Looking for least expensive source for real OEM Canon carts

  • Thread starter Thread starter BD
  • Start date Start date
B

BD

Hey, all.

Well, I fear I may be out of luck with Hobbicolors. I've been in
correspondence with them for the past few days, sending my frustrations
about the way it produces greens in my Pixma 5000.

I sent them my source image, and they themselves concede that OEM looks
visibly better in this case.

I'm not gonna bother getting mad, but I'm disappointed. I will still
_try_ to make it work, with color adjustments, ICC profiles, bla bla
bla. But if I can't be satisfied, and can't find any better aftermarket
source, I may just have to suck it up, pay 'the man', and use OEM.

May be that I can find some balance between tweaking the colors and
using HC ink for _some_ kind of printing - but for photos, my faith's
pretty shaky.

Anyone have any lines on *ahem* reasonable prices on such stuff? BCI-6,
BCI-3e, such like that? One local vendor (Future Shop in Canada) has
them for over $15 apiece, which makes me want to projectile vomit all
over the rack.

Frickin' things....
 
BD said:
Hey, all.

Well, I fear I may be out of luck with Hobbicolors. I've been in
correspondence with them for the past few days, sending my frustrations
about the way it produces greens in my Pixma 5000.
Click to expand...
Have you considered Formulabs or MIS? Lots of happy users.
 
Have you considered Formulabs or MIS? Lots of happy users.
Click to expand...

Yes, and I intend to try them. But of these three, the most encouraging
feedback I've personally seen was towards Hobbicolors. So I expect the
others to be - for lack of a more polite word - worse.

But yes, I'll try anything once. OEM is still a last resort. I'm just
trying to steel myself for what kind of consumables budget I may have
to face. ;)
 
I have used MIS inks in my i960 for two years. Very close to OEM. I am
using Computer Friends inks in my wife's ip5000 printer and am getting
excellent results. I don't know if you have read Neil Slade's info, but he
originally said that Computer Friends and MIS were both Imaging Specialist
inks and liked them both. At that time the Computer Friends inks were much
more expensive, but they are now comparably priced with MIS and Formulabs
inks. The great benefit of Hobbicolors (in addition to the possibility that
you like the ink itself!) is that they include virgin carts in their kit at
a lower price than other vendors for the ink alone. I am getting a much
more neutral black in black and white photos with the ip5000 and Computer
friends inks. The OEM profiles for the ip5000 printer might be better
"tuned" than the i960 which leans toward magenta/red. Many people are very
happy with Formulabs as well. I noticed on their site that the smallest
individual color inks are sold in 4 oz. containers as opposed to the others
I mentioned that have 2 oz containers of individual colors.

Computer friends canon ink link - http://inkjet.cfriends.com/canonbulk.htm
MIS link - http://www.inksupply.com/canoninks.cfm
Formulabs - http://alotofthings.com
Neil Slade's site - http://www.neilslade.com/papers/inkjetstuff.html
 
Hey, all.

Well, I fear I may be out of luck with Hobbicolors. I've been in
correspondence with them for the past few days, sending my frustrations
about the way it produces greens in my Pixma 5000.

I sent them my source image, and they themselves concede that OEM looks
visibly better in this case.

I'm not gonna bother getting mad, but I'm disappointed. I will still
_try_ to make it work, with color adjustments, ICC profiles, bla bla
bla. But if I can't be satisfied, and can't find any better aftermarket
source, I may just have to suck it up, pay 'the man', and use OEM.

May be that I can find some balance between tweaking the colors and
using HC ink for _some_ kind of printing - but for photos, my faith's
pretty shaky.

Anyone have any lines on *ahem* reasonable prices on such stuff? BCI-6,
BCI-3e, such like that? One local vendor (Future Shop in Canada) has
them for over $15 apiece, which makes me want to projectile vomit all
over the rack.

Frickin' things....
Click to expand...


The cheapest I have seen them in the U.S. is 12.95
 
Hey, all.

