Several questions regarding my Epson Stylus c84

[Thalin]

I don't usually see printer questions on these forums, but hopefully I can post them.

Firstly, I am fed up with the speed at which my printer seems to be using ink. It seems to run out unbelievably fast, and i've read somewhere that the Epson Status Monitor tells the user it's out of ink, when in fact there is at least 25% still remaining. I agree with this. Is there a work around to this problem, or maybe an alternative to the Epson Status Monitor?

Also, I am thinking about buying some new inks, but I feel it would be better to purchase them online rather than in stores, because of the huge price difference. I am thinking of purchasing from www.bigink.co.uk , but I am unsure on what the quality is like, because as far as i'm aware they are not official cartridges. Has anyone had any success with cartridges that arn't branded by Epson?

I am also stuck to decide whether I should buy a pack of 4 sets of cartridges (all colours obviously) from here http://www.bigink.co.uk/products.php?arg[productid]=142&name=Epson+compatible.+Pack+of+4+sets.

or, a pack of two sets of high capacity cartridges from here http://www.prink.co.uk/ink-cartridges/pages/epsonc84photo.htm

I don't know how much ink in ml is in the basic Epson cartridges, so I can't work out which would be the better option. Can anyone help me here?

Anyway, any help is appreciated for all my questions!

 

[SNGX1275]

You can go through the ink cartridge replacement thing through epson status monitor and just pop your old ones out and put them back in, that sometimes tricks it into thinking there is still more left in the cartridge. It works most of the time for me, but you do run out for real shortly after.

As far as buying cheap ink, I've ordered a lot of cheap ink from www.tylermartin.com for various epson printers. They are great for printing out stuff for yourself or papers to turn in if you are a student. I would not recommend them for photos, the color is usually fine but the problem arises over time - the ink fades in color, espically in sunlight, much more so than Epson branded ink. Perhaps the kind you are looking at won't do that, but if it smells like rubbing alcohol when it comes out of the printer I wouldn't use it for photos.

I can't answer the cartridge capacity part.

 

[Thalin]

I tried the ink replacement thing, I got to when it charged the ink, then it just said it was still on low ink. Do I have to somehow skip the ink charging process?

I just can't decided what I should do about buying the cartridges. Almost everything i'm doing at the moment is printing out photos, so I want it to be good quality, so i'm worried the ones available from the sites I mentioned just arn't designed for photos...

 

[RealBlackStuff]

You may have "chipped" cartridges. If so, you can get a chip-resetter, which makes the old cartridge behave like a new one.

 

[SNGX1275]

Maybe your best bet then is to do your photo editing on your PC, then save them to the flash card, then take that card to somewhere that has a kiosk type thing that you can print at.

In the states Walgreens and Walmart as well as other places I'm sure allow you to bring in your flash card, and print out whatever pictures you want for a minimal fee.

 

[Thalin]

I don't want to go through the trouble of printing them elsewhere, I print out so many and I really need to do it at home i'm afraid.

Basically, from what people have said in the thread, I should get the official Epson cartridges if I want to print out photos? Is there anywhere online that I can get them? Maybe the ones from the links I provided are good to print out photos as well?

I am thinking of buying this ink recharging device, but which one of these do I need? http://www.prink.co.uk/ink-cartridges/pages/epsonchipresetter.htm

 

[RealBlackStuff]

check out www.7dayshop.com in Guernsey
very low prices, and no VAT under certain order-amount!

 

[N3051M]

epsons (and lexmarks) will always eat up cartridges faster than anything, so my best advice would be just to use it as a photo printer and nothing else.. get like a canon or Hp if you want to do everyday type of printing with alright quality or laser for b/w or draft documents...

the epson refilling thing you'd rather get professionaly done because they would have the equipmetn to reset the counts on the chip. However, there is a warning that if you use refilled cartridges and your printer breaks down (rarely tho) Epson wont accept your (usualy 1+yrs manufacture's) warranty in most if not all cases, and if you decide to get it repaired you're better off getting a brand new one instead... (they'll just point that you used dodgy cartridges full stop)

so to solve your ink drought just get another brand printer (not lexmark-pro photos, $$$ inks) and stick with value packs as tehy are cheaper htan buying single

 

[Thalin]

At the moment, i'm printing out lots of photos anyway, but afterward, i'll think about purchasing a normal printer for other things.

I purchased an ink resetter and new cartridges for a lower price via Ebay, (official Epson ones) and they seem fine, which is good.

Thanks for everyone's advice, i'll take it all into consideration.