| | Printer Ink: Finding the Ink Cartridges that are right for you! - Jeff O. As "generic", "remanufactured", and "compatible" inkjet printer cartridges and laser toner cartridges creep deeper into the printer accessories market, the choices become varied and often confusing. It is estimated that by the year 2010 the aftermarket share of the inkjet and toner cartridge market will exceed 14% of the estimated 14 billion dollar printer accessory market. Here's a look at what all these terms mean, and an examination of the upside and downside of using non-"brand name" printer cartridge products in your printer. Terminology - What Kind of Ink Is That? OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) or Brand Name - A "brand name" inkjet or toner cartridge is just that - it's a printer cartridge that carries the brand name of the manufacturer on it, usually the same as the printer manufacturer, for example, Epson, Canon, Hewlett Packard, Dell, etc.
Compatible - A compatible or "generic" inkjet or toner cartridge is manufactured by a company other than the original printer manufacturer. They are generic inkjet cartridges which are manufactured to replace the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) cartridges. They are brand new, built with only newly made componentsfor a reliable replacement of the originals. Compatible cartridges are an economical alternative to expensive brand name ink on the market today...you are paying for the cartridge, not the name brand.
Remanufactured - Remanufactured ink cartridges are also a sensible alternative to brand name ink cartridge replacement. They are recycled inkjet cartridges that have been disassembled, inspected, cleaned, reassembled, and finally refilled with new ink. They undergo stringent testing - in the end, they are an excellent alternative because they are built to meet or exceed original specifications. Remanufactured cartridges are also synonymous with "recycled" cartridges.
A Note About Toner Cartridges
The relatively unknown truth is that almost all laser toner cartridges, including most of the original brand name "new" cartridges, have been remanufactured to some extent. The defining point is to what degree they have had component parts repaired and/or replaced. For example: check the box for a brand new Hewlett Packard Laser Jet 4000/27X. Brand new, right? Well, it is. But check the fine print, which says: This newly manufactured product may contain parts and materials recovered from the HP planet partners recycling program
This means that the product, while "new", is possibly not completely new; it's quite probable that components of this cartridge have been used before, and have been recycled. Quality vs. Cost It's a fact: the cost ofOEM inkjet and toner cartridges can be exceedingly high in comparison tocompatible or remanufactured inkjet or toner cartridges. In many cases, new compatible inkjet cartridges can be as much as 70% less than the cost of brand name cartridges. Compatible or remanufactured toner cartridges on the whole tend to be as much as 50% less in cost than their brand name counterparts. In recent days, many brand name printer and ink manufacturers are taking one of to approaches to the marketing and selling of their products - Buy a new printer at alow cost, but replacing ink cartridges for this printer tend to run extemely high in comparision, adn you may wind up paying twice the price of the printer every year in ink cartridge costs. or the opposite strategy, expensive new printers, and more reasonable ink cartridge costs. What's the Catch on Buying a Cheaper Ink Cartridge? Well, there really isn't one, if you find a quality off-brand product you can purchase from an online merchant you can trust, one who stands by their product in those rare cases that generic or remanufactured products don't perform as well as you expect. Brand name cartridges cost much more than generics primarily because of the marketing and advertising budgets most OEM manufacturers spend in promoting their products; a cost most smaller manufacturers don't have. And then there's the issue of your printer warranty... Does Buying Remanufactured or Compatible Ink Void My Warrant? A legitimate concern of many people is whether usingcompatible or remanufactured cartridges in their printer voids the printer's warranty. The answer is no. The following is a partial quote of the text of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Improvement Act, which deals with this exact question: MAGNUSON-MOSS WARRANTY IMPROVEMENT ACT
United States Code Annotated
Title 15 Commerce and Trade
Chapter 50 Consumer Product Warranties
15 Section 2032
... (c) No warrantor of a consumer product may condition his written or implied warranty of such product on the consumer's using, in connection with such product, any article or service (other than article or service provided without charge under the terms of the warranty) which is identified by brand, trade or corporate name; except that the prohibition of this subsection be waived by the commission if:
1) The warrantor satisfies the Commission that the warranted product will function properly only if the article or service so identified is used in connection with the warranted product, and
2) the Commission finds that such a waiver is in the public interest. In simplier terms, this means that no warranty may be voided by use of aftermarket products unless the manufacturer acquires a waiver that clearly shows such voidance would be in the public interest, or that their product will only function properly if the specified manufacturer parts are used. There is one catch, however: the manufacturer (in this case your printer manufacturer) is not compelled to repair their product under warranty if damage done to the product occurred as a direct result of using aftermarket parts. In other words, usingcompatible cartridges is fine, and if your printer ever fails under conditions which have nothing to do with the cartridge you are using, no problem. However, if the damage is directly caused (however unlikely) by the use of a generic cartridge, the warrantor may elect not to repair it, although the warranty would remain in effect for all other warranty issues. Performance: the Price is Right, What About Quality?
