Changes in the Compatible Ink Marketplace Many of you have asked about the availability of the newest Epson® inks as lower cost compatibles. We'll try to give you a quick summary of the status. About a year and a half ago Epson® filed a patent infringement lawsuit against most of the US Importers of Epson® compatible inks. (We are not a direct importer, and were not sued.) This resulted in nearly all of these manufacturers agreeing to make changes to the Epson compatible cartridges they sold in the USA so they do not violate Epson's patents. The last day that these "old design" non compliant cartridges could be sold by the importers was March 31, 2007. As part of the lawsuit settlement, most Chinese manufacturers have been focusing on developing "advanced design" cartridges that do not infringe on Epson's patents. Most of these Cartridges have a chip shipped seperately in the box, and you merely slide the chip into a slot before installing the cartridge. This design change process has resulted in a delay in the development of compatible cartridges for the newest series of Epson® Printers. The good news is that this redesign process is largely complete now and we expect the new Epson® compatible cartridges to be available in a couple of months.

1. What is different about "Compatible" Cartridges and the brand name (Original Equipment Manufacturer or OEM) cartridges?

The OEM Companies, i.e. Canon, Epson, Brother, Xerox, etc., make printers largely for the purpose of selling ink cartridges. It is evident when an excellent printer with ink included costs about $100.00, but just replacing the ink costs $60 to $80 that the profit is in the ink.

2. Are COMPATIBLE Ink Cartridges as good as the Originals?

In general, Yes! There are companies that make and or sell inferior products. We fully guarantee that the inks we sell will perform as well as the OEM. In one case--the Epson Durabrite™ Inks--we sell a different product. Durabrite™ Inks from Epson are PIGMENT based. Our inks are all DYE based.

3. What is the difference between DYE BASED and PIGMENT BASED inks?

Pigments are small particles of color, in suspension in the ink. Dye is more of a solution of extremely small particles in the ink. In order to print, the ink is forced by air pressure through a nozzle, and propelled onto the paper as it passes beneath the print head. It is more difficult to make a reliable Nozzle to deliver pigment based inks to the paper. At this time, only Epson of the major printer makers has promoted pigment based ink printers.

4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of Pigment Based and Dye Based printers?

Epson claims that Durabrite™ Inks are more Archivally Stable, and are less likely to run or smear if the image gets damp or wet.

More importantly than whether inks are dye based or pigment based, is using the proper combination of ink and paper. Especially when printing Photographs. Some papers will work only with one type of ink, and some papers perform acceptably well with either.

Unless you are making printed images to last for many, many years, the differences are less important. THE BEST WAY TO PRESERVE YOUR IMAGES FOR EXTREMELY LONG PERIODS OF TIME IS TO RECORD THEM ON CD'S OR DVD'S. Printing technology will only get better and probably cheaper over the years, so recreating the prints will always be viable.