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Cheap Ink ProbedOur tests show third-party ink cartridges for
brand-name printers can produce quality prints, but they’ll fade fast. Part two
of a series.PC World magazine“Lowest ink jet prices!” “Three ink jet cartridges for the
price of one!” “Save up to 80 percent!” With brand-name ink cartridges running
$30 or more, the temptation to buy third-party cartridges at substantial
discounts, either online or in stores, is understandable. But how do these
inexpensive inks stand up next to their pricey printer- manufacturer
counterparts?
To find out, PC World purchased inks for three
popular printers–Canon’s S900, Epson’s Stylus C82, and Hewlett-Packard’s
DeskJet 3820–from several different sellers and compared their print quality
and yield with those of the printer vendor’s inks. Additionally, Henry Wilhelm
at Wilhelm Imaging Research, a leading authority on photo longevity, tested most
of the inks for permanence–the durability of the printed image when it is on
display and exposed to light. We found that third-party inks can save you money,
and that some produce prints on a par with the output of printer vendor inks.
But we also encountered third-party inks that produced poor-quality prints and
clogged up printheads. The impact of generic inks on printer warranties is
ambiguous. And if you frequently print photographs, you should steer clear of
these inks: The prints might look fine, but Wilhelm reported that none of the
clone inks he tested came close to matching the permanence of brand-name inks.
He rated the best of the aftermarket inks to last only five years (see the
chart).The Ink EconomyThese days, you can get a capable ink jet printer for a
mere $50, and a great one for $150. But brand-name inks are expensive,
especially if you print in color: A single photo can cost 50 cents or more, not
including the price of paper. Jim Forrest, who edits the Hard Copy Supplies
Journal at market research firm Lyra Research, says the world’s ink jet
printers will guzzle $21 billion worth of ink this year.Third-party vendors have already grabbed more than 16
percent of cartridge sales, Forrest says, and that percentage is growing.
Printer vendors contend that third-party inks can cause myriad problems–some of
which, they say, may surface only after prolonged use of the generics–ranging
from poor print quality and durability to printer damage. Third-party vendors
counter that printer companies simply want to scare consumers out of straying
from the branded inks, which the third-parties claim are overpriced in order to
subsidize the artificially inexpensive printers.To test the quality of our clone inks, we used them to
print images on several grades of paper and then rated each image as either
comparable to, somewhat worse than, or significantly worse than images made
using the printer manufacturer’s ink.In general, most of the third-party inks printed text on
plain paper as decently as the printer manufacturers’ cartridges did (see our
chart of detailed test results for print quality). Results weren’t as good for
high-resolution shots on the printer vendors’ long-lasting photo papers, but
four out of the nine aftermarket brands we tested–Amazon Imaging’s ink for the
Canon, G&G’s ink for the Epson, and Carrot Ink’s cartridge and InkTec’s
cartridge-refill kit for the HP–yielded prints of comparable quality to those
made with printer manufacturer inks. Of the clones, only the OA100 inks for the
Canon produced photos significantly worse than those made with a brand-name
ink.
But some inks, even those that made good-looking pictures,
didn’t always work well. All three aftermarket black inks for the Epson
C82–OA100 (purchased from PrintPal), G&G (from Computer Friends), and the
no-name ink whose package had only a rainbow logo (also from Computer
Friends)–plugged up the printhead nozzles so quickly and consistently that we
had to abort some of our tests. But the color inks from these three companies
all worked well in the Epson printer. (We bought a fourth brand of aftermarket
ink, Print-Rite, for the C82 but dropped it from our tests, as the printer
wouldn’t install any of the cartridges.)Clogs and MessesSeveral OA100 cartridges purchased from PrintPal, most
notably the black and cyan, frequently plugged the nozzles on the Canon S900’s
printhead, causing wide blank stripes in documents.The HP DeskJet 3820’s cartridges integrate the printhead
and ink supply in one unit that can’t be replicated legally, so third-party
vendors simply refill used 3820 cartridges. A Printek cartridge we bought from
PrintPal had no ink in the magenta tank, but we were able to complete our
quality and yield tests with other cartridges. Wilhelm was unable to print all
four colors satisfactorily with any of the Printek cartridges from PrintPal, but
was able to test the same brand of cartridges from another vendor, Top Inkjet.
We also tried refilling our own HP cartridges with an
InkTec kit that we bought from Print Country. What a mess! It dripped ink
everywhere, but when we finally refilled our cartridges the ink made
decent-quality prints. At Wilhelm Imaging Research, however, the prints produced
using the kit were so poor in quality that Wilhelm did not test them for
permanence.And it was in permanence that third-party inks fell short.
