Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Tim Timmermans" 
<zenphoto7@a...> wrote:
> I'll try this again. Has anyone tried any of these generic inks?
> 
> I am in transition between permanent dwellings and thus have not 
yet 
> set up a CIS but plan to soon. In the meantime I found a place in 
> South Carolina called The Ink Warehouse that sells generic inks for 
> Epson printers. They have a two cartridge combo (b/w & color) for 
the 
> 1280 for $12.95.
> 
> Is this too good to be true? Has anyone tried any of these inks and 
> are they as good as the Epson brand? Clogging or fading issues?
> I'm wondering if, like generic advils, and cough medicines etc that 
a 
> generic ink could be just as good as the brand name. If so has 
anyone 
> tried the ones from this company or is there another company that 
you 
> would recommend?

The price strikes me as suspiciously low. I've never seen filled 
cartridges advertised in that ballpark price range. 

My only experience with 3d-party inks is with MIS dye-based inks 
(www.inksupply.com), which I use to refill Epson oem cartridges for 
my 1270. I get about 3 -- 4 refills then the cartridges get choked 
with something called 'residual ink', and I have to go buy brand new 
cartridges (inksupply.com describes a 'residual ink removal' 
technique which I attempted, but it ruined a cartridge by cross-
contamination after some seriously hard work, and just isn't worth 
mucking about with imho). The MIS ink performs identical to the Epson 
dye-based as far as I can tell. Identical color, identical drying and 
appearance, identical longevity. For this particular ink.

The 1280 and the other pigment ink based printers are (apparently) 
much more susceptible to clogging problems, so you experiment at your 
own risk. In that case, I would stick with proven inks even if they 
are more expensive.