Here is the problem – ink is pure profit for printer manufacturers. Printer companies rely on the whole “razors and blades” model that the Gillette popularized. It works like this. To begin with the printer companies sell you the printer for cost or close to it and then they sell the ink at a significant markup. This works well for them because while they only sell you the printer once, they sell you ink over and over again. Thus, since they make lion’s share of profits on the thing that people run out of, the printer manufacturers make recurring sales and recurring profits without having to advertise to do so.

Even worse for the consumer, inkjet ink cartridges are not interchangeable between printers or manufacturers in most cases.. Epson cartridges don’t work with Cannon or HP or Lexmark, because that way the printer companies can all make money by being the only one to sell ink cartridges for their printers. It’s a pretty good racket for them.

The phenomenon of cheap printers only serves to further increase the problem of expensive ink. As of last Christmas, the average consumer was able to buy an all-in-one printer from HP for only thirty five dollars. That is actually less than the cost of the printer itself. My friend, we call that a tipping point. Think about that for a second. If you own that printer, every time you run out of ink, it will cost you more to buy an ink cartridge, than it than it did to buy the printer. Sure, that means the printer was cheap, but that also means that HP is making more money off of you right?

The other thing that is costing you more money on your cheap printer is this idea of home photo printing. Yes, home photo printers can in fact print nice four by six prints. While it’s very convenient, do you ever stop to consider how much money that is costing you? How much are you really paying per print?

Let’s say you get maybe a hundred and fifty prints out of your fifty dollar ink cartridges. In that case you are paying about thirty three cents a print. Now, compare those thirty three cents per print to an online printing service like HP’s Snapfish service.

Snapfish charges nine cents a print plus the cost of shipping. That works out to around fifteen cents per print depending on quantity. By printing at home you could be spending almost twenty cents more per print. Is the convenience of printing at home worth twenty extra cents a print?

I for one think the whole printer market is ridiculous. There is no reason that ink cartridges should be more expensive than the printer itself. I’m not saying that you should be spending more on a printer just to spend more, but don’t just look at the sticker price of the printer. Look at the cost of the ink as well.

Bravo printer inks are part of a bigger conglomerate of Primera printer products. Primera specializes in their exceptional CD and DVD label writers and disc publishers. With Bravo series disc publishers, they allow companies to duplicate CD labels in no time.

The high quality printer inks made by Bravo is a hot sell for many new media hobbyist who wants a cool storage for their favorite TV shows, mp3 files, DVD movies, and pictures. Bravo printer inks have a set of color and black-and-white ink cartridges to handle label printing jobs from any design made. With Bravo inks, you can set your Photoshop creations into the CD label maker with great ease. Primera Bravo duplicators and printer ink cartridges could be the new creative outlet for budding artists who want to add spunk to the CD collection.

Bravo printer ink cartridges accompany Primera Bravo duplicators for their ease of use. CD and DVD publishers will find these products as a plug and play device that works right off the box.

For power users, there are several Bravo printer ink cartridges on the market. Bravo printer inks are made to FCC standards and engineered with automated facilities to ensure high quality and no-frills products. Its best feature is that even though Bravo printer inks are specially made for DVD and CD duplicators.

Bravo printer ink cartridges have gotten encouraging reviews from its consumer base. Bravo printer inks are highly praised by audio enthusiast, Mac users, video professionals, and different organizations. If you want to give your CD presentations and your company an edge, Primera Bravo’s ease of use and heavy community support will help you accomplish different CD printing tasks to utmost effectiveness.

Primera Bravo inkjet cartridges are sold at printer online stores such as PrintCountry.com. PrintCountry offers various perks and benefits such as fast shipping options, price matching, and convenient checkout for an enhances shopping experience. If you wish to apply for bulk orders for Bravo inkjet cartridges, you can avail of discounts and free shipping. If you are a company who specialize in CD duplication, PrintCountry can offer a reliable printer ink supply for your CD printers. With Primera Bravo inkjet cartridges, your new media storage is placed at a new high.

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.

Do remanufactured cartridges harm the machine?
Remanufactured cartridges do no harm to the printer. Remanufactured cartridges are nothing but recycled OEM cartridges. You only have to buy a remanufactured cartridge that is meant for your specific printer.

How many times I can refill a cartridge?
Many suggest refilling should not be done for more than 4-5 times. Printer cartridges come with printer heads and once these heads wear out, the cartridge needs to be changed. As long as you are satisfied with the print quality, you can go on refilling.

How to save printer ink?
Printer inks are very expensive and the best way to save money on printer ink is to use it economically. Plan and print. Often people take printouts simply to realize later that it is not required. Take printouts of only those documents, which are necessary.

Where to buy printer ink?
Printer inks can be brought from retail stores or from online stores. Buying from online stores will save you a lot of money – both on the product and on shipping and traveling expenses as well.

Does my printer warranty remain valid even if I use compatible or remanufactured cartridges?
Printer manufacturers like Hewlett Packard, Canon, Epson, Lexmark etc suggest that you use only OEM cartridges. Generally your printer warranty will be void if you use compatible or remanufactured cartridges. If you have ever used remanufactured or compatible cartridges, the printer manufacturer will not take responsibility for any damage done to the computer.

