You might check with Wilhelm-Research (http://www.wilhelm-research.com) to see if they have tested Media Street inks for how long they will last.

However, I must add that a professional user who had good experience with the Version 3 of Media Streets continuous flow system, needed a new one and got their Version 4, and found it does not work, and Media Street did not refund his money (this may be in my column Digital Help in a future issue.)

I'll suggest to you another company which I have found reliable and has very good quality inks, and that is MIS Associates (http://www.inksupply.com) that also offers a continuous flow ink supply system.

However, unless you do a volume of printing and will use the system almost daily, I would not recommend using a continuous flow system. It might be better to just look into buying bulk ink to refill cartridges.

Since buying a new Epson 2880 printer and printing a few photos, I soon realized that I would need a source of less expensive inks and with higher capacity carts. Looking back now I don't remember what drew me to Ink2Image. I think it was the good reviews their Great Britain counterpart (Cave Ink) received.

I don't know what results others get with these inks, but my result has been an ongoing nightmare. When first installed the few photos I printed were great. Due to business travel, I didn't use the printer for several months. When I tried to print again, most of the nozzles were clogged. I went through the cleaning processes and also called Ink2Image for some guidance. After buying and using cleaning solution and special carts. from I2I, using much of the bulk ink I bought from I2I and many hours of effort, I ended up sending the printer back to Epson for repair. $300 bought a new print head.

I installed ne I2I carts again thinking I caused the problem due to the lack of exercise of the printer allowing the ink to dry in the nozzles (per I2I). I have been printing at least 2 5X7 prints per week.

The nozzles are once again blocked after 6 days of lack of printer use. The Epson repair tech may be able to do the repair as warranty work.

My Brother has the same printer but only uses Epson Inks. He does not go out of his way to print something every week; he usually goes for months without printing with no printer problems.

I'm thinking that the Ink I got from I2I was defective since they do sell a lot of ink, and if this was a common problem their product would not sell.

When I spoke to the I2I tech yesterday he told me that the shelf life of the ink is up to 15 months (my ink was not that old). They would not replace the Ink I used in cleaning the second time nor would they offer any additional help beyond a 10% discount and free shipping for a new order of ink. In their words “we can't make any money giving away ink". Obviously I won't be buying from them again.

I am surprised that they have this attitude since their ink was the cause of 2 print head failures. Has anybody had similar experiences with Ink2Image? Also, does anybody use aftermarket ink successfully and if so what brand?

Thanks,
Brian