For example, Wilhelm projected prints made with Epson’s C82 inks (colored with
pigments instead of less-durable organic dyes) on Epson’s most stable (with
these inks) paper to last 92 years when displayed, while rating none of the
prints with generic inks on the same paper to last more than a year. The HP and
Canon inks are dye-based, so their advantage over third-party inks was somewhat
less but still substantial. (Newer HP printers use inks that Wilhelm, in other
tests, has found to be far more stable than HP’s inks for the 3820.)Money Savers?
Prices for the aftermarket inks we
tested varied greatly, and in some cases the clones cost almost as much as the
printer-vendor brands. For example, Canon-brand inks for the S900 (which uses
six separate ink tanks) sell for a street price of about $12 each, while the
OA100-compatible inks that clogged the printhead cost only $5 each from
PrintPal. Amazon Imaging (no relation to Amazon.com) black cartridges, however,
cost $11 (color, $10) at Buy.com.In general, third-party inks for the Canon and Epson
printers produced about as many color pages as the printer manufacturer’s inks
(see our chart of detailed test results for print yield), though there were some
variances.The situation was different with HP’s 3820, which uses two
cartridges (one black, the other with three colors). HP sells 19ml and 38ml
versions of the color cartridge (street-priced at $35 and $50, respectively).
The low-yield HP color cartridge ran out of cyan after 380 pages (ending the
cartridge’s useful life); the Carrot Ink and Printek cartridges approached
double that yield before running out of magenta.Do-it-yourself refill kits offer the greatest savings, if
you’re willing to brave the messy refill process. The InkTec refill kits for HP
cartridges contained more than three times as much ink as a cartridge, and they
cost only $10 for black and $14 for color.Behind the PrintsWhy did printer makers’ products usually deliver better
results than their generic counterparts? Printer vendors say they’ve invested
heavily in developing inks, papers, cartridges, and printheads that work
together. For example, John Stoffel, HP’s ink jet technology manager, says
third-party vendors can’t fine-tune fluidity so that their inks spray properly
onto the paper.Often, aftermarket retailers buy prepackaged inks from
manufacturers–many of them in China–which makes it difficult for the retailers
to know exactly what they’re getting. But some third-party ink companies do
exercise direct control over their products. Gary Miller, Amazon Imaging’s sales
vice president, says his company makes its inks and uses cartridges made of
polypropylene, a high-quality material that printer vendors use, instead of
cheaper plastics that can damage the ink if it’s stored for several months.Ink AmbiguitiesBuying third-party ink online can be frustrating. Some
retailers’ Web sites don’t identify products by name, only by printer or
cartridge compatibility, so getting a steady supply of an ink you like can be a
challenge. Computer Friends, whose generic inks are unidentified on its Web
site, sent us G&G ink to fill most of our initial order for Epson
C82-compatible ink but completed the order later with a different brand. (The
company fulfilled our request for a specific ink brand, however.)Another murky issue relates to warranties. All the
manufacturers’ warranties for the printers we used state explicitly that they
don’t cover damage caused by other vendors’ ink. But third-party vendors say the
federal Magnusson-Moss Warranty Improvement Act forbids companies from dictating
customers’ choice of aftermarket products.Ron Katz, a patent attorney with the firm Manatt, Phelps,
& Phillips who has litigated on behalf of aftermarket vendors, says that
“mere use of a third-party cartridge does not void the warranty if the cartridge
does not cause the damage.”Tricia Judge, executive director of the International
Imaging Technology Council, an association of aftermarket vendors, says that if
a generic cartridge does damage your printer, reputable third-party ink sellers
will repair the printer. However, none of the generic-ink sellers’ warranties
for the products we tested addressed this situation.The IITC is working with the American Society for Testing
and Materials to develop tests of yield, image density, and ink fastness. It has
also partnered with the imaging lab operated by the Rochester Institute of
Technology’s National Center for Remanufacturing and Resource Recovery to test
and certify products. Judge says she expects the program to result in a
certification sticker on boxes for the inks that meet basic standards. Printer
