Archived from groups: comp.periphs.printers (
More info?)
PC World, like other magazines, is probably 'influenced' to a large
degree by the makers of printers who advertise in their magazines.
Really now - one look at the CIS Continuous Ink Cartridge feed system or
the B&W Pizeography system and the many, many satisfied users (see Yahoo
Groups -> Epson inkjet forum and elsewhere), and you'd realize that with
properly made 3rd party inks, you can get excellent, trouble-free results.
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I'd take any of Wilhelm-Research's results with a grain of salt.
Why?
Before the reported Epson 870/etc. Orange Fading incident
(www.p-o-v-image.com has info), they reported prints to last for years
from these printers -- yet, in fact, many users immediately found, like
I did, that prints faded within weeks, even indoors!
Heck, even Epson called up many 870/etc. owners then to offer a FULL
buyback of the affected printers as a result (even me).
Naturally, after this 'incident', Wilhelm 'adjusted' all of their
results saying their old 'methods' were not so good because it didn't
take into account some of these environmental factors.
Well, gosh, darn -- you'd think any company that's been hired by Kodak
and others to test print longevity for years earlier would have sat some
Ph.D down for a moment, okay, a few minutes, and think things through!
Like where are the prints most likely displayed and kept by a consumer?
That alone would have made them realize that they'd have humidity,
ozone, and other factors -- like really! how many people do keep their
prints and negatives in a cold-room, temp & humidity controlled forever?!?
Just unrealistic.
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Anyways, despite what Wilhelm has said about all of the latest photo
printers, thankfully, Japanese computer magazines are much more
objective -- the recent Digital Camera magazine tests this year have
placed the latest photo printers from Epson and Canon to the test in
both indoor and outdoor lit conditions.
What did they find?
In under three months, all of them faded! Canon's had noticable orange
fading; even the clear-coated Epson prints (the printers that apply a
final clear coat) had a measurable degree of fading.
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Keep in mind that chemically and physically, ALL dye-based inks like
they use in most printers today will break down quickly when exposed to
light, humidity, etc. Even pigmented inks will break down, too.
(Here, thankfully, companies like www.inkjetmall.com are realistic and
report the degree of fading found in their 3rd party archival inks --
they don't pull wool over your eyes and make you believe you can get
decades of non-fade prints.)
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As for the 3rd party inks. Keep in mind that printers are often cheaper
than new ink cartridge sets, selling for <$50 on sale (see
www.fatwallet.com/c/18/). If you don't refill, why buy new cartridges?
Just replace the printer, which comes with new carts!
Or if you are printing quite a lot, continuous ink feed systems are the
way to go aside from a color laser printer at $299+.
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