Epson R1800 Bulk Ink kit from InkRepublic.com

[ramseier]

Has any one calculated the cost of printing with an Epson R800 or R1800?
and printing from InkRepublic ink system?

Please post the information if you have it.

[firewalkr]

I think nobody here has bothered to do any research on the systems available from inkrepublic.
I keep hearing everybody write about "cheap chinese" products sold on eBay for 30 to 80 bux. I even read one person here extoling the ?fact? that IR's kits are high quality USA products.
Well, I hate (not really ) to be the bearer of bad news, but IR's "quality" kits are cheap Taiwanese products!!

Go to http://www.saveink.com to see the true manufacturers of said product who happen to be looking for more importers of their products.

Saveink.com translates to ip 61.219.44.160
Query of that ip at APNIC and TWNIC reveals the following:

inetnum: 61.219.44.0 - 61.219.44.255
netname: HINET-NET
descr: CHTD, Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd.
descr: Data-Bldg. 6F, No. 21, Sec. 21, Hsin-Yi Rd.,
descr: Taipei Taiwan
country: TW
admin-c: CYK-TW
tech-c: CYK-TW
mnt-by: MAINT-TW-TWNIC
remarks: This information has been partially mirrored by APNIC from
remarks: TWNIC. To obtain more specific information, please use the
remarks: TWNIC whois server at whois.twnic.net.
changed: fkchung@ms1.hinet.net 20050325
status: ASSIGNED NON-PORTABLE
source: TWNIC

person: Chung Yung Kang
address: Chunghwa Telecom Data communication Business Group
address: No.21, Hsin-Yi Rd., sec. 1
address: Taipei Taiwan
country: TW
phone: +886-2-2322-3442
fax-no: +886-2-2344-2513
e-mail: cykang@ms1.hinet.net
nic-hdl: CYK-TW
changed: hostmaster@twnic.net 19990924
source: TWNIC

Further research reveals that user kiwigasman was correct about the location of manufacturer...
ALL GREENTW CO. ,LTD
Johnli City, Taiwan

If you were to contact said company and pose as a prospective buyer, you could obtain price lists for various quantities of said products.
I won't post this price list, but let's just say IR's profit margin on their $239.95 model for the r1800 is _substantial_, as are the margins on all the other models for other printers.

Bottomline: I have yet to find a CIS that was NOT a cheaply made product of some cheap asian country. ALL CIS systems have the same problems eventually. So, if you want true reliability, stick with the overpriced OEM cartridges. But, if you want to save on ink cost, one CIS is just as good as the next (as long as you stay away from sponged cartridges, that is).

You don't always get what you pay for. Sometimes you just get an overpriced pig in a poke.

'Nuff Said!!

[cutemaker]

It is not wise to blame on chinese, do you know many ink system which sell on western country website are original come from china?

chinese people just speak directly they are supplier, that is the way not wasting time, not like some people who play trick and act as a customer and say what he bought is very good, everybody know his real meaning.

[rogermabon]

I got InkRepublic R2400 system and inks from USPS priority mail. not from other countries. Ink is made in USA for sure since you cannot find any manufacturer on ebay who is selling R2400 ink. Only InkRepublic and MIS provide R2400 solution, and InkRepublic is 5 months ahead of MIS. maybe 6 months?

Indeed, IR's system is great. very reliable. On the other hand, you still need to follow what Epson told you on their Manual - maintain your printer, do head cleaning ...etc. You cannot avoid these procedures no matter what kind of methods (refill cartridge, CIS, original cartridge) you are using. Regular and carful maintenance is must-have.

Looks like many CIS competitors here to spread out rumors, but guess what, it's an open market. To make sure what is good what is bad, you can check the feedback on Ebay or check the review section on InkRepublic's site.

It's also possible that that person might get "stuff" or work for a competitor, so keep that in mind. Read more comprehensive review on InkRepublic's site would help you make the decision.

I would not care who produces IR's quality system, as long as it works for me and as long as it is reliable. People like me cannot afford any downtime cuased by poor system.

Few months ago, I passed the break even point on the IR system and the inks. Still going flawlessly. Well, you tell me it is worthy or not? The same amount of investment that I spent on IR's system could only let me buy 2 - 3 sets of cartridges. you can tell the difference easily.

I believe you can get good system from Ebay too though most of them are made in China.

[firewalkr]

Is this a picture of your r2400 system, Roger?
And, is that an actual printout from that system on the wall?

[rogermabon]

Is this a picture of your r2400 system, Roger?
And, is that an actual printout from that system on the wall?

No, that is R1800 InkRepublic system with its prints from oliver, switzerland. You can get almost identical print if you have profile.

Mine is R2400 with InkRepublic system. Print is as great as Epson's.

cheers!

[andyphoto]

I see Lyson are just about to release their bulk ink system, I have managed to get a system for free, it seems that if you are 2 complete sets of Lyson ink at http://www.specialistinks.com they send you the bulk ink system for free. 2 sets of ink will last me a long time, but I guess I would have had to buy them sooner or later, so it's not a bad deal

[jromanoff]

A few days ago when searching online for an epson T048120 I found a $5.00 off coupon code: bluedogfriend, and the product worked perfect.
http://bluedogink.com

[silvermarcus]

I was come from Hongkong. I have a fews questions as the following, I hope somebody could kindly let me know the answers.
Anyone had been compare print quality between IR CIS and Espon rg. ink?
Any manufactories can or will provide their ICC profile of their ink?
Where can I find the USA or Europe ink?

