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Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Differences Between Compatible Cheap Ink Cartridges And Original Ones

As most people who own a printer already know, ink cartridges or toner cartridges are expensive. Not only that, but the amount of ink contained is quite low, forcing people to buy cartridges quite often, if they do a lot of printing. Regardless of where they are bought from, the price per cartridge usually revolves around the same figure. However, there are also cheap ink cartridges that can be purchased. They are not original cartridges, so they are not made by Canon, HP, Samsung, or any other printer manufacturer, but they are compatible cartridges. This means that they should work perfectly with any printer that is mentioned on the package. They may not contain original Brother ink, or original HP toner, but they do their job.

As you may expect, the difference in price is not only due to the brand of the cartridge, but also due quality. A compatible ink cartridge will never be of the same high quality as an original one. However, it comes very close, and most people will not be able to tell the difference, especially when they see that the cartridge
works perfectly and prints just as well as the original one that came with the printer.

Build quality will not be as high either, but the cases where a compatible ink cartridge fails and ink pours into the printer are quite rare. However, better and better cartridges are being released, and the price remains just as low. Compatible cartridges have one other main advantage over original ones, besides the price. The fact that they can be refilled numerous times is something that original cartridges lack. Most original cartridges will not work properly or fail entirely after being refilled more than 5 times, however, compatible cartridges support a much higher number of refills. They are created for users on a tight budget, who are not only looking to pay less for a cartridge, but are also looking to refill the cartridge as many times as possible.

Original cartridges on the other hand have premium quality written all over them. This is obvious not only from the price, but also from the time when they are removed from the package. Build quality is perfect, so there is no risk of ink running into the printer, and ink quality is extremely high. Most people say that the ink quality of compatible cartridges is lacking, and this is one other major difference between the two types of cartridges. There are some compatible ones that use very good ink and there are also those who use poor
ink, but none can compare to the ink used in original cartridges.

The decision to purchase a compatible or an original cartridge remains up to each user. Depending on what is more important, the decision can easily be made. If ink and build quality is the number one factor for you, then original cartridges are the way to go. On the other hand, if price and the number of pages printed per cartridge, as well as the number of possible refills is what matters more to you, then compatible cartridges are what you need. Remember that compatible cartridges are compatible with an extremely large number of printers, so you must check the box very carefully to see if your printer is mentioned on it. Usually, they are color coded for a specific brand, and you will be able to tell at a glance if it works for your printer or not. For example, compatible cartridges for Canon printers will be red, blue for HP, and white for Samsung.

So while cheap ink cartridges have their own advantages, they may not be suitable for everyone. If ink quality is what is keeping you from trying out such a cartridge then you will be happy to know that better quality ink can be purchased. You can choose what ink to refill the cartridges with, and if you are not happy with the quality of the ink from the refill package, then you can get some brother ink or some hp toner for your laser printer, and refill your cartridges with that. The quality will be very close to the original cartridges, but there are still those who claim that it still cant compare to the original ink.

Source: http://iainjenkins.articlealley.com/differences-between-compatible-cheap-ink-cartridges-and-original-ones-2397975.html
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