Printer Ink Angst...and Victory

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
40,964
936
113
Anyone with a printer in the DR knows the story of getting new in cartridges. Buy here: mega spendy. Buy offshore: less spendy, but takes a week plus. Buy refilled offshore, cheaper still, but takes time and quality can be spotty.

Been there, done that. I buy cartridges refurbed/refilled from a Mexican outfit on ebay, net cost around $9.00 each by the time they get here. Color has been semi-OK and not meant for photo printing. Fine for general purpose.

Printers are now almost generic & inexpensive. You get hammered with the ink.

We use two printers: an older HP6110 all-in-one workhorse that is fast, competent, great printing-even pictures-has never let us down, and a newer HP D110 wireless, OK for light home use but hardly a "workhorse." They use different ink cartridges.

I've got a project that requires a LOT of printing with heavy color graphics & pictures, several thousand pages to be made by the time it's done. I knew the D110, while competent, is the wrong tool for the job. So I cranked up the HP6110, knowing I had purchased a bunch of cartridges and let 'er rip. In the middle of a printing batch the color cartridge ran out of red ink (one problem with 3-colors-in-one cartridges is when the ink is low in one color, the cartridge is done). So I went to get a new one.

Problem is, I had no color cartridges. Only 6 black. I thought I had at least two colored left but no.

Dang! I ordered some colored cartridges online and knew it would be at least a week-10 days to get here...and I HAVE to get a bunch printed before then, no way around it.

So off to Santiago we head, to Cecomsa & Prodocom. Cecomsa was out, but Prodocom had only two left...at RD$2400 ea!!!!!!!!!!! :eek: OMG! Over US$100 for TWO cartridges????? I had no choice...

While I was agonizing in the store about the sticker shock of cartridges, the sales clerk showed us a new wireless Canon printer set up with a Continuous Ink Supply System (CISS).

I recalled my favorite common-sense DR1 techie, AZB, having installed one himself-I had seen systems available online, about $100 MOL, with ink, and I'd have to set it up myself. This is not a daunting task, but it wouldn't solve my short-term problem.

This Canon system was already installed by a division of Prodocom, Real Color, across the street. The price: RD$6000, and the ink would print thousands of pages on one initial fill, and inexpensive ink is readily available. It didn't take long to figure out the benefits & cost savings-heck, I was going to spend RD$4800 anyway-and we left with one. We saw it work before delivery when it made a good copy from their color flyer.

Got it home and tested it with a graphic. The colors weren't really correct for my preference, then kinda went pffffft...and no ink was flowing to the black head. Called the store, they said bring it back for an adjustment, so the next day we did. The tech fiddled with it and got it printing again. Took it home. Still suboptimal; called the tech and back we went, this time with my computer and a copy printed from my HP6110 that was correct. I printed a copy in front of the tech and he agreed: it's not right, the colors were definitely off-golds were yellowish, and browns kinda reddish.

I also think the inks themselves are to factory specs. I've learned a lot of science goes into inks for particular printing heads, that they aren't the same.

The tech said the printer is not for complex graphics & pictures, just a "general" printer, and I'd agree: if you just want to print simple things, it's fine-and a bargain, really. The reviews I read online confirmed what he said: this particular printer was really not meant for complex printing. And I made the determination that the installed-after-the-fact CISS system could possibly be problematic in the future, seeing how we were advised to let the printer cool for 10 minutes after printing 20 pages.

We asked for our $$$ back and decided to go back to Plan A: buy the spendy cartridges, get the project moving and wait for the ordered cartridges to arrive. Problem is, Prodocom didn't have any more.

We called Cecomsa toward Gurabo and they had the cartridges, so off we went. They were about to close (Saturday) and the clerks were slammed, so I looked around while waiting. Lo and behold, in a big pile of boxes on the floor, were two Epson CISS printers-an L210 and an L355 designed and engineered around their propriety CISS system and Epson inks! On sale! The L210 was RD$8500 and the L355 RD$11,500. In fact, they use the L210 in their office. When we got to see the clerk, we got her to let me print a page from my computer on their L210...and it came out decent. She claimed the L355 was also for photos and would be better. Additionally, the L355 is fast! Like 15ppm in color. And ink is readily available. So we bought it & took it home.

In a nutshell: quality unit. Easy to set up, and the quality of the CISS system makes the aftermarket system look like a toy. It's built into the printer and uses surgical-quality rubber for tubes. The printer head isn't converted, it's engineered for the unit. Makes amazing color prints and has a variety of settings. Fast. The wireless is easy to set up and works beautifully, every time.

Seems the Epson L series of printers are targeted toward the Latin American market-and I can see why: in poorer countries many can't afford spendy cartridges and look for alternatives, and CISS systems are popular. I guess the NA market is OK with buying cartridges.

I've printed over 1200 page, most with some color, and the colored ink level is still near the top and the black is down maybe 30%. Awesome.

So what started out as a disaster has turned into a super asset. I cannot recommend this Epson CISS printer highly enough.

I'm still gonna keep the HP6110 as a back-up if needed (since I have 4 black & 4 color cartridges), but if anyone needs a decent HP D110 wireless printer with several ink cartridges, I have one I'll sell at a good price.
 

Mauricio

Gold
Nov 18, 2002
5,607
7
38
check pricesmart for ink for your HP6110...they sell (original HP ink) cheaper than Office depot (who never is well stocked) and Omegatech.
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
40,964
936
113
check pricesmart for ink for your HP6110...they sell (original HP ink) cheaper than Office depot (who never is well stocked) and Omegatech.
I have, no joy.

Besides, I'm spoiled to this CISS system. I could never go back again.
 

Drro

Bronze
Mar 22, 2006
1,407
102
63
The other important caveat about ink cartridges. If your printer is not sold in the DR, no one (so far as I could find) had the cartridges. Bring them with you or you will wait 7-10 days for receiving. I have a HP which isn't sold in the DR, learned my lesson the hard way. Now no problem, I travel with cartridges.
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
42,211
5,966
113
The printers sold here are frequently the ones aimed at the Asian market.

I purchased an Epson Workforce 545 All In One, and made sure there were refillable third party cartridge (and also CISS) options for it before I bought it from Epson directly on a special clearance sale. $80 plus shipping and no need to rely on local cartridge supply.

The auto-reset cartridges reset to full when you take them out and put them back in. So make sure they always have enough ink in them. Don't every let them run dry. After a year I had to replace some batteries that drive the auto-reset circuit.

CISS is definitely the way to go for people who print even a moderate amount.
 

Jaime809

Bronze
Aug 23, 2012
1,152
0
36
One thing to remember is that you need to use your inkjet printer on a fairly regular basis. The jets will either clog, or ink will be consumed during the self-cleaning process, to the point where you'll go through ink or printers too quickly.

I opted for a used color laser off eBay. The cost/page is lower than inkjets and there are no jets to get clogged by ink.