The product listing says you get 125ml of black and yellow plus 100ml of each of the other colors for 650ml of ink. Is that a lot? I had no idea! How much ink is in a regular cartridge? I couldn't find it anywhere on the Epson site but several third party vendors list the high capacity Epson 98 cartridge to contain only 18ml of ink, and a complete set of all colors runs in the $50-$60 range. Amazing how much ink this includes when you consider what Epson gives you for the price. I scoffed at how outrageous the difference was and decided to go for it.
With that being said, I still had two doubts: How hard is it to get this thing working, and is the print quality as good as Epson brand inks?
My first concern was laid to rest after a small bit of struggling. To begin with, the printer kept saying the cartridges were not installed even though I was sure I had pushed them in as far as they could go. I reluctantly removed them and tried again and noticed I had neglected to remove the rubber band that was partially holding the block of cartridges together. Ah ha! I figured I had solved the problem. I reinserted the carts and they slid much further in than before, but sadly, the printer still did not see them. I decided to go to youtube and see if there were any videos about CIS cartridges and I found a single video showing a guy installing his CIS, but in a different model Epson printer. He pressed his carts in and I heard a very distinct *click* that I had not heard from my printer. I pullled the carts out again and examined the carts and saw that they needed to "snap" into place so that the circuit board on the cart would press against the printer. I pushed them in as far as I could and then pressed VERY hard on the part of the carts closest to the clips and *CLICK*! Finally the printer recognized the carts! (And said "Genuine Epson Cartridges" were installed)
My next minor problem came with the printer not knowing the lid was closed because of the tubes feeding the ink, which prevented the lid from closing completely. In order for the printer to know the lid was closed I had to force the lid shut, pinching the tubes which feed the ink. I worried that this would cause a problem with the ink flow, not unlike someone standing on a garden hose. I've seen other users who carved pieces of plastic out of the printer chassis in order to run the tubes, but I wasn't crazy about breaking out the Dremel when I have a printer that is still under warranty.
Instead, I opted for a simple but wholly inelegant solution; I cut off a tiny piece of cardboard from the CIS box and stuck it into the hole that the printer uses to recognize when the lid was closed. As soon as I did that, I was able to just gently rest the lid down, and the cardboard held the lid open just enough for the tubes to be unobstructed. The printer immediately fired up and initialized the carts! (See my customer photos if you want to know exactly where to put the cardboard).
With that out of the way, now for the real test. How would this generic ink compare to Epson genuine cartridges? I am happy to report that the quality of the ink is without question every bit as good as the Epson brand ink. Photos are simply stunning and my skeptical coworkers could not believe their eyes when I told them they were printed from a CIS (they insisted that the ink would never match up to OEM). Glad to say they were WRONG, and photo prints are truly something to behold.
However, I mainly bought this for printing graphics. I collect vintage video games, and what I was really after was an affordable way to print replacement labels and cover inserts for universal game cases. Using a color laser left something to be desired, since laser really cannot compete with detail when printing game photos and screen shots. I'm glad to say that when coupled with Epson Presentation Paper the results are incredible. Colors pop right off the page and the blacks are positively bottomless. I was shocked to see the difference when reprinting the inserts I already had in laser, the difference was night and day.
The REAL beauty is that after printing only 7 full page video game case inserts, my Epson software popped up to tell me that I have LESS THAN HALF of the ink remaining in my "high capacity" black cartridge. I glanced over at my CIS tank and can't even tell that the ink level has moved. It truly made me realize the value in buying this system and confirmed my suspicion that these manufacturers simply tell you when to buy a new ink cartridge based on what you have printed and not how much ink is actually left in the cart. The instructions say that when the time comes and the software thinks the cart is empty, I will have to click replace cart and press the handy dandy reset button on the CIS and that's it!. I will cross that bridge when I get there and report back any hiccups.
Needless to say, I am VERY happy with this purchase. I am still a new owner, so of course this will have to withstand the test of time, but if this changes at all I will definitely come back to edit my review. As of now, i couldn't be pleased more with this purchase and I will recommend my friends and family without hesitation.
*********************
Edit: It's now November 9, 2012 and I've been using the CIS steadily for a few months, so I decided to revisit this review after having owned it for a while.
I have printed off a tremendous amount of color labels and case inserts. I don't know if there is a way to find a page count on this printer, but I would say that it has been at least 100-150 full color pages in total, and I must say this CIS continues to impress. It's hard for me to guesstimate in terms of pages because I have been printing absolutely everything with this CIS. Full color DVD and CD labels, game case inserts, full color mailing labels, 8x10 color tshirt transfers, pages full of inket printable stickers and papercraft cut outs.
Even after all that printing, my tanks are not even half empty. I would say they are about 65% full at this point, which is amazing considering all the printing I've been doing. I am beyond happy with this purchase and I stand by my original 5 star rating.
I have only had one issue with this CIS. About every 20-25 pages or so, in the middle of printing a page, the printer will say one of the carts are missing. This is easily solved by just lifting the lid and closing it and the printer is off and running again. If you use a piece of cardboard like I said i my original review, you would have to remove the cardboard and reinsert it. Still pretty painless either way, and a very minor inconvenience when you consider what you are getting for the money.
Speaking of money, one of those coworkers I spoke about in my original review decided to buy a CIS after seeing what mine could do. However, he did not take my advice on going with the FantastyBuy CIS because of the price and instead bought a cheapo model on ebay for $40 that shipped from China.
