P.Pilcher

I have recently acquired an Olympus digital camera and an Epson photo 925 to produce the pictures which, I must say, are stunning. Of course the problem is that the printer eats colour ink! As we know, Epson cartridges cost an arm an a leg and I am now using compatibles with excellent results. I can reduce my costs still further by refilling the cartridges as it is now possible to buy bottles of the 5 different coloured inks required and also a gizmo to reset the chips on the cartridges. This would seem to approximately halve the cost of buying compatible cartridges.

Anyone got any comments?

Thanks, P.P.

Background Noise

Don't know about refilling but I guess it could be messy I've used compatible for while, never researched it just got them from my local newsagent, and they are ok generally but not as good as epson. Just bought a couple from this site along with their cleaning carts and wait to see the results - they're pretty cheap.

http://www.e-inkjet.co.uk/cgi-bin/home.asp

PPRuNe Towers

A sideways look from the Towers again

Lovely little industry running to cater for those peed off at the manufacturers prices. As you all know they use the Gillette razor principle from the turn of the 20th century: Minimal cost hardware to trap users within the system and then gouge 'em for refills.

However, if you want your photos to have the same lifespan as, say, a small cheap car you will have to spend a very long time searching for decent refills and you will never know if the claims made are true.

I use the real ones where a major brand has its name to protect and I'm simply very, very selective in what I print. If you think more than one in ten of your shots are really worth printing you really should be doing it for a living - you'll clean up in the world of the pros

Rob

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Regards from the Towers

CBLong

I tend to agree with Rob, although for slightly different reasons...

I don't want to come across as an industry stooge or anything, but I really think you should feel a teeny bit guilty if you buy anything but the manufacturers proper replacement cartridges. After all, they did all the original work in developing the thing - if you're happy with your printer generally then why not think of the premium you pay for the "real" catridges as a charitable donation towards the continued development of improved printing technology!?! You'll get a nice warm glow inside...

Similarly, music and software piracy kind of p1sses me off. Unfashionable, I know, but there you are. I heard a friend recently saying that he was really keen to get his hands on the new Blur CD, but he had to wait a while as his other friend hasn't had a chance to make him a copy yet. This guy isn't short of cash or anything, he's just trying to beat the system - naughty!

On the other hand, if he didn't really like Blur but his friend made him a copy anyway and said 'go on, give it a try, you might like it', I wouldn't mind so much. The difference is that in the former case the guy would buy the CD if free copies weren't available, therefore he's done the record company out of a sale. In the latter case, he wouldn't have bought the CD anyway, so no-one's lost anything.

The world of CBLong morality is a murky place...

By the way, guess which type of copying the industries base their "cost of piracy" figures on??

cbl.

fobotcso

There's a famous line attributed to a Rolls Royce Salesman:

"If you have to ask the price, you can't afford it".

I agree with Rob. I always use original cartridges in my Epson Stylus Photo 950 and try to be very sparing with prints but wouldn't claim that I don't make the odd horlicks. That's a fine printer you've got there but if you don't use the proper inks, the prints won't make it past the three year point.

On a different tack, I was very gratified to hear the good Lord Lichfield say on BBC's Breakfast TV this morning that he is a "huge supporter of Digital Photography" and hasn't used ordinary film for four years. I wasn't sure that I was doing the right thing in pursuing Digital; but then again I bet I couldn't afford the kind of kit he's got.

I'll hang on to the Canon A1 for a bit as well as eyeing longingly the tempting Digital Camera market as
the cost per megapixel continues to plummet!