Head-to-Head: Printer Manufacturers' Ink vs. Cheap Third-Party Ink

Mark Sullivan, PC World

Monday, June 23, 2008 10:00 PM PDT

Printing Photos: Lexmark's Own Brand vs. Walgreens Ink

The print on the left, made using Lexmark's own ink in a Lexmark X3470 inkjet printer, looks slightly washed-out and evidences some slight horizontal banding (abrupt changes in color tone that are too subtle to see in this JPEG image). Nevertheless, this print is distinctly superior to the a print of the same image produced with Walgreens Lexmark-compatible ink (right), which looks grainier and more washed-out, and shows far more pronounced horizontal banding.

Return to main story on our tests of printer manufacturers' inks vs. third-party inks.

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