What a disaster that turned out to be. The kit required him to drill holes in OEM cartridges and insert a tube, seal it with rubber cement, and then try to figure out how to prime the cartridge himself. Needless to say his office wound up being a colorful, inky mess and he ended up tossing the whole thing away including his OEM cartridges.
So, that is another advantage of the FantasyBuy CIS, it arrives fully assembled and primed with custom cartridges that are made for CIS. No mess and no assembly required.
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Working well for 2 weeks, ~70 pages printed. When printing 10+ page jobs, I sometimes get 'cartidges not recognized'. But hitting the reset button solves the problem, and printer continues the remainder of the print job. Fairly minor inconvenience.Prints look as good as original ink. for text and graphics.
I have a Artisan 730 bought in Apr 2012. Before I bought this product, I had allowed the EPSON firmware update that supposedly restricts use of 3rd party ink. Don't do the update if you have the option. This CIS works for me, even with the Epson firmware update. Good news.
The product box is regular glossy color retail box with form fitting styro packing...looks legit...but there is no manufacturer name on the box. FantasyBuy Rep confirmed that this definitely works with Aritisan 730 even w/ firmware update. (they should say that in their product description, they would probably sell more of these)
Installation Tips....
Removing the vent stopper plugs: Before removing the plugs, just tilt the reservoir slightly to evacuate excess ink from the vent port FIRST. (I didn't read the directions thoroughly and missed that part. Had colorful finger tips after that)
Printer modification is not necessary, unless you want the lid to close completely. It's easy. Just heat a razor knife, knife, or flat head screw driver in the flame on your kitchen stove. Then melt a slot in the "side panel" next to the ink cartridges. To be extra safe, a few screws allows removal of "side panel" before cutting your slot in it. I'm going to try to upload pics.
Happy so far.
UPDATE:
Several months now. Works Great. No problems.
1) Reset button....Every fifty pages or so. I can't do it with printer on, during a print job, without having to restart print job. No big deal.
2) Maintenance: None..Just install and forget about it.
3) Print Issues. None...great color, bright, complete coverage.
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Some reviewers do not seem to have a problem with failed printing and the need to press the reset button from time to time. In my case, this is something of a dealbreaker. I wish that I had paid closer attention to the frequency with which the reset button seems to be needed. If you are seeking solutions for reliable large format photo quality printing, this product may not be for you.I am currently using an Epson Artisan 837, printing to 11x14 premium photo paper and creating mosaics of multiple pages. Of the last 26 print jobs I initiated, seven failed because of an unrecognized print cartridge, necessitating canceling the print job, opening the printer, hitting the reset button, and losing the expended ink and photo paper for the interrupted job. There does not seem to be a pattern as to which cartridge fails. Add the reality that I now need to sit by while the printer operates in case it fails instead of getting on with other work, and it's really not a pleasure working with this product.
On another note, It's my opinion that the installation instruction (and the installation methodology) needs greater thought. The Artisan 837 does not easily accommodate the bundled ink tubes, and, as others have noted, without actual modifications the plastic housing it seldom fits correctly. I'm an engineer: my occupation is the integration of electronics with computer systems and directions like "Close the cover and push down on it slightly so that it closes as much as possible" seemed flimsy. My printer thought so too, giving errors at every print job. I ended up using precision low vibration cutting tools to modify some of the plastic flanges in the lid to allow a secure fit without crimping the tubes. Performance improved, but still not to where I could find it acceptable.
When it works, this product offers the promise of low cost high quality printing. It's just unfortunate how consistently it fails (And yes, 26 print jobs is not a statistically significant data pool). The manufacturers of this product, and the authors of the instruction manual, are clearly trying hard to bring a solid product to market and I applaud the idea behind the ink system. Either Epson changed their firmware, and the cartridge is less reliable now than when it was when initially released, or the ink system just is not ready for prime time yet. In any event, my printer and this ink solution are not a good match.
Honest reviews on FantasyBuy Bulk Continuous Ink System (CIS) for: Epson Artisan
I would have rated it 4.5, but it deserves a 5 more than a 4. I am using it with an Epson Artisan 730. I had no trouble installing it, though I should have worn latex gloves. I forgot the hint from another reviewer, to tilt the reservoir to get the ink out of the small side before removing the plugs. To make matters worse, I live at 2,400 foot elevation, so the pressure differential caused ink to flow out when I removed the factory installed stoppers in order to install the air vents.Read the other reviews, and note the hint about using a piece of cardboard to fool the printer into thinking that the chassis is closed. Or, cut a groove in the printer for the plastic tubing. I found the corner flap on the box to be perfect, when folded to fit in the hole for the closing sensor. Note that the Epson will not reset the ink level until a cartridge runs so low that it needs replacement. Pressing the reset button prior to the low ink message does nothing, in my experience.
Prior to delivery of the FantasyBuy CIS, I went through 2 six packs of Epson ink, ($80 each) as we printed about 100 holiday letters with photos. We printed another 100 after the FantasyBuy was installed, and the tanks are still about 75% full. As reported by others, there are occasions when the printer fails to recognize a particular cartridge, but I had that experience with the genuine Epson cartridges, as I recall.
Buy the FantasyBuy CIS, get hold of some latex gloves, tip the reservoir to drain the small side, and start saving a lot of money on ink.
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