Feb 25

Nowadays, printers are becoming increasingly cheaper to buy. It was only back a few years ago when the simplest printer, by today’s standard would cost many hundreds of dollars. How times have changed. Today printers are much cheaper and it isn’t uncommon to find a good quality printer for $50. Generally speaking these printers are more than capable of providing all the features a home user could ever ask for. So why are manufacturers doing this? There is more money in ink!

You may now be thinking to yourself “How can they make more money from a $15 ink cartridge than a $300 printer?” Let’s look at an example. You buy your printer ($300) and the manufacturer puts 5% margin ($15) in his pocket. Now you do a little bit of printing at home, so let’s say you print 60 pages per week. Now your cartridge has a life of 2000 pages meaning every 33 weeks or just over 7 months you will need new ink cartridges. So you go down to your local shop and pick up 5 ink cartridges, because your printer takes 5 cartridges at a time, which costs you $75. The same manufacturer makes a 40% markup on his ink cartridges. So he makes $30 every 7 months from you. Now over the life of the printer 3.5 years he can expect to make about $150 from you.

The aim of this article is to give you, the consumer, a balanced commentary on both sides of the story and the facts about generic ink cartridges. So let’s start with what we know about generic ink cartridges. Generic ink cartridges came on the scene just over five years ago. These early adopters would take a basic ink cartridge nozzle and design an ink tank that would fit the printer by making a simple plastic mould from the original ink cartridge. The print quality was average at best but it opened consumers eyes to how much a cartridge could be built for, with discounts of 80% of the original amount.

Today, generic cartridges have come a long way. Although many suppliers still stock extremely dodgy Indian and Chinese manufactured ink cartridges many claim similar printing results from their generic ink cartridge. Of course, you do need to shop around to find to best generic ink cartridge supplier for you printer.

Another method of reducing the cost of ink cartridges is to refill them. There are two ways of refilling your ink cartridges. The fist is to modify your printer and fit larger ink tanks. You then connect these larger tanks outside of your printer with the smaller ones inside. These larger ink cartridges can be filled at home with a generic ink. The other method is to get your ink cartridges refilled at a shop. It seems these shops are popping up on the corner of every business district. You bring in your ink cartridge and after a short wait your cartridge has been refilled. Although most will only refill your cartridge twice but more on that later.

So which one is better? I thought you would ask that so let’s examine some pros and cons of each.

Refilling Ink Cartridges
Refilling is, in my opinion, the worst way to save money on ink cartridges. The most important thing to remember is that companies that offer refill ink use the same ink for every cartridge. So it doesn’t matter if your ink cartridge is from Canon or from HP they will use the same ink to fill both. What’s wrong with that? Well, each manufacturer uses a different nozzle size for spraying ink. These nozzles are highly sensitive and require the correct consistency of ink or they produce blockages, blotches and all sorts of other nasties. Another issue is most refillers won’t refill generic cartridges. This is because they don’t know the quality of the cartridge and don’t want to know if the cartridges stop working. This means that even though you get you cartridge refilled you will still need to buy an original ink cartridge after two refills.

Generic Ink Cartridges.
Generic ink cartridges are a better option than refills because the actual ink quality is generally better matched to the printer and they can tailor an ink to the model of the printer. However, in my experience these ink cartridges can be hit and miss and you have to be prepared for more blockages and problems than you would experience with the original manufacturers ink cartridges. Although some people swear by generic ink cartridges, I would only recommend them for black and white printing where quality isn’t as important. I wouldn’t recommend them for important documents such as your resume.

Genuine ink cartridges
Genuine ink cartridges made by the printer manufacturer as still the only way to go when quality is important such as digital photos etc. But perhaps the most important issue is with warrantee claims. If your printer is under warrantee you should not use anything except genuine ink cartridges. All printer manufacturers will rip up your warrantee in your face if they can prove you have been using non genuine ink cartridges. Many manufacturers are now including “chips” in the back of ink cartridges so the printer will only work with original ink cartridges, while others have software that can detect non genuine parts. In my opinion that is anti competitive but that is for the courts to decide.