Well, I fear I may be out of luck with Hobbicolors. I've been in
correspondence with them for the past few days, sending my frustrations
about the way it produces greens in my Pixma 5000.

I sent them my source image, and they themselves concede that OEM looks
visibly better in this case.

I'm not gonna bother getting mad, but I'm disappointed. I will still
_try_ to make it work, with color adjustments, ICC profiles, bla bla
bla. But if I can't be satisfied, and can't find any better aftermarket
source, I may just have to suck it up, pay 'the man', and use OEM.

May be that I can find some balance between tweaking the colors and
using HC ink for _some_ kind of printing - but for photos, my faith's
pretty shaky.

Anyone have any lines on *ahem* reasonable prices on such stuff? BCI-6,
BCI-3e, such like that? One local vendor (Future Shop in Canada) has
them for over $15 apiece, which makes me want to projectile vomit all
over the rack.

Frickin' things....
Click to expand...


I don't know exchange rates, prices are US$. There are places on the
Internet that are about $11 each. Staples in the US will give you a
$3 certificate for each empty cartridge that you return, reducing your
price somewhat. The CLI-8 cartridges will fit in the BCI-6 slots.
They are commonly available for $45 for 4. The CLI-8 ink is an
improved version of the BCI-6 ink. It is more fade resistant and has
more vivid colors that some I like. For refill MIS is the closest
that I have seen for color matching Canon ink, but it fades about 25
times faster the CLI-8 ink. I have a IP5000 with MIS refill ink for
throwaway printing and a IP4200 for photographs because I like the
color of the newer ink, and I hope I won't have to reprint as often.
 
I don't know exchange rates, prices are US$. There are places on the
Internet that are about $11 each. Staples in the US will give you a
$3 certificate for each empty cartridge that you return, reducing your
price somewhat.
Click to expand...

Nearly every ink cartridge exchange program, whether it's for an
office supply store, or for a school fundraiser, will only give you
credit for printhead-on-cart cartridges. In the fine print, it will
say all Epson and Canon carts are excluded.

--

http://www.FenrirOnline.com

Computer services, custom metal etching,
arts, crafts, and much more.
 
The CLI8 will NOT fit in the BCI6 printheads.
art said:
I don't know exchange rates, prices are US$. There are places on the
Internet that are about $11 each. Staples in the US will give you a
$3 certificate for each empty cartridge that you return, reducing your
price somewhat. The CLI-8 cartridges will fit in the BCI-6 slots.
They are commonly available for $45 for 4. The CLI-8 ink is an
improved version of the BCI-6 ink. It is more fade resistant and has
more vivid colors that some I like. For refill MIS is the closest
that I have seen for color matching Canon ink, but it fades about 25
times faster the CLI-8 ink. I have a IP5000 with MIS refill ink for
throwaway printing and a IP4200 for photographs because I like the
color of the newer ink, and I hope I won't have to reprint as often.
Click to expand...
 
Nearly every ink cartridge exchange program, whether it's for an
office supply store, or for a school fundraiser, will only give you
credit for printhead-on-cart cartridges. In the fine print, it will
say all Epson and Canon carts are excluded.
Click to expand...

Nearly all may be true, but Staples says all cartridges and it has
worked for me.
 
The CLI8 will NOT fit in the BCI6 printheads.
news:[email protected]...
Click to expand...

I may be doing something wrong, but I tried my CLI8 cartridges in my
IP5000 and they seemed to work. The BCI-6 cartridges will not fit
into the IP4200 without modifying the printer because of some cutouts
in the side of CLI8 cartridges. Why won't the CLI8 cartridges work in
place of the BCI6? The cartridges look similar except for the cutouts
and the dreaded chip.
 
Nearly all may be true, but Staples says all cartridges and it has
worked for me.
Click to expand...

I looked on their website and it seems that since late last year, they
are taking all cartridges in-store, which I hope other stores will
follow up on. However, I noticed their $3 for Education program only
accepts specific cartridges (excluding all Epson and Brother tanks,
and most Canons), and only if they are successful in reusing them. So
it seems you are better off getting the coupon and donating it to an
educational charity so they can get school supplies rather than
donating it to the program (they state about 40% of cartridges are
rejected due to damage). Strange.

