Cartridge Monkey

Why choose Epson printer cartridges?

Monday 05 March, 2007

There's nothing more disappointing than taking a fantastic picture on your digital camera, only to find that what comes out of the printer is not the vibrant, colourful image you saw on the camera's display, but rather a pale imitation of your cherished snap shot. Well, believe it or not, this could be down to a very simple, commonly misunderstood, problem.

When it comes to printer ink, people tend to assume they have it sussed. They think the reason the big boys recommend their own printer cartridges and paper is simply so they get the revenue, and that third party ink and products are no different to these brand name goods. However, when it comes to Epson printer cartridges and Epson printer paper, there most certainly is a difference.

Epson printer cartridges and Epson printer paper are made for the digital photo market, ranging from the photo enthusiast taking snaps of friends and family, to the serious photographic professional. However, it is only when the products are used together that they achieve the best results. And why is it that these quality products work better than third-party peripherals? Epson has developed a number of technologies for Epson printer cartridges and Epson printer paper that work together and are absent when third party ink or paper is used.

Epson printer ink comes in a number of different versions, offering a variety of characteristics specific to individual needs. For instance, for the photo enthusiast, Epson DURABrite Ultra offers a high quality low cost option, while professional photographers may prefer Epson UltraChrome K3 ink - it'll last longer, giving those snaps that need to be seen time and time again the finish they need to keep looking good. All the inks have been developed over a number of years to ensure that they are the highest possible quality Epson printer ink, free of dust or dirt that could otherwise leave your perfectly taken pictures looking like something from a child's art class.

When the ink arrives at the print head from the Epson printer cartridge, it benefits from the exclusive Micro Piezo technology. Apparently, in Epson terms, this passes electricity through the ink and causes physical distortions to help fire the ink. In everyone else's terms, the ink shouldn't smudge and should come out looking good, which is what matters. This technology also works in association with the Epson media, which is designed to work with Epson printer cartridges' QuickDry technology too. This again should stop those annoying smudges that happen when you can't wait to whip your picture off the printer tray.

Genuine Epson paper is made up of a number of layers, which work together to make the colour that comes out of the printer look the same way it does on the computer screen. It's thick and strong, so your pics will feel like you went and got them printed at your local high street photo shop. Two types of coating are available, so take your pick. Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper also won an Editor's Choice award in 2005, suggesting third party printer paper does not come close.

Information collected by Torrey Pines Research and Wilhelm Imaging Research on the Epson printer cartridges versus third party ink debate proved that Epson printer ink was superior to third party products over a number of categories. The number of cleanings needed to keep a cartridge printing to its capabilities, the number of prints you can do per cartridges and how long that printed image lasts for were all tested, across a range of Epson black and white as well as colour printers.

When it came to the number of cleanings needed, Torrey Pines found that the largest number an Epson colour or monochrome printer reached using an Epson printer cartridge was ten (per 1,000 prints), for the Epson Stylus C42. While on this printer, third party cartridges needed at least twice as many cleans and let's face it, no-one likes cleaning! The maximum number of cleans needed for any third party cartridge, either colour or monochrome, was a massive 63 cleanings for the Epson Stylus Colour 740, which suggests you would probably have to quit your day job and become a cleaner to keep up.

Again, with the average number of pages printed, the third party ink was not playing in the same league. With many printers, Epson printer cartridges allowed 100 more printed pages, meaning you'll need to change print cartridges less often and you can rattle off more of those pictures of your kid blowing out his birthday candles, or being sick when he eats too much cake. On the issue of how long the pictures last (researched by Wilhelm), using the combination of an Epson printer cartridge with Epson printer paper meant the pictures lasted anywhere from 70 to 95 times longer. Now that's a long-lasting picture!

The Torrey Pines Research team also highlighted the problems that can be caused by using third party ink rather than Epson printer cartridges, saying during the tests that some of the non-Epson cartridges "plugged up the printhead nozzles so quickly and consistently that we had to abort some of our tests". What Torrey Pines perhaps meant is that the third party ink ruined their printers, but that's just a suggestion.

The late Lord Lichfield, a photographer who took pictures of some of the most important royal figures of the 20th and 21st centuries, was certainly convinced by the quality of the total Epson package.

"Using Epson printers to reproduce my shots has given me the scope to turn a photograph into hard copy almost instantaneously and to print out large exhibition shots that rival the final results of traditional photographic processing," he said. "Combined, these advances in technology have been some of the most exciting that I have been seen during my lifetime. Digital imaging and inkjet printing are opening up all kinds of new and varied possibilities."

And if you took pictures of the royal family, you must know a thing or two, right?

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Why choose Epson printer cartridges?

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