So in conclusion I think there is a time and a place for all 3 kinds of ink cartridges. Although with manufacturers lowing costs almost daily to compete with non genuine ink cartridges the major selling point of the non genuine ink cartridges (the price) may soon become irrelevant. Perhaps the best way to end this article is with the old adage you get what you pay for…and that is most true with ink cartridges!

Feb 25

Are you a proud owner of a Canon Pixma printer? But you are not happy with your refilled ink cartridge because it’s hampering your work by producing poor quality and faded photos. Then it’s time for you to change to Canon pixma ink cartridges. Canon pixma ink cartridge is now a hot favourite among Canon users and you shouldn’t miss the chance to get world class picture quality.

You can trust canon pixma ink cartridges for reliability, speed and colour accuracy and as they are one of the cheaper printer ink cartridges. They are popular among customers because they produce quality prints without any blurry or faded image. Despite being in vogue they are still one of the cheapest ink cartridges.

Canon Pixma Ink Cartridges
Canon Pixma Ink Cartridges

Well, if you are using canon pixma ink cartridges, how can you forget about the printer? The hottest selling printer in the range of Canon Pixma is Canon Pixma iP4200. A perfect successor of iP 4000, it’s the best solution for all your printing tasks as it comes with cheap printer ink cartridges. The printer has a simple modus operandi. Canon Pixma iP4200 has a built-in duplex printing; individual cartridges; and two paper-input trays. Canon pixma ink cartridges produce inexpensive, quality photos and 100-year print life. Canon’s ChromaLife 100 ink set included in the Pixma iP4200 is the key ingredient for long lasting prints. The bright red LEDs light up when five individual ink cartridges in the Pixma iP4200 are properly installed. That’s why they are giving tough competition to other ink cartridges.

Where to buy cheapest ink cartridges, also which dealer not only offers cheap inkjet cartridges but also assures you quality? If you are confused with the fact that there are hundreds of online printer ink suppliers and you are unsure whom to trust, then your search ends here. Madwall Inks supplies cheap ink cartridges of all the brands including Canon.

Canon Ink cartridges of black, cyan, magenta produce excellent text and photo images. Canon compatible black cartridge fits into Canon Pixma iP4000. Madwall Inks offers a pack of five at 3% discount while a pack of ten is available at a discount of 7%.

Feb 24

Ryan is happy after investing on a branded printer for his new business. But little did he realise that the cost of ink cartridges will exceed his budget every month. He was wondering how to cut cost when his friend suggested about buying ink cartridges online.

Gone are the days when you have to visit your retail outlet to get that pack of ink cartridge before you can start your printing job once again. Online purchase of ink cartridges is the order of the day. Just register, select your printer model and add your cartridge to your shopping cart! Believe it or not, it’s that simple!

Purchasing ink cartridge in UK is the sole concern of anyone using a printer. Buying ink cartridges online will save you both cost and time, without sacrificing on the quality. The first step when you are buying ink cartridges online is to choose the type of printer ink and select your printer model. You can opt for black or colored ink cartridges as your work demands. There are hundreds of online printer ink suppliers who can give you quality ink cartridges at low prices. Many people are doubtful when making online purchases, as they are unable to have a first hand look at them. Well there is no concern for worry. All you have to do is to buy your ink cartridges from a reputed online supplier and in this respect the name that you can trust is Madwall Inks. It supplies ink cartridges in the UK of all known brands like Canon, Lexmark, Dell and Epson at cheap rates. Relatively new in the business, Madwall has satisfied thousands of its customers by providing environmentally friendly and superb quality ink cartridges in UK.

Madwall Inks like all online suppliers has its own website. So before making any purchase, check for the services it offers and satisfy yourself. Prices offered by online suppliers are less than retail outlets. The reason why online dealers offer ink cartridges in UK at lesser rates than their retail counterparts is because they do not have to pay for any infrastructure cost like rent of the shop or salary of their employees. And what’s more! Printer ink is delivered free of cost at most places.

Feb 24

If you’re printer uses the hp 88 cartridge series and you’re considering the purchase of a continuous ink supply system for your printer, you should carefully consider your purchase.

The first and foremost reason that I will cover in this article is ink quality. The hp 88 black ink cartridge, requires the use of a high density pigment black ink.

