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Once you purchase a computer with a printer, you may think
that you are done spending serious money... well not just yet.
More expenses can be expected soon. What happens when the ink cartridge in the printer run
out of ink soon after you buy the printer?
Well, you have to go out and buy a
replacement cartridge and find out that the Ink cartridge cost don’t come cheap
and can often cost as much as 40 dollars or more.
Problems faced
The sticker price is definitely going hit you in the face
each and every time you buy a replacement cartridge. Worse yet, is the reality
for this price, which is, you will get about a few hundred pages before you have to
do it all over again. You can spend more per year on ink cartridges itself than
on buying the printer itself.
You can just visualize if you have a family with children
who may need to use the printer for their school projects. It may not be
difficult for them to spend around 100 dollars or more per month for the
replacement cartridges. It could go even higher depending on the number of pages
which are printed per month.
Alternatives to expensive printer ink cartridges
Buy a refill kit
You can simply purchase a refill
kit which is accessible for his specific printer and this can be the most
economical choice for him. The savings will vary depending on the type of
printer that you own. The prices fluctuate depending on the manufacturer of the
printer. Normally, a refill kit can cost anywhere from 10 dollars to 30 dollars.
The benefit of this is that he can get about five times more ink than he would
if you purchased a replacement cartridge. Usually you can refill his cartridge
2-3 times from the same kit. When you calculate the refill cost, it is a
fraction of the general cost manufacturer cartridge.
Once you purchase a refill kit, the next best thing to do
to circumvent the printer companies is to buy replacement ink in bulk. Since you
have the tools that needed to perform the refill like the syringe and the air
balance clip, all you need is the ink.
Pros: A bottle of black ink can be as cheap as 29
dollars and give him up to 70 refills. That allows him to save money and makes
the average cost per refill about 41 cents.
Cons: The downside of using the refill kits is that
it can take time and effort to do and it can be a chaotic process, especially if
you spill some ink. As long as you cover the work surface with an old cloth and
wear rubber gloves, you should be able to minimize the mess.
Of course one should know that the printer companies are
not thrilled that the consumers have turned to using refill kits as an
alternative to buying replacement cartridges. There is one simple truth which is
that the printer companies make their money from selling ink jet cartridges.
That’s why they work hard to convince people not to buy refill kits or any third
party ink cartridges.
One can find no difference in the print quality from the
ink in the refill kit against the ink from a cartridge. Nor will one see visibly
and differentiate the performance of his printer. There is legislation in place
to prevent manufacturers from voiding warranties too. So, you can use the refill
kits as per his heart’s content.
Some positive points. There are specific companies which promises to repair the
printer if it's damaged by one of its products. So they sell refill kits and
also guarantee that if you damage your printer by installing a cartridge which
contains their refill ink, you need not pay any for the damage. This can
certainly add to the attractiveness of using refill kits. One thing he should
note is that if you damage your printer by using another type of refill kit, the
manufacturer of the printer has an authority to charge for the repair, but not
for parts which are under warranty.
Generic Cartridges
Many companies can offer generic replacement cartridges.
The generic replacement cartridges can cost considerably less than the branded
cartridges often less than 40% to 75% of the cost of a regular brand name cartridge.
Best of all, the replacement cartridge provides the same printing quality as the
name brand cartridge does.
One thing that one needs to be aware of with the
generic cartridges is that although they may look identical, they can leak or
explode and seriously cause damage to the printer. So how do one protect himself
from the unscrupulously manufacturers? He can simply buy cartridges from well
known retailers both on and off-line who offer both warranties and customer
service.
Regardless of whether a person uses a name brand cartridge
or a replacement cartridge, he can save fifty percent more ink by setting his
printer to print in the “draft” mode. The quality is lessened but this is OK if
he just needs the copies for filing or distributing informally. In addition to
this, he can save ink by not printing any unnecessary graphic files. If he
doesn’t need the graphic, he should not print it. Finally, if he can get away
with printing in “gray scale” then he can do so. This will save him a great deal
too.
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