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Epson R200 and Abacus Ink?
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markley1
Newbie
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17. October 2005 @ 10:32 |
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I hope somebody can answer this question for me! I've heard lots of good things about Abacus ink for the Epson R200. I have the link to their private store and also the ebay store. BUT, the ebay store has two different sets of cartridges - one 6 pack with microchip for $24.95 and one for $19.95 which doesn't say anything about a microchip. Also, the ink cartridges with the chip included all have a "T" in front of their numbers and the ones without the chip have nothing. just say compatible cartridges and their colors. The 6 pack at the private store is $18.95 and also says nothing about a microchip and those all have an "e" in front of their numbers.
ARGH! Which do I need? My printer is only a month old and I will NOT pay the name brand prices!
Help!
:D
Deb
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 17. October 2005 @ 11:03
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Senior Member
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17. October 2005 @ 13:59 |
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I use the Abacus ink and like it a lot. All the cartridges have a chip, I think. That's how the printer communicates with the ink. Never heard of anyone using the ebay ink before. It may be fine, but Abacus is cheaper, so......................
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markley1
Newbie
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17. October 2005 @ 14:15 |
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The ebay ink is Abacus - it is their Ebay store - I was just wondering why the price difference - apparently some have the chip and they are more expensive (not much at all) than the ones without the chip and the ink from their private store says nothing about a chip at all.
But the ebay store is their store, same addres, etc. I've sent them an email asking for an explanation, so I'm waiting to hear back from them, too.
Deb
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nick2004
Junior Member
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19. October 2005 @ 00:27 |
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They will all have the chip, As JVC said its how the printer communicates with the ink. If it didnt have a chip there would be no way to use the ink status monitor and without that the printer wouldn't work sense it has a thing built in that wont allow the printer to print if the ink gets to low.
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SolShrike
Junior Member
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19. October 2005 @ 02:19 |
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I have an Epson R200 myself. I don't know how to say this except to just kind of say it, so here goes:
You knew, regardless if the salesguy told you or not, that you would have to purchase consumables for your printer once the inital ones that came with it ran out. I find that people who buy the "cheapest ink" possible tend to get the "cheapest results" possible and then complain about the quality. There are always exceptions to the rule and sometimes a refill company does an ok job of replacement ink.
However, the formula of ink (in this case DuraBrite for Epson) is noticeably different in quality and chemical makeup than refill stations and generic cartridges regardless of what thier site may boast. Yes I realize the cost of the cartridges compared to the cost of the machine is far greater and, in alot of cases, twice as much as the machine itself.
Did you know that refill stations and generic cartridges cannot exactly duplicate the specific formulation for Epson's pigment-based ink? That means that if the ink is to thick when it gets heated and ejected out of the cartridge, it might leave to slow... giving you a smeared fuzzy picture? How about to thin? Then it leaves the cartridge to quickly and you get ink saturation on your page and you end up draining the cartridge to quick.
The cartridges for me to buy cost 110 dollars where the machine cost me 70 after rebate. I'll gladly pay the 110 dollars but not because I have lots of money lying around like King Solomon... but because I know without a doubt the quality I'll get and how long the ink will last me.
I apologize if this sounds harsh, I didn't intend for it to be that way. Alot of folks don't know why a person should buy brand name cartridges as opposed to refills... hopefully this will give people something to consider. In the end, people will do as they will however. It is, of course, your money :)
- SolShrike
Courage is not the absence of fear; it is the presence of fear, yet, the will to go on.
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Everytime you use bad media, God kills a kitten with old Princo disks. Please, think of the kittens...
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nick2004
Junior Member
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19. October 2005 @ 11:46 |
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You know ive never thought of this before but if your going to buy epson brand ink why not just buy a brand new R200? There about $55 at sams club right now after rebate and come with epson ink, After you use the ink you could sell the printer on ebay or even just put the ink that came with it in your older r200 and sell the printer so basically you would get the ink almost free lol. btw SolShrike, How is Epson about there rebates? Did you get the money from yours?
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Senior Member
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19. October 2005 @ 14:35 |
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I've used several refills of the Abacus inks. I've found them to be just as good as the original Epson ink. If you look at the dvd covers (printed on glossy photo paper) I've printed, with both inks, you'll never see the difference.
If you choose the right paper type, the printing isn't fuzzy or smeared. The cartridges have lasted as long as the Epson, and longer, in one instance.
I thought i'd pass the info along. If you prefer to spend more for your ink, knock yourself out. That means more for me................. :o)
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markley1
Newbie
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19. October 2005 @ 14:44 |
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Thanks to everyone who answered! I heard from Abacus myself and they indicated that all their inks have the chip - that the price difference at their ebay store was a boo-boo! Anyway, have placed my first order and will see for myself. I've heard some pretty good things about them, actually. Just wasn't sure about the chip thing. And you can't beat their guarantee!
Thanks again!
Deb
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SolShrike
Junior Member
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19. October 2005 @ 15:05 |
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@nick2004: I got my rebate back from Epson on time for the full amount. And with the R200, yeah you could just buy a new printer for abit cheaper than a new set of ink. Although not all printers are like that, sometimes they are which in turn makes sense to get a new printer. Heck the R200 and R300 comes with full ink anyhow. Why not? :) The Epson R340 coming out super quick (or already IS out if I recall) will be using the same cartridges as the other R series machines, but Epson will be upgrading the ink quality to DuraBrite Ultra as opposed to just standard DuraBrite.
Courage is not the absence of fear; it is the presence of fear, yet, the will to go on.
---------------------------------------------------------
Everytime you use bad media, God kills a kitten with old Princo disks. Please, think of the kittens...
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paiger651
Member
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20. October 2005 @ 09:09 |
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I use the Abacus ink in all my printers without problems(Epson R200,Canon IP3000 and Canon IP4000)I get it from one of there Ebay stores in bulk.The Canon ink cost about $1.30 per cart,including shipping.When there used up I take it to Staples and they give me $3.00 off coupon per emty cart.I use that coupon to buy there staples brand glossy photo plus paper for my dvd covers on sale for $4.94 a 30 pack.So I end up having $2.13 30 pack of photo paper including tax:)For me it acually pays to use ther ink:)
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markley1
Newbie
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20. October 2005 @ 09:14 |
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paiger651:
Staples actually pays for empty generic cartridges? I thought they just bought the brand name ones - I'll have to check into that! thanks much for the tip!
:D
Deb
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paiger651
Member
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20. October 2005 @ 09:19 |
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Yes ive taken them back to both of my local Staples with no problem. I wish I had all the ones Ive thrown away.
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SolShrike
Junior Member
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20. October 2005 @ 13:50 |
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Staples US may differ from Staples Canada in that regard. I work for Staples in Canada myself and we don't buy empty cartriges back from people... what we do instead is we have special events in our flyers that state if you bring back an empty cartridge you can get X amount of dollars off your next new one or next generic one and sometimes you get photo paper with it to boot. Usually you can just drop them off at your local Staples in the recycling ink cartridge bin. We take those and send them to our factories in the US that replace contact stripping, chips (inside and out), etc to make sure they can be read, then we refill them with a 10 step procedure to ensure thier compatibility and compliance with printing standards and such. The only way we can do our generic cartridges are if people bring in thier old ones and drop them off to be recycled. Your generosity helps us get you good, cheap ink.
/company_plug_mode off :)
Courage is not the absence of fear; it is the presence of fear, yet, the will to go on.
---------------------------------------------------------
Everytime you use bad media, God kills a kitten with old Princo disks. Please, think of the kittens...
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