Monday 31 May 2010

Choose your next printer based on the ink

There are a lot of printers on the market and if you're looking to buy a new printer it can be quite overwhelming to see just how many choices there are.

Budget conscious consumers will often shop based on price, but looking for the cheapest printer might not be the smartest thing to do.

The running costs of a printer are often more significant than the initial purchase price - some companies even give away free printers in the hope you will buy the more expensive cartridges when it comes time to refill.

When it comes to checking prices for the total cost of ownership of printers, Inkfactory.com is a good place to start, they don't sell printers and so that means you can be sure their ink cartridges prices are going to be competitive.

Click through to the printer model you're considering purchasing and you will see a list of cartridges that are guaranteed to be compatible with that model of printer. For example, here are a few current printer models you can click through to.

BROTHER PRINTERS
  1. Brother DCP 115C
  2. Brother DCP 135C
  3. Brother DCP 110C
  4. Brother MFC 235C
  5. Brother DCP 195
CANON PRINTERS
  1. Canon Pixma MP140
  2. Canon Pixma MP610
  3. Canon Pixma IP4200
  4. Canon Pixma MP190
  5. Canon Pixma MP210
EPSON PRINTERS
  1. Epson Stylus SX215
  2. Epson Stylus SX200
  3. Epson Stylus SX515W
  4. Epson Stylus Photo R300
  5. Epson Stylus DX8400
HP PRINTERS
  1. HP Photosmart C4580
  2. HP Photosmart C4480
  3. HP Deskjet F2480
  4. HP Deskjet F4580
  5. HP Deskjet F2280
Clicking further into the site you can see the specification of each cartridge along with the price and how many pages that cartridge will print (although at the time of writing this information is not available for all cartridges); use this information to make yourself informed about the running costs BEFORE you buy your next printer.

Monday 12 April 2010

What is a remanufactured cartridge?

A remanufactured ink cartridge is a recycled, refurbished and refilled ink cartridge.

When a customer purchases a new ink cartridge, they will usually turn in an empty cartridge in exchange. These empty cartridges are shipped to certain third party manufacturers for refurbishing and refilling. The third party then ships the cartridges to retailers labeled for resale as "remanufactured cartridges.”

These types of cartridges usually cost a percentage less than new ones.

What is an inkjet refill kit?

An inkjet refill kit is a small kit which contains several tools and ink used to refill your printer cartridges. The kit usually comes at a very small price compared to a new cartridge. Colour kits contain three different inks required to refill colour cartridges and black kits come with just the black ink.

What is a compatible inkjet cartridge?

Compatible inkjet cartridges are replacement inkjet cartridges which function with your printer however are not made by the company that produced your printer.

These cartridges are often contain more ink than the OEM version and come at a much lower price. The quality may be equivalent or superior depending on the replacement cartridge manufacturer.

What is an OEM printer cartridge?

Original printer cartridges, sometimes referred to as OEM are ink cartridges which are produced by the original printer manufacturer. These ink cartridges come directly from the manufacturer and are the most common replacement. They are also the most expensive replacement ink for your printer. An OEM ink cartridges usually comes with the printer and can be ordered from the manufacturer.