Here’s how to do it:

Cartridges from the Manufacturer

Buying bulk quantities of manufacturer ink cartridges is usually more affordable than buying them individually. If you do a lot more black and white printing than color printing, buying black cartridges in bulk could be a good idea.

Though they are quite pricey, cartridges that come straight from the manufacturer produce the best printed pages.

Don’t forget, however, that ink cartridges can dry out over time; in fact, most boxes of cartridges have a date stamped on them saying when they should be used by for best results. The money you save by buying in bulk will be wasted if your ink cartridges dry up and become useless before you ever need them.

Cartridges that Have Been Refilled and Remanufactured

Refilled and remanufactured cartridges, sold by many companies, are usually just original manufacturer cartridges that have been refilled with generic ink. That means you are saved the stress of trying to refill them at home.

The cleaning and testing process performed by ink refilling companies is more in depth than you would be able to do at home by yourself, so you can trust that they will be of a higher quality.

Refilled and remanufactured cartridges are also susceptible to the drying effects that original manufacturer cartridges are. For that reason, it would not be wise to buy any more cartridges than you plan on using in the next few months.

Do-It-Yourself Ink Refill Kits

Printer ink refill kits are cheap and do not tend to dry out as quickly as the other options since ink is stored in bottles instead of a cartridge.

The actual act of refilling your printer’s ink cartridge with you new ink, however, is not very simple. It can potentially turn into a big mess if you don’t know what you are doing.

Counting the Cost

Think about the prices of each option:

For a V40 series HP printer, black ink cartridges cost about $30 brand new.

Bought in bulk, the same cartridges are sold in packs of four at $100, making their individual unit price $25.

The exact same cartridge only costs $21 if it has been refilled and refurbished. And bulk purchases of refurbished cartridges will drive the price even farther down.

A bottle of black refill ink that will completely refill your cartridge four times is sold for only $15. That means that each refill only costs you $3.75.

There are a few things you need to be aware of, though, if you’re going to use refill kits.

The first thing to keep in mind is that each brand and model of printer uses slightly different types of ink. If you use a “generic” refill kit that claims to work for any printer, chances are it’s not going to work very well on any of them.

You need to be sure to get a refill that is specifically compatible with your brand and model of printer, to get the best results.

Another thing to consider is how many refills you get from a kit. Many refill kits include enough ink to refill a cartridge 3 or 4 times.

While this can keep the price down, remember that a cartridge should only be refilled a couple of times before it is replaced. After that, it will start to malfunction and it won’t matter how good the refill ink is, your print quality will still be poor.

If you buy a refill that has enough ink for multiple uses, you can always buy a new (or remanufactured) cartridge after refilling yours a couple of times and then use the rest of the refill ink on that one when it’s empty.

Refill kits usually have a longer shelf life than cartridges do, often as much as 2 years. If you don’t do enough printing in that time to use up the refill, it may not be the best option since you’ll probably end up wasting part of it anyway.

The other common problem with refill kits is that they can be quite messy if you aren’t careful when refilling them. Companies that refill empty cartridges have specialized equipment that makes it quite simple.

When you’re doing it yourself, ink can leak or spill and it can make a real mess if you’re not careful. Be sure to read through the refill kit instructions thoroughly before attempting the refill – probably a couple of times.

Check the website of the company you bought the kit from and see if they have any special tips or even a video showing how the process works.

It might even take you a couple of tries to figure out how the refill process works, so it’s best not to leave it until you are on a deadline. Having to attempt a refill for the first time in the middle of night before your major project is due is not the time to find out whether you can make it work!

If you’re going to shop online, you want to stick with some names you know and some names that are well-respected in the Internet community. When you’re making a major purchase, you certainly don’t want to be risking your investment by buying from some flash-in-the-pan site. Here are a few sites you might want to visit:

• OfficeDepot.com
• Staples.com
• TigerDirect.com
• BestBuy.com
• Dell.com
• CircuitCity.com
• Amazon.com

How to Find the Best Deals

Below are some strategies that you can use to save money on your printer purchase:
• Comparison shopping. When you’re looking online, you should compare prices at more than one of the sites above. Make sure to search for the exact same model and condition. Amazon.com and Dell.com, for example, sells some refurbished models at a lower cost so unless that’s something you’re interested in you may want to pay attention to issues of that nature when making your comparisons.
• Take into consideration other factors. When you’re buying a printer online, there are other factors than price to consider. For example, some online stores offer rebates just like traditional stores. However, given the high rate of failure associated with rebates you may be better off not including these in the price when making comparisons. Another factor is shipping.

Is Buying Online a Good Idea?
Although you may be able to find a better deal by shopping on the Internet for a inkjet or laser printer, it’s not always the best idea. For one, shipped printers can be damaged quite easily even when precautions are taken. If such damage occurs, you may not have a local store to which you can take it for a replacement or for a repair.