[reflectionsbyruth]

I have a question.
I own the Epson 4000 and currently use cartridge inks.

What would someone do if they decided to change over to these continuous ink system.

Ink cartridges dont all run out at the same time.
You could have 3 run out and 5 that are 3/4's full.

Then you replace the 3 that are empty and by the time the other 5 run out you still have 3 that are probably close to 3/4's full.
Ditching 3 ink cartridges with that much ink in them is pretty expensive.

How does anyone switch over from cartridges to continuous flow without losing a considering amount of money already spent on ink cartridges??

[websnail]

I got InkRepublic R2400 system and inks from USPS priority mail. not from other countries. Ink is made in USA for sure since you cannot find any manufacturer on ebay who is selling R2400 ink.

I've a mixed reaction to I.R. stuff having tested some of their kit in R200/300 and C84-88 printers (not the A3 formats though).. I'll be up front and say that I've never tried their inks as I use MIS inks (which are really Image Specialists inks.. MIS resell it) but I've seen varied reports on where the actual I.R. ink comes from. It's possible they've gone to ImageSpecialists themselves...

Only InkRepublic and MIS provide R2400 solution, and InkRepublic is 5 months ahead of MIS. maybe 6 months?

I'd be interested to hear why you think this is the case. Speaking to other CIS manufacturers I understand that the I.R. damper technology is actually old tech' of at least 2 years in age and it's worth noting that MIS amongst others are switching to spongeless designs...

Also worth noting that this switch by all CIS and aftermarket cartridge manufacturers/suppliers is not so much because of some "wow" factor but more because of legal issues with Epson owning the patent for sponged cartridges. If you actually talk to people in the field you soon realise that the spongeless mantra is a bit of a myth in large part.

Indeed, IR's system is great. very reliable.

I'll be honest my own experience has, as I said been mixed with I.R. due to problems with tube pathways, issues with the D88 in particular and it's smaller ink posts.. From what I've seen of the R1800/2400 designs though it seems a lot more thought has gone into key issues so a proper long term review would be welcome.

On the other hand, you still need to follow what Epson told you on their Manual - maintain your printer, do head cleaning ...etc. You cannot avoid these procedures no matter what kind of methods (refill cartridge, CIS, original cartridge) you are using. Regular and carful maintenance is must-have.

Couldn't agree more.. You get a lot of people complaining that their kits are useless when they've not adhered to basic rules like printing regularly, etc..

Looks like many CIS competitors here to spread out rumors, but guess what, it's an open market.

Definitely.. For all that though I.R. didn't help themselves or their reputation by engaging in a forum spamming spree when they started out.. You just have to do a search on google to see that in newsgroups, etc...

To make sure what is good what is bad, you can check the feedback on Ebay or check the review section on InkRepublic's site.

With the greatest of respect I don't agree with that for some obvious reasons..
1. Ebay feedback is pretty immediate and doesn't give a medium term view of how the kits are working, much less long term. And the lack of a publicly viewable forum or site for many of the ebay sellers makes it nigh on impossible to see how they're doing in the long term.
2. ANY manufacturer that has control of what is displayed about it's products is going to be showing stuff that's biased towards the good. This is true of MIS's forum as it is for I.R's own review postings.

It's also possible that that person might get "stuff" or work for a competitor, so keep that in mind. Read more comprehensive review on InkRepublic's site would help you make the decision.

Definitely... Common sense really.. same logic you'd apply to a car dealer who is working for a particular brand.. Pinch of salt required.



Anyways.. for what it's worth I'm aware that my own view is somewhat skewed on I.R. because of my experience but I'm not the only one by far so I'd really welcome any alternate or supporting reviews of theirs and other CIS kits on a forum I've been running for a while now.

http://www.continuousink.info/

Basically I got more than a bit fed up with the lack of a decent forum or space for proper reviews about CIS kits or resources for building your own so if you've some feedback then feel free to post it..

Note: Spammers need not apply.. (Spamming just puts people off, not encourage them.. )



Just to finish off though.. the R1800 and R2400 seem to get a lot of queries for good kits so a decent set of comprehensive reviews would be of much help to quite a few people.

[cocoa_apple]

Note: Spammers need not apply.. (Spamming just puts people off, not encourage them.. Rolling Eyes )
Just to finish off though.. the R1800 and R2400 seem to get a lot of queries for good kits so a decent set of comprehensive reviews would be of much help to quite a few people.

I totally agree with you, websnail. You are damn right. This forum is full of Chinese spammer. you have no way to control it. come on, it's a free country. people speak freely, post freely, surf freely...etc. Especially people in China is pretty aggressive to open their mind and eyes toward this world. Those chinese CIS maker, like cutemaker, may have very silly behavior, but indeed, they try to make some bucks for living. I hope they can survive too.

By talking about reviews, I have noticed several good reivews on Ink Republic website and others, they are pretty comprehensive, maybe you can look into them.

http://www.inkrepublic.com/members/ozpr ... review.asp
http://www.ningalooreefteach.com/inkrepublic/ink.htm
http://www.jondokken.com/EpsonCIS/EpsonCIS.htm

I saw many people are endorsing InkRepublic.com CIS, that's why I moved to them too. I beleve it is a good solution, at least so far, it works for me.

Believe me, I am not a big computer nerd, I just need a quality and reliable system.

[srijith]

This forum is mainly for PBase members. But this is turning out to be an advertising thread. I am closing the thread for now. If you are a legit (paid) member of PBase and want to discuss this post, please let me know and I will open the thread.