Ink cartridge has to be removed from the printer and replaced with new one from time to time. If your printer does not have a suitable ink cartridge, it won’t work properly. There are several choices for you to choose from. You are not obliged to buy OEM ink cartridge. If you don’t want to buy OEM ink cartridge, you can buy a compatible ink cartridge for your printer. Compatible ink cartridges are cheap. It is not as expensive as OEM ink cartridge. It is cheaper than remanufactured ink cartridge.
The difference between OEM and compatible ink cartridge is the print quality. OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) ink cartridge offer similar quality with the original ink cartridge that is included with your printer. You can get as much as 80% discount when you buy compatible ink cartridge. Compatible ink cartridges are suitable for all kinds of printing but the print quality will be lower than OEM ink cartridge. There is only a slight color variation when you use compatible ink cartridge.
The amount of color variations differs from manufacturer to manufacturer. Compatible ink cartridges that don’t use archival quality ink usually offer poor quality prints. When shopping around, make sure the cartridge is manufactured in a factory that is ISO 9001 certified. ISO, also known as International Organization for Standards, is one of the largest organizations that are responsible of certifying the standards of ink cartridges. ISO has a recorded track of history for developing high quality standards for ink cartridges.
Manufacturers that are certified by ISO will meet the standards of ISO. If the ink cartridges produced by the manufacturers falls below the standards will not be certified. It is