Inkjet cartridge refill options
Today inkjet printers are ubiquitous. They are widely employed for home as well as office uses worldwide. With inkjet printer supply gaining momentum in the recent past, another new area of consideration has cropped up. Whenever the entire volume of ink gets consumed, then the need for cartridge replacement is felt. There are more than one way to go for cartridge replacement and this article is devoted to analyze the pros and cons of each viable options.
Cartridge replacement options
There are actually four ways in which you replenish your printer cartridge. Naturally, the tendency is to ask which is the best option. However the answer is relative and will vary from person to person. It depends on a person's budget, the desired ink quality level and convenience. The options are:
- OEM (Original Equipment manufacturer) printer cartridge replacement
- Compatible cartridge refilling
- Remanufactured ink cartridge replacement
- inkjet refill kits
OEM cartridge replacement option
Printer giants like Hewlett Packard, Epson, Lexmark, Canon etc. campaign in favor of OEM printer cartridge replacement. This is a popular business strategy of printer manufacturers. In fact, they make little profit from their inkjet printer sales. They actually make most of their profits by selling cartridges for their own name brand printers.
Along with inkjet printer supply, OEM manufacturers lead you to believe that favoring a remanufactured ink cartridge, refill kit or compatible ink cartridge for your printer will be harmful for the printer. They may even imply that usage of non-OEM cartridges result in poor printer performance and may void the printer warranty. However, by law you are free to choose non-OEM cartridges. Laws like MAGNUSON-MOSS WARRANTY IMPROVEMENT ACT have been legislated to prevent this sort of monopolization by OEM manufacturers.
Compatible cartridge refilling option
Compatible cartridges are manufactured by third parties and are guaranteed to match or exceed the existing OEM cartridge standard. There is a difference between compatible and remanufactured cartridges. Remanufactured cartridges are previously used OEM cartridges that are given a new lease on life by subjecting them to scheduled remanufacturing processes upon which the cartridges function like a brand new OEM cartridge. Compatible cartridges on the other hand are newly manufactured to the same specifications as OEM cartridges.
The main success behind compatible cartridges is that they are highly economical, comparatively cheap and capable of good quality output as compared with OEM cartridges.
Remanufactured cartridge replacement option
With inkjet printer supply gaining momentum world wide, the demand for remanufactured cartridges as a cheap and effective alternative to OEM-branded inkjet cartridges has been steadily on the rise. The printer cartridge has a much longer life span than the ink it contains. This implicitly implies that when the cartridges are re-processed and refilled with ink, they can be re-used. This can translate to savings for the consumer.
Remanufactured cartridges are recycled and refilled with ink under strict quality control measures. The remanufacture cycle of a remanufactured ink cartridge consists of disassembling the cartridge, proper cleaning and then refilling with ink. Finally they are tested for quality assurance. Competent remanufactured ink cartridge manufacturers can remanufacture both black and color cartridges. They also offer the consumer warranties of up to one year.
Occasionally you may come across the term “ Virgin Remanufactured” cartridges. This simply means the cartridge on sale was originally an OEM cartridge and has been refilled for the first time.
The inkjet refill kit option
The last category of inkjet cartridge replacement is an inkjet refill kit. It has been observed that vendors of refill kits offer savings of up to 80% over the purchase of OEM cartridges. The savings depend on the amount of printing you are performing.
Every refill kit is accompanied by a set of instructions that should be strictly followed in order to get good results. To get best results, you must refill before the ink is totally exhausted.
It has been observed that an inkjet refill kit can refill a cartridge 3-6 times for what it would cost for only one OEM cartridge. Most kits are “do-it-yourself” and are backed by a money-back guarantee. Avoid “universal refill kits” since no one ink fits all. Both black printer refill kits and color printer ink refill kits are available.
Depending upon your circumstances and needs its now up to you to decide on which cartridge replacement alternative best suits your needs.
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