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Old Epson vs the newer models or other brands with 3rd party ink

OntheRez
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Old Epson vs the newer models or other brands with 3rd party ink

My 3880 (2nd one) died a bit ago. Literally a brass wire connect broke off in the mechanism though it had never been touched or moved.The printer did a fine job (when it worked). I really like the color. The two drawbacks were it got finicky when I tried to feed full sized paper. It was hard to get it to work properly, and I never came up with a sure fire way to get the job done. Second was the outrageous cost of OEM ink. Biggest advantage (other than print quality) was that Jon Cone made replacement ink cartridges dramatically reducing cost of printing.

So experts, what do you recommend? I make moderate use of print generally in batches separated by maybe a month or so at most. I'm not overly excited about another Epson since I've had 2x 3880s fail. Still ink price is critical. I'm also open to any other brand so long as I'm not strung out with the cost of OEM ink.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Aug 26, 2023 at 10:54 AM

rdeloe
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Old Epson vs the newer models or other brands with 3rd party ink

I switched from Epson 3880 to a Canon Pro-1000. I could not be happier. However, ink is not cheap, and third party isn't a great option.

The Printing forum at DPReview is full of long threads answering your exact question. A couple new ones started recently, but the message is always the same. It's worth reading through those.

Aug 26, 2023 at 11:18 AM

dpm321
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Old Epson vs the newer models or other brands with 3rd party ink

I’ve been using Epson for about 20 years and have had no problems whatsoever. I recently bought a P700 and it has worked flawlessly. One difference to be mindful of between Epson and Canon is that the latter has automatic cleaning cycles and will thus waste a lot of ink. Epson only cleans on demand and I’ve found that even with long gaps between prints, a simple nozzle check every couple of weeks will ensure no clogging. I actually leave the printer alone for 5-6 months during the winter and when I return it works fine with no more than one cleaning cycle. If you need bigger the P900 is a better choice plus the ink is a bit cheaper.

Aug 26, 2023 at 04:27 PM

chez
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Old Epson vs the newer models or other brands with 3rd party ink

I actually still run two Epson 3880 one for PK and the other MK inks. I don’t have any problems with the printers, sporadic use. I don’t have issues with the Epson inks, the cost for a print is very reasonable.

Aug 26, 2023 at 05:39 PM

rdeloe
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Old Epson vs the newer models or other brands with 3rd party ink

dpm321 wrote:
I’ve been using Epson for about 20 years and have had no problems whatsoever. I recently bought a P700 and it has worked flawlessly. One difference to be mindful of between Epson and Canon is that the latter has automatic cleaning cycles and will thus waste a lot of ink. Epson only cleans on demand and I’ve found that even with long gaps between prints, a simple nozzle check every couple of weeks will ensure no clogging. I actually leave the printer alone for 5-6 months during the winter and when I return it works fine with no more than...Show more →

You can turn off automatic cleaning cycles on the Pro-1000. It's a setting on the panel.

Aug 26, 2023 at 08:26 PM

OntheRez
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Old Epson vs the newer models or other brands with 3rd party ink

rdeloe wrote:
I switched from Epson 3880 to a Canon Pro-1000. I could not be happier. However, ink is not cheap, and third party isn't a great option.

The Printing forum at DPReview is full of long threads answering your exact question. A couple new ones started recently, but the message is always the same. It's worth reading through those.

Respectfully, I have to strongly disagree. My experience is that Cone Inks are not only better than Epson, they are also half the price (or less). Saturation and hue are better with the Cone. If you haven't seen the product, I suggest a visit

Aug 28, 2023 at 08:31 AM

AmbientMike
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Old Epson vs the newer models or other brands with 3rd party ink

It's been several years, but at the time I decided $2 per 8x10 for ink on the printer/fax/scanner. Red River paper did a test, 3800 ultra chrome cost 2/3 vs the printer they tested against, I think a more consumer model (?) Chain drug store kiosk charged $2 for an 8x10 at the time, so it seemed reasonable.

The knock on the budget inks used to be poor print permanence according to Wilhelm research although this might be the budget inks. If Jeff cone is putting out a quality product might not be the case.

How big are you printing? ~8x10 isn't that hard. You might be printing enough to justify a big printer, 3800 probably too much for me, really, thought I'd just send out bigger than ~17x22 not sure how many fuji places are open still though

Aug 28, 2023 at 12:00 PM

rdeloe
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Old Epson vs the newer models or other brands with 3rd party ink

OntheRez wrote:

Respectfully, I have to strongly disagree. My experience is that Cone Inks are not only better than Epson, they are also half the price (or less). Saturation and hue are better with the Cone. If you haven't seen the product, I suggest a visit

We're not disagreeing.

Aug 28, 2023 at 02:04 PM

OntheRez
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Old Epson vs the newer models or other brands with 3rd party ink

rdeloe wrote:
We're not disagreeing.

I hear lots of good thing about Cone inks.

I was referring to third party inks for the Canon Pro-1000.

I used to make my own ink for the Epson 3880 using Paul Roark's Eboni Variable Tone formulation, so I'm definitely not anti-third party ink!

Sorry, missed the reference. I'd been considering a Canon. I'll got check what is available and price of cartridges. I am amazed that you were able to make your own carts. That’s a bit mind boggling. Don't think I want to get that deep into the 'inkwell.'

Aug 29, 2023 at 09:57 AM

chez
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Old Epson vs the newer models or other brands with 3rd party ink

OntheRez wrote:
Sorry, missed the reference. I'd been considering a Canon. I'll got check what is available and price of cartridges. I am amazed that you were able to make your own carts. That’s a bit mind boggling. Don't think I want to get that deep into the 'inkwell.'

Go to the Red River site, they have tested many Epson and Canon printers for ink costs.

https://www.redrivercatalog.com/rr/cost-of-inkjet-printing.html

Aug 29, 2023 at 11:32 AM

OntheRez
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Old Epson vs the newer models or other brands with 3rd party ink

AmbientMike wrote:
It's been several years, but at the time I decided $2 per 8x10 for ink on the printer/fax/scanner. Red River paper did a test, 3800 ultra chrome cost 2/3 vs the printer they tested against, I think a more consumer model (?) Chain drug store kiosk charged $2 for an 8x10 at the time, so it seemed reasonable.

The knock on the budget inks used to be poor print permanence according to Wilhelm research although this might be the budget inks. If Jeff cone is putting out a quality product might not be the case.

How big are you printing?...Show more →

I do hit 17x22 moderately often. 11x17, 13/x19 are most common (after 8.5x11). I'm seriously questioning if I even want to use anything over 11x17 (maybe 13x19). People just don't buy the larger sizes.

Still contemplating so thanks for the input.

Aug 31, 2023 at 10:24 AM


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