Ink Cartridge recommendations

[Ham_and_Jam]

As per title, any recommendations for compatible ink cartridges.

Only ever used Canon original in my printer as I needed good quality and reliable printing for my business.

However, starting to question the cost, as a a full set of 6 x inks (BK / GY / Y / PGBK / C / M)is costing £60. A new print head only costs £55, so I reckon it’s going to be cheaper to chance it and have to replace the head occasionally.

Let me know where you guys get yours from,
or more importantly who to avoid. Would rather pay a bit more for quality than cheap as chips.

[littleredrooster]

I've had a couple of sets of these - better than OEM for not becoming blocked, IMO. Cheap as chips, too - recommended!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07VF6JBF9/ref=dp_prsu...

[Ham_and_Jam]

littleredrooster said:

I've had a couple of sets of these - better than OEM for not becoming blocked, IMO. Cheap as chips, too - recommended!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07VF6JBF9/ref=dp_prsu...

They do seem to have good reviews, but I need cartridge models CLI-550 and CLI-551 and they don’t seem to do them

[Derek Smith]

I don't want to come all over middle-class but I subscribe to a consumer magazine. Can I say which? They've just done a report on compatible inks. Their Best Buys were Colour Direct and First Call Inks.

I use Choice Direct as I subscribe to their email marketing list and the offers I receive are substantially lower than the discounted online price.

There was a bit about HP printers which set me up on a 'where were you when I needed you' sort of whinge. They have Dynamic Security, a much better name than the more accurate 'We Ensure You Can't Use Non-OEM Printer Cartridges'. When the drivers are updated, many people find they no longer accept replacement cartridges. I had this with an HP printer. I reinstalled the original printer driver and switched the printer off, never having it on when connected to the internet. It worked for a while, but then it threw out the replacements again. Heaven knows how.

Since then I stayed away from HP printers. There's a class action against HP in the US regarding this method of ringing as much money as they can out of someone silly enough to buy their printers, but it's unlikely to influence the way they run UK printers.

I've not had problems with Choice Direct, but the unnamed consumer mag gave them a score of 82% against the highest at 89%, the problem being quality of image.

[Kudos]

I binned inkjets a while back as the ink was a false economy. Buy a cartridge, print a few pages then it dries up.

Moved to an HP laser jet and it’s been fantastic

[Ham_and_Jam]

Kudos said:

I binned inkjets a while back as the ink was a false economy. Buy a cartridge, print a few pages then it dries up.

Moved to an HP laser jet and it’s been fantastic

This is the worry about moving away from OEM.

I’ve had this one (Canon IP8750) for 5 years, use it most days and it’s never dried up or blocked. Is there any compatibles that have the same anti clogging inks?

As far as laser printers go , I need A3 colour, which are both costly and huge. Going to have to stick to inkjet.

[Paul Drawmer]

I use Cartridgesave.co.uk

Happy with ink so far - 3 sets in a Epson XP-5 series

Here are yours:
https://www.cartridgesave.co.uk/search/?q=cli-550

[renalpete]

I recently ordered some of from octo inkjet, based on a photo forum which rated then higher than the canon ones, but tons cheaper. Can't remember which forum, and haven't actually tried them yet, as my old set are still not quite empty...

https://www.octoink.co.uk/products/Canon-PGI%252d5...

[Magnum 475]

Has anyone tried the Epsom Ecotank range yet?? They’re looking very tempting as my old inkjet is dying of old age. The only downside that I can see is the initial purchase price.

[mmm-five]

Magnum 475 said:

Has anyone tried the Epsom Ecotank range yet?? They’re looking very tempting as my old inkjet is dying of old age. The only downside that I can see is the initial purchase price.

They've been around for over a year, and I'm waiting for their 6 or 7 colour (CMYK and/or Light C/Light M and/or Matte & Gloss blacks) Photo version before I replace my ageing all-in-one XP860. The current 4+1-colour inks (CMYK+photo black) are twice the price I paid for the XP860, so I could get about 7 sets of ink for the difference.

I think the cheapest start about £200 and go to about £1000 - but everywhere seems to be limited/no stock.

Edited by mmm-five on Monday 27th July 11:01

[Derek Smith]

Ham_and_Jam said:

This is the worry about moving away from OEM.

I’ve had this one (Canon IP8750) for 5 years, use it most days and it’s never dried up or blocked. Is there any compatibles that have the same anti clogging inks?

As far as laser printers go , I need A3 colour, which are both costly and huge. Going to have to stick to inkjet.

I experienced the problem of blocked jets on an Epsom. Since then, I switch on my printer five days a week and have had no repetition using non-OEM inks. This obviously uses a little ink each day, but then there's no guarantee that OEM inks will not block the jets if a printer is left unused for an extended period.

