[Doby]

Wow something I might know about! I think I had the exact model. (four seperate wells?) Don't know for sure cause I got Office Depot generic and * presto change-o * it turned my printer into a piece of garbage. Immediatly clogged the heads. Epson is very particular about the ink that goes into it. I did get success with some online EPSON ink. Turned out it was Japanese Epson ink, but worked fine. From the research I did, in a nutshell, when using Epson, use Epson ink, not generic.

I hated that printer for more than that reason. Epson is devious. They make it sound like it is more economical to have four wells instead of using 1 tri-color cartridge and 1 black. What they don't tell you is you CANNOT use it if ANY of the inks are low. That includes just trying to print black. IT WON'T LET YOU. Also, it has a memory of how much ink it THINKS you have left and even if that is not correct, too bad.

I got my money back on all that crappy Office Depot ink and got an HP all in one. Works FANTASTIC has a FAX and scanner...for a hundred bucks. Less than all the Epson ink. AND it came with ink. So ridiculous as it might seem. It was actually cheaper to buy a new machine than to buy ink.

I love my HP. It'll give me warnings there's low or no ink, but still print. I like to be in charge, not the machine! LOLOLOL Hope this helps.

p.s. I am new to the T-Shirt game so I do not know about which quality is better for t-shirt printing, this is what I was using for regular ol paper printing.

Anybody know of what kind of quality I would be looking at with this HP all in one with tricolor cartridge? The prints come out fab.

 

[Doby]

as a ex epson rep I need to come to their defense. 1. Yes there are 4 wells and yes you need all colors with ink to print. But when you are out of one color like with your HP you do not need to throw the cartridge away with other colors still in in cartridge as you do with HP. Average color with Epson $13. average cartridge HP $35.00. HP inks are a dye ink. I would not like to buy a shirt made with Dye ink. yes it looks good to you today but when your customers wash it ten times they will not like it. Try it next to a shirt printed with epson ink and then you will understand.

I had a feeling the tri-color would be no good for shirts. I was TOLD the Epson inks were gonna be 13 a piece but they were much more when I looked around. I just hated the fact that it told me how much ink was in there and it was wrong. What exactly happens when dye ink is washed? Will generic inks like Office Depot inks work on it? Sorry if I gave misinformation. Tried to disclaimer myself by saying this was my experience only with paper printing.

 

[Doby]

The ink cartridges that come with new printers are commonly only one third full, so often it's not as economical when that is factored in. Some manufacturers have been known to sell inkjets at a loss though (standard retail, not clearance sales) with a plan to make it up in the aftermarket for ink cartridges.

Wow! That's crazy!!! The salesman was showing me the HP printer at Office Depot and someone had STOLEN the ink cartridge out of the display model! LOL! Just for laughs: This week in the Big Lots flyer they have a Lexmark printer for $29.99

 

[Doby]

Yes I bought a HP and love the Inks, The colors are fantastic and i also use it for
printing decals. But i was also intrested epson because of the archival factor.
However, i've been disippionted with it. color are not as bright. can't get near the vibrance of the hp .
I also tried the gen inks at STAPLES they looked ok AND i tried the refillable
but that messes with your on screen ink levels .
I'm going to stick with the HP inks . They also look better then my HP Lazer.

You made me feel better! I agree with everything you said. I love the brilliance and ease of use of my HP.

 

[Doby]

Ok,OK,
After reading the forums I figured a lot of you guys know what your talking about so i washed my HP printed shirts about 5 times cold water inside out,low heat,
and low and behold the fade was starting slight bleed also.
Now let me tell you I,m a HP guy but that made me uneasy.
So I warmed up my Epson Cx 3810 and adjusted the output for printing
and the result was great!
However, I did notice some yellowing left behind on the sheet whats that??
The colors were fine on the tee.
The Customer was very pleased.

Fred In LA ,CA

cold water low heat? What setting is that? lol !!! Is there really a big difference? Was the fading that horrendous?

 

[Doby]

Yes I bought a HP and love the Inks, The colors are fantastic and i also use it for
printing decals...

Decals! Wow! Please expand on the process! If it's too off topic, could you private message me? I would be very interested in learning about that!!!

 

[Doby]

Hello Doby,
I really love the HP but the reality is, It is a dye ink and it will not last as long a the epson inks but your customer may not care after 30 washes,
But they do look great! I have repeat customers so I have to be aware of the fade Factor and not it was not that bad but i did notice a diff.
as for the Decal thing I bought some decal (water slide and sticker paper) and some Glass ashtray coasters Attached the decal under the ashtray
put the coaster and tee togther plus a printed mug and sold them as a set,
Western,sci fi or hotrod stuff....sold reall well at 30.00 a set
also the decal vinal sticker sells well by themself You have to spray the decal
with a acrylic coat But the tee shirt really sells the set. all aviel on the net
fred

If I wore a shirt once a month and washed it thirty times that would be, what, 2 and a-half years? Hmmm. Too bad they don't make this ink for HP.

 

[Doby]

For the newbies here, do a search for "Epson printers, Magic Mix, Pigment, Dye"
to get up to speed on why pigment inks are preferred. Also not all Epson printers use pigment ink. Some Epsons have 2 cartridges (known as carts) some have a lot more. And many in t-shirt business use non-Epson pigment inks, such as Magic Mix, or a CIS (bulk ink) system. Or even Dye Sub (dye sublimation). For Durabrite, you may need to make some color adjustments.

As for OEM Epson ink carts/leftover ink...see http://epsonsettlement.com/

Yes, there's a lot to learn if you are willing to. I've given you a jumpstart on buzzwords to search for here or on Google.

By the way, we love our Epsons. We have some dinosaur workhorses that have been very faithful and are now entering a new life in the t-shirt business

Cheers, Susan

There's a lot to learn and you gave us a jumpstart? All you said was use Epson and the two inks that everyone recommends. I'll say it. I DON'T LIKE EPSON PRINTERS. There I feel better. Even the ex rep says it jams. From the point of view of an actual user of printers THEY SUCK. There. I said it. If you don't agree, that's your opinoin.