Compatible...but is it?

[mikling]

I must say this is a bit of an eye opener for me (I use only dye inks). Can we have comments from our two professional ink suppliers please.

The issue is the aftermarket compatibles. Buying prefilled compatibles is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are getting even if you stick with one brand. Forrest Gump said it best.
I think peterbj needs to clarify the comments about clogging, it is the ink inside the compatible and not the "pigment" as a category

 

[PeterBJ]

I didn't write that pigment inks in general are bad. But pigment inks found in some of the cheap aftermarket cartridges have ruined many Canon print heads.

There are good refill inks available both pigment and dye. And of course OEM pigment inks are also good.

 

[stratman]

it’s the Dogs liathróidí..

Or, as we say here, glúine na beacha.

 

[Technician]

Peter's spot on when he mentions iffy ink ruining Canon print heads, that's how my own iP4000 bit the dust. Yesterday evening I spent an hour or so searching online for PGI-550XL black ink cartridges. I found dozens of suppliers selling carts from as little as £1 up to almost the price of an OEM one. The all gave the same sort of product description, "compatible with" "works as well as" and in some cases "works even better than" but nowhere could I find the words "contains pigment ink".
Now it seems the devil is in the detail as after market suppliers quote the product number by way of indicating it's type and form factor.
There's no mention of what it contains and could be anything, writing ink, squid ink anything at all. To Canon the PGI in the ink description means pigment, to suppliers of compatible ink carts it just means it's the same shape and size as Canon's and what's inside is neither here nor there. As suggested by The Hat I think I'll stick to OEM for the large black in my printer and go with compatibles for colour, should I fancy going down the DIY route again I'll get my ink from one of the suppliers recommended on here.