The test in the consumer magazine pointed out that 5 x refills using Epsom inks (other manufacturers selling inks that at ml for ml are more expensive that Channel #5 are available) came to £480. Replacement cartridges from their Best Buy came to £70. That's a saving. If you use that much ink each year, you could afford the occasional replacement printer.

I had an Epsom printer that provided excellent quality photo-quality prints and only twice the cost of having them done at my local camera shop. I could crop the image on their software as easily as I could on my computer at home. It was obviously the way to go. Further, I was not limited to A4.

[Murph7355]

My Epson has been flawless ref blockages in years of service, despite being in a harsh environment (temps/dust).

I use it for printing out photos for the wall (etc) pretty much exclusively and have always had the best results using Epson paper and ink. So I stick to one "system" end to end.

I have an HP colour laser for use where the output is less key.

[Nimby]

Ham_and_Jam said:

They do seem to have good reviews, but I need cartridge models CLI-550 and CLI-551 and they don’t seem to do them

Our two Canons use those. I switched to ARC (Auto Reset Chip) cartridges several years ago and just refill them from 100ml ink bottles. The chip resets to full when it's removed from the printer. Never had a problem.

[bunchofkeys]

It just so happens that Which? have just published their latest article about printer ink prices and how expensive they can be.

Firstcallinks.co.uk and Moreinks were highly rated their recent tests.

[sparkyhx]

I used cartridgesave ones in the past

How much printing are you doing?
do you need colour?
Do you have room for more than one printer?

Lasers are far better, faster, more reliable, but colour ones are expensive and poor image quality compared with Inkjet. if you dont need colour its a no brainer TBH

Inktank ones are good for high use colour and low use colour. (low use colour = a lot of the ink is used on startup and not actually printing. Also my inkjet ones were always gunked up and needeing cleaning.

I run an inktank and a laser massively cheaper in the long run. Also I print out infrequently in volume. I print course packs out 600 double sided pages of B&W and 30 colour front pieces. The 600 pages takes less time than the colour ones.

Again a volume question cos I found out it was cheaper to pay double for the laser printer than it was to run a cheap one. Consumable costs being high in cheap ones. Breakeven was about 10-12000 pages.

[Derek Smith]

bunchofkeys said:

It just so happens that Which? have just published their latest article about printer ink prices and how expensive they can be.

Firstcallinks.co.uk and Moreinks were highly rated their recent tests.

We middle class bods should stick together. See my post of yesterday around 8pm.

[bunchofkeys]

Derek Smith said:

We middle class bods should stick together. See my post of yesterday around 8pm.

I totally missed that.
I think i should read up on the latest review of optometrists

[Ham_and_Jam]

sparkyhx said:

I used cartridgesave ones in the past

How much printing are you doing?
do you need colour?
Do you have room for more than one printer?

Lasers are far better, faster, more reliable, but colour ones are expensive and poor image quality compared with Inkjet. if you dont need colour its a no brainer TBH

Inktank ones are good for high use colour and low use colour. (low use colour = a lot of the ink is used on startup and not actually printing. Also my inkjet ones were always gunked up and needeing cleaning.

I run an inktank and a laser massively cheaper in the long run. Also I print out infrequently in volume. I print course packs out 600 double sided pages of B&W and 30 colour front pieces. The 600 pages takes less time than the colour ones.

Again a volume question cos I found out it was cheaper to pay double for the laser printer than it was to run a cheap one. Consumable costs being high in cheap ones. Breakeven was about 10-12000 pages.

Need it to be good quality colour and A3 for retail display posters and Point of Sale merchandising.

So inkjet is the most cost effective and quite compact for printing A3 paper.

I’m really happy with the printer, Canon IP8750. For the money it’s been outstanding.

Just trying to weigh up the pros and con of compatibles.

Just been reading up on stinkyinks FAQs. They actually recommend you stick to OEM ink if you need it for posters or POS, as the inks are much more light stable. This is definitely an issue, reds are very prone to fading in the bright light of a retail store.

[Ham_and_Jam]

Nimby said:

Our two Canons use those. I switched to ARC (Auto Reset Chip) cartridges several years ago and just refill them from 100ml ink bottles. The chip resets to full when it's removed from the printer. Never had a problem.

Whats the quality like? I’m using them for display posters, so need something that stands up to the originals.

Where did you get the cartridges and inks from?

[Ham_and_Jam]

bunchofkeys said:

It just so happens that Which? have just published their latest article about printer ink prices and how expensive they can be.

Firstcallinks.co.uk and Moreinks were highly rated their recent tests.

Firstcallinks.co.uk look promising, highly recommended by which as you say. Going to give them a try at that price I think.

Moreinks no longer doing Canon though.