Inkjet & TonerCartridges Generic or compatible cartridges are in general highly reliable and perform as well as, or nearly as well as, brand name cartridges. Latest technologies and adherence to ISO 9001 codes (internationally recognized standards for quality assurance) by most producers of generic cartridges has increased the overall reliability of these aftermarket products in relation to your typical brand cartridges. In particular, Epson and Canon new compatibles are highly reliable, as the technology required to duplicate the performance of their cartridges is minimal (with the exception of the very latestCanon cartridges with the "computer chip"). In terms of print life (how many pages they print) generics stack up pretty well - usually within plus or minus 5% of the life of your typical brand name cartridge. High quality photographic printing is the one area where generic cartridges are occasionally suspect. The quality of the inks used by the manufacturer play a significant role here - lower grade ink which doesn't have the same density or brilliance and consistency of color can produce inferior results in the most high-demand cases. Although most manufacturers of generics have moved away from inferior inks, we recommend you ask your online merchant about the quality of the inks used by their supplier, if you are doing this kind of high-quality photographic printing. Remanufactured cartridges are a huge cost value over new cartridges - usually over 50% less - and for every day printing work just fine. The failure rate of remanufactured cartridges is slightly higher than new product, however, and so it's important your online merchant guarantees their product to cover the occasional return. For typical printing, remanufactured inkjet cartridges can be the right choice over new ones. If you need very high quality, professional, color photographic printing results, you should bite the bullet and purchase the OEM new color cartridge. Environmental Issues & Ink: Save money, Save the World "Going Green" is in, and what better way to help mother earth than recycling your ink cartridges!Consider these facts: More than 300 million printer cartridges end up in our landfills on a yearly basis. That translates into more than $450 million being thrown away. Approximately 90% of printer cartridges are recyclable but only 20% are being recycled. Excess ink and toner can filter into our water supply. More than two ounces of oil are used for the production of every inkjet cartridge. That means were going through more than 4, 000, 000 gallons of oil for single-use cartridges each year. The recovery and reuse of empty printer cartridges diverts millions of cubic feet of material from waste disposal, saving us the millions of tax dollars needed to pay for additional landfill management.
(Source: Planet Green / http://www.pginkjets.com/going_green.php) Where to Buy? There are plenty of online sources for purchasing OEM, compatible and remanufactured printer ink, all at the same place. Even some retails chains for office supplies are now carrying a line of their own branded "compatible" inks! The key, find a seller you are comfortable with and can offer you the right price, quality and service.
One online retailer for example offers a wide range of OEM, compatible and remanufactured ink & toner plus these perks: - Flat-Rate Shipping
- 30 Day No-Risk Money Back Guarantee
- Free Shipping Over (X) dollar amount
- Reasonable return/exchange policy
- ISO-9001 quality certified compatible ink
- 24 Hour / 7 DayCustomer Service
- ResellerRatings & BizRate ratings for service in the "excellent" category
(source: Abacus 247 LLC, www.abacus24-7.com) Search the web and find a realiable merchant that meets some of these standards and any other that are important to you. |
