality of the photo is very close to my calibrated screen colors.

 

[dEthANGeL]

Many people uses In*st*tion and found out that the colour production in the photo printout are not nice.

are you sure? :think:

I'm using a Epson Photo 720 printer with their CIS. A very old printer. No issues.

Photos, printouts on glossy / photographic paper are sharp, contrasty and crisp. I've printed out stuff from Freehand and my projects to be submitted for school. Sharp, excellent colours for such an old printer using CIS.

 

[shutterbug]

Many people uses In*st*tion and found out that the colour production in the photo printout are not nice.

alwayschampion is absolutely right, esp when comparing photo colour accuracy. I stress again the comparison applies to photo colours such as skin tone, greenery, sky etc.

dEthANGeL, my guess is since you are printing project work, it doesn't matter to you if you colour your bar chart red and the printer prints out magenta. The only problem is if you print your gf's picture and her face comes out orange, red or yellow. Then that will matter a lot.

snowspeeder, have you tried sending your photo to the lab (say fuji paper) and compared to those you printed from your printer using epson premium glossy paper?

Epson's original ink is still the best and colour reproduction the most accurate. ahem, however, there is a 3rd party ink that comes very close to Epson's... (quite acceptable to me).