99.999999999999% of CISS or Continuous Ink Supply Systems for printers that use the hp 88 cartridge DO NOT contain the proper black ink and the color inks are generally always poor quality generic inks that are certainly not formulated for use in hp 88 printheads.

I speak from having extensive knowledge of this industry.

HP 88 Cartridge
HP 88 Cartridge

Continuous Ink Supply Systems are almost always manufactured in China. Now, there is nothing wrong with products made in China as a whole, however there is a real problem when products are imported and advertised as being compatible for particular products when they certainly are not.

If you are looking for a CISS for your printer, it is perfectly fine to buy one that is Chinese made. However, buy it empty and CHOOSE the inks that you use in your printer. Especially if your printer uses the hp 88 cartridge series. An hp 88 printhead right now is selling for over 50 dollars from the manufacturer. Your Officejet printer has TWO of these printheads. Not something that you’ll want to gamble.

Quality aftermarket inks are always going to be made in the United States and are only available from U.S. distributors. Ink cartridges from abroad that are advertised as having American made inks are very misleading as the inks are only bottom of the barrel generics produced specifically for foreign markets that buy based on price.

I’ve been around the aftermarket ink industry for several, several years. I recommend that if a Continuous Ink Supply System is what you crave, buy one. Just use quality American made inks that are made specifically for the Hp 88 ink cartridge series, only.

Feb 23

When you buy a printer for personal or business purposes, there’s much more to the cost than meets the eye. You must not only consider the price you originally pay for the printer itself, but also the expense of buying ink cartridges every time the printer’s ink runs out in the future. If you own a business that requires a lot of printing, ink cartridges can run out pretty often. You might have to replace your ink cartridges several times a year or more. This can add up in a hurry since ink cartridges are far from cheap. Luckily there are some ways you can save money on ink cartridges and make each one last just a little longer.

Only Print when Necessary
If there is information you can back up on disk instead of printing a hard copy, then use CD-ROMs or DVDs to back up your files. Reports should be printed only as you need them, not just for the sake of printing them. Also, store your printed reports where they will be safe from spills, or any activity that could damage your reports. This will prevent the unnecessary re-printing of papers. Avoid printing “just for fun” stuff in the office and let your employees know this isn’t allowed without permission.

Opt for Printer-Friendly Pages when Printing from the Web
You’d be surprised at how much ink is wasted by printing direct pages from a website. One Web page can have 10 or more pictures or graphics…not to mention several pages worth of printing for only one long Web page because these are typically much longer than a regular document. Opt for the printer-friendly option if you need to print something from the Web. This eliminates all the unnecessary images, and will save much ink in your ink cartridge as well as save your printing paper.

Keep the Printer Inkjet Cartridge Moving
If you don’t print very often, you can stretch the life of your inkjet cartridges or toner by keeping the printer moving. This means to print a page or two at least once a week using both your color and black ink cartridges. You can print something small (even a printer diagnostic test) to prevent the ink from drying up.

Use Print Preview

The print preview function should become your best friend when it comes to printing! This allows you to view documents before you print them. It helps eliminate errors and excessive re-prints by allowing you to proof how the document will look once it has been printed. Print preview allows you to preview the layout of the text and images, as well as proofread your text for any grammar errors. *Hint: If you print with errors, you will have to fix them and print again – wasting ink in your ink cartridge as well as paper.

Avoid Using Color when Possible

If you only need a black/white report with no colors, then opt for black ink only. You can set your color inkjet printer to monochrome to avoid using colors unnecessarily. You might also want to buy a black-ink-only laser printer if you do a whole lot of printing without color. You can also set your printer driver with a draft setting. The draft setting makes the printer operate faster and use less ink.

Buy Remanufactured Printer Ink Cartridges
Buying remanufactured (or refurbished) ink cartridges can greatly reduce your printing expenses. These are refurbished in factories and sold to be compatible with brand name printers. You’ll save money and help contribute to the environment because the ink cartridges are recycled instead of throwing them away. You can save big while still using reliable ink cartridges for your business or personal printer.

Another ink-saving tip is to power down your printer the right way after each use. Don’t merely switch it off or unplug it, but allow your printer to power down slowly and shut itself down. The print heads need to be in the right position while the printer is turned off to prevent the ink from drying up prematurely.