Choosing your ink cartridges

Only buy compatible ink cartridge

Compatibility is the main component to consider when you need to buy ink cartridges. Every printer uses a different type of ink cartridge and you should know about the compatible ones for your own printer. The easiest way to find out which ink cartridge is compatible with your printer by going through the user manual of the printer. You can also search online with the model number/name of your printer to find out the right cartridges.

The importance of OEM ink cartridge

Any printer manufacturer recommends that you buy OEM ink cartridges. OEM or Original Equipment Manufacturer ink cartridges are manufactured by the printer companies themselves. While you may think that the reason why OEM ink cartridges are recommended is because the printer companies can make more money, the fact of the matter is that these cartridges are safer to use and you don’t need to worry about compatibility. But yes, the printer companies make a lot of money from OEM cartridge because while the prices of printers have come down, the same cannot be said for the ink cartridges.

Third party ink cartridges

If you want to save money by not buying OEM ink cartridges, the next best option is to buy third party cartridges. These are new cartridges that are manufactured by reliable manufacturers, but they are not OEM ink cartridges. Some of the manufacturers claim that these cartridges are as good as OEM cartridges and in some cases, their claims are true. And you pay a smaller price for these cartridges. The only caution you need to exercise here is that you should be absolutely sure of the manufacturer and its products.

Third refurbished ink cartridges

Refurbished ink cartridges are those that are reconditioned and refilled. For reconditioning, used ink cartridges are bought by the OEMs and third party manufacturers and they repair these cartridges and refill them. Some of these ink cartridges also have warranties. These ink cartridges are even cheaper and again, you need to do your research properly before you buy any.

Colour or black ink cartridges?

You may be aware that most of the printing work is done in black and for this, you only need black ink cartridges. As far as the other colours are concerned, there are only three more available in ink cartridges and they are yellow, cyan and magenta. The astonishing fact that no matter which colour you want in your print, these four colours (technically known as subtractive primary colours) are combined to create that colour. Now you have two options here. You can buy ink cartridges that have four tanks for these four colours, or you can buy ink cartridges where there are three tanks for yellow, cyan and magenta and a separate tank for black. This second option is most helpful when more of your printing is done in black. This is an option you need to think about.

Which ink cartridges for which use?

If you are only interested in printing in black (mostly text) buying only black ink cartridge is enough for you. For Canon printers, there is the Canon PG510 Black Ink cartridge. You may keep your printer ink tank filled with cartridges of other colours, but if you don’t use them, they may dry up. And once a cartridge dries up, it is really of no use. You may have to purchase new ones.

If your requirement is more of colour printing, then the recommendation is that you buy coloured ink cartridges. The beauty of these colours is that they can combine to form practically any colour. This way you can ensure that all your colour printing can be done in-house and at a much lower cost.

Of course, you have to buy compatible ink cartridges. So, if you have an HP printer, you need to buy compatible HP ink cartridges. If you don’t buy compatible ink cartridges, you could be doing a lot of harm to your printer. And if your printer gets damaged, you could be looking at a substantial cost in repairing it.

If you do a lot of printing, then there are certain high yield ink cartridges that can prove to be useful. One of the examples is the HP CN684WA High Yield Ink Cartridge. There is no need to tell you that this cartridge is compatible with your HP printer.