Mistakes can also be made online, especially when the information provided on the model is limited. If you have questions, you can’t simply walk up to a salesperson and ask. There’s nothing wrong with doing some comparison shopping online or reading printer reviews. But if you go through a site such as BestBuy.com, you might ask the store to honor the online price if it is lower. Stores won’t always do this but it never hurts to ask.

What about Printer Supplies?
The good news is that you can take advantage of those improved deals on printer supplies that are often available online. Many of the problems associated with buying a printer online won’t be relevant to purchasing inkjet cartridges or toner.

What are Universal Ink Refill Kits?
To make things convenient for consumers, universal ink refill kits were introduced. The idea was that one kit could be used with any brand of inkjet cartridge which makes finding a kit easier for consumers and would encourage them to refill instead of buying new. While the idea sounds good in theory, universal ink refill kits don’t live up to their promises.

Problems with These Kits
There are a number of reasons why universal kits don’t deliver the results consumers want:
• Different inks. Manufacturers do not use the same type of ink in their cartridges which means the ink may not work with all brands. As a result, you may either end up with reduced printing quality or a cartridge that simply doesn’t work at all.
• Different cartridges. If you’ve compared inkjet cartridges, you already know that are not designed the same. As a result, there is no single way to refill all of them. That means what may work for brand is going to fail miserably for another.
• Different tools. Because of the different designs found in the inkjet cartridges, different tools are needed for refilling.

All of these reasons have contributed to an increase in failure rates among these universal kits.

Better Refill Alternatives
If you want to refill your inkjet cartridges, the better choice is to purchase model-specific refill kits. These are designed specifically to work with your model and, therefore, have a much higher success rate.

Should I Refill?
If you’re debating about whether or not to refill your ink cartridges, remember that you will save money, especially if you are a heavy printer. Choosing these model-specific kits makes the refilling process more convenient and more reliable. Also, there is nothing wrong with refilling used cartridges. Manufacturers may warn that doing so will void your printer warranty but that is simply not the case.

Recycle Paper
Unfortunately, not all printers are going to be working with you on this quest to conserve paper. Occasionally, blank pages are going to be printed and those aren’t going to be useful to anyone. Have a container near the printer in your home or office where these pages and other unneeded pages can be dropped off for later recycling. Even though you won’t technically be saving any paper yourself, by recycling these sheets you can prevent the necessity for cutting down more trees.

Select Print Range
We’ve all printed something from the Internet only to find that the last page of the job only had a small line of text at the top and nothing else. One of the best ways to prevent this from happening is to get in the habit of doing a “Print Preview” before you send the document to your printer for processing. You can select this option from under your “Print” menu. Once you see the preview, you can find out which pages are necessary for printing. You can go back to the print job options and enter the specific page number range (for example, 1-5) that you need to print. You will save paper and ink cartridge using this technique but it can take time getting in the habit of taking those extra steps.

Print Front & Back
As long as your printer comes equipped with a duplexing feature, you can save on paper simply by printing on both the front and back of the paper. In fact, you might want to look for a machine that comes with auto-duplexing because this will be even easier to use. Generally, this approach works well for any document larger than one page in size and it allows you to cut your paper needs in half.

Only Print When Necessary
Another way to reduce your paper usage is by printing only items that are necessary. If you see something on the Internet you want to share or keep, email the link to people or bookmark the page instead of printing. If you are on a network, you can place documents on the network so they can access them in digital form.

Reducing Ink Usage

Below are some ideas that can help you conserve ink while you’re working. These can be important ways to lower your expenses:
• Use lowest print quality settings (draft or lower numbers)
• Only print necessary documents – If you can share it with other users via email or the network, do so.
• Edit online before printing
• Make one copy of memos or announcements – place it somewhere workers are likely to see it

Lowering Paper Usage

If you find that your office is going through a lot of printer paper, there are some ways you can rectify that situation. Below are a few ideas for reducing the amount of paper used by your business:
• Print front and back whenever possible
• Set print ranges so you don’t print pages with no text or with no important text
• Recycle blank pages that come out of the printer accidentally
• Combine small print tasks onto a single page instead of over several pages with lots of excess white space

Other Good Ideas for Saving on Paper & Ink
If you are interested in cutting your costs and that’s why you want to begin conserving your paper and ink cartridges, one of the best ways is to use a refill system for your ink or to purchase compatible ink cartridges. In these cases, you’ll see a dramatic price drop. In most cases, these two options won’t make it any more difficult to use your existing printer.

You can save money on both by installing a code system on your printer. That means your employees would need to enter their code before printing so you can keep track of their printing efforts. With that information, you can help heavy printer usage to reduce their dependency on ink and paper.

The Benefits
Taking any of the steps above will help reduce your need for ink and paper when using your printer. Additionally, you will also save money. The average inkjet cartridge costs around $30 and toner costs are about three times that so if you can reduce the number you need to buy that looks good for your bottom line. You’ll also be helping save trees and space in the country’s landfills. Surely, these benefits make taking a few of these efforts worth it.