vendors seem receptive to the idea of quality-control testing: “We are all for
standards,” says Pradeep Jotwani, vice president of HP’s Imaging and Printing
Group.Worth the Risks?In the meantime, judging from our experience, finding a
reasonably priced substitute for brand-name ink can be a risky business. If top
quality and print longevity aren’t of paramount importance, you can save money
using no-name inks–but you may have to spend a lot of time cleaning clogged
printheads. Still, some users may find the savings justify the hassles.If print quality–and especially durability–are a top
concern, however, you’re better off playing it safe by gritting your teeth and
shelling out for brand-name inks.Test Report: Third-Party Inks Save Money but Give Up
Permanence (chart)
Printer: Canon S900
(uses six cartridges)Ink Text (black), plain
paperText (black), coated
paperBlack-and-white photo,
plain paperBlack-and-white photo,
coated paperBlack-and-white photo,
manufacturer’s glossy photo paperColor photo, plain
paperColor photo, coated
paperColor photo,
manufacturer’s glossy photo paper
Amazon Imaging Comparable Comparable Comparable Somewhat worse Somewhat worse Comparable Comparable Comparable Carrot Ink Comparable Comparable Comparable Comparable Somewhat worse Somewhat worse Comparable Somewhat worse OA100 Comparable Comparable Comparable Comparable Significantly worse Comparable Comparable Significantly
worsePrinter: Epson Stylus
C82 (uses four cartridges)Ink Text (black), plain
paperText (black), coated
paperBlack-and-white photo,
plain paperBlack-and-white photo,
coated paperBlack-and-white photo,
manufacturer’s glossy photo paperColor photo, plain
paperColor photo, coated
paperColor photo,
manufacturer’s glossy photo paperG&G Somewhat worse Comparable Somewhat worse Comparable Comparable Somewhat worse Comparable Comparable OA100 Somewhat worse Comparable Significantly worse Comparable Comparable Significantly worse Comparable Somewhat worse Rainbow
logo1Comparable Somewhat worse Significantly worse Significantly worse Comparable Significantly worse Significantly worse Somewhat worse Printer:
HP DeskJet
3820 (uses two cartridges)Ink Text (black), plain
paperText (black), coated
paperBlack-and-white photo,
plain paperBlack-and-white photo,
coated paperBlack-and-white photo,
manufacturer’s glossy photo paperColor photo, plain
paperColor photo, coated
paperColor photo,
manufacturer’s glossy photo paperCarrot Ink Comparable Comparable Somewhat worse Comparable Comparable Comparable Somewhat
worse/Significantly worseComparable InkTec (refill kit) Comparable Comparable Comparable Comparable Somewhat worse Comparable Comparable Comparable PrintTek Comparable Comparable Significantly worse Comparable Somewhat worse Significantly worse Comparable Somewhat
worseThis chart shows how the
output quality of third-party inks compares with that of printer manufacturer’s
inks.
1This ink came in a white box with nothing on it except for
a rainbow logo.
Printer: Canon S900
(uses six cartridges)1Ink brand Number of pages produced
per cartridge, black1Number of pages produced
per cartridge, color1Number of pages produced
per cartridge, average for color1Amazon Imaging 740 Cyan 1060, magenta 380,
yellow 600680 Carrot Ink 900 Cyan 1020, magenta 380,
yellow 600667 OA100 (PrintPal) 800 Cyan 1100, magenta 380,
yellow 580687 Canon 820 Cyan 1000, magenta
340, yellow 620653 Printer: Epson Stylus
C82 (uses four cartridges)Ink brand Number of pages produced
per cartridge, black1Number of pages produced
per cartridge, color1Number of pages produced
per cartridge, average for color1G&G 800 Cyan 1880, magenta 500,
yellow 480953 OA100 (PrintPal) 1100 Cyan 2060, magenta 560,
yellow 5401053 Rainbow
logo2900 Cyan 1840, magenta 500,
yellow 480940 Epson 1160 Cyan 2000, magenta
540, yellow 8001113 Printer: HP DeskJet 3820
(uses two cartridges)3Ink brand Number of pages produced
per cartridge, black1Number of pages produced
per cartridge, color1Number of pages produced
per cartridge, average for color1Carrot Ink 1640 760 (magenta
depleted)Not applicable PrintTek (PrintPal) 860 700 (magenta
depleted)Not applicable HP 480 380 (cyan
depleted)Not applicable Generics for the HP 3820 print twice as many pages. Canon and
Epson clones produce about as many prints as the printer manufacturers’
inks.
1Calculations based on 5 percent coverage per color per
page. For the Canon printer, our test prints used only four of the six ink
tanks. 2This ink came in a white box with nothing on it except for a
rainbow logo. 3HP color cartridges contain all three colors; yield is
the number of pages printed before the first color runs out.
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