I once tried after market cartridges for my Canon printer and it left fine streaks on my printed photos, so I went back to the original ones. The price of genuine ink has come down a little over time as newer models have arrived.
I do think ink jet printer are an obvious scam to get you to spend money to keep on to of ever depleting ink supplies that must cost them a fraction to produce. The cost of the printer itself is almost a minor consideration next to the cartridges!