--

http://www.FenrirOnline.com

Computer services, custom metal etching,
arts, crafts, and much more.
 
BD - I never saw your original message but someone quoted your above
message. I don't know if this is any help or not. I live in Canada. I've
never used Future shop compatibles if thats what you mean is over $15.00
Can. each. I have an IP 4000 which like the IP 5000 takes 4X BCI-6
carts and BCI-3eBK, the large black cart. I haven't needed any carts
yet, but will probably get Staples Canada compatibles when need be. I
used Staples brand carts for over a year for my Canon IP1500 and they've
been OK. The BCI-6 four colors are $14.46 each (16 mls) and the large
black carts (BCI-3eBK) two for $24.22. -29 ml each. Personally, I like
getting carts right away from the store. I have a few Staples stores
near where I live. I don't want to order online, but each to their own
and there are various choices that might suit you better. If you want to
check Staples Canada site for cartridge prices, its www.staples.ca .
They have a large selection of Staples compatible carts for most
printers. I don't know anything about CLI-8 carts or what printers they
are for. You might also want to check out Island jet refilling which is
in some malls, if there is any near you. Check all sources then decide
for yourself.

Mary
 
Mary said:
BD - I never saw your original message but someone quoted your above
message. I don't know if this is any help or not. I live in Canada. I've
never used Future shop compatibles if thats what you mean is over $15.00
Can. each. I have an IP 4000 which like the IP 5000 takes 4X BCI-6
carts and BCI-3eBK, the large black cart. I haven't needed any carts
yet, but will probably get Staples Canada compatibles when need be. I
used Staples brand carts for over a year for my Canon IP1500 and they've
been OK. The BCI-6 four colors are $14.46 each (16 mls) and the large
black carts (BCI-3eBK) two for $24.22. -29 ml each. Personally, I like
getting carts right away from the store. I have a few Staples stores
near where I live. I don't want to order online, but each to their own
and there are various choices that might suit you better. If you want to
check Staples Canada site for cartridge prices, its www.staples.ca .
They have a large selection of Staples compatible carts for most
printers. I don't know anything about CLI-8 carts or what printers they
are for. You might also want to check out Island jet refilling which is
in some malls, if there is any near you. Check all sources then decide
for yourself.

Mary
Click to expand...
Mary - BD is prepared to buy bulk ink as he has used hobbicolor inks to
refill his carts. As Zakezuke and I mentioned to you before, refilling with
bulk ink is the cheapest way to go and at the same time assure that you have
a consistant aftermarket product.
 
Burt said:
Mary - BD is prepared to buy bulk ink as he has used hobbicolor inks to
refill his carts. As Zakezuke and I mentioned to you before, refilling with
bulk ink is the cheapest way to go and at the same time assure that you have
a consistant aftermarket product.
Click to expand...

Hi Burt. If BD wants to buy bulk ink, thats fine. It sounded like he
said above that he was not satisfied with Hobbicolors
and also I thought because he mentioned Future shop, he was interested
in OEM or compatible carts. So I was wondered if he would be interested
in Staples compatibles. I was only offering another choice, but each to
their own.
I have been doing ok with my IP4000. I like it. Had a hard time finding
one, and got it at a store just by chance when I had stopped looking for
one. Haven't been printing much lately so haven't had to get any carts
yet.

Mary
 
Anyone have any lines on *ahem* reasonable prices on such stuff? BCI-6,
BCI-3e, such like that? One local vendor (Future Shop in Canada) has
them for over $15 apiece, which makes me want to projectile vomit all
over the rack.
Click to expand...

After lots of wrestling with second-source carts and a few head clogs,
I went back to Canon carts.

I get BCI-6 carts in sets of 6 from ebay by searching on this phrase:
bci-6 genuine - and ended up paying about $60/set shipped last time.

No problems so far, and I've bought a dozen or so sets this way, but
they seem to be getting harder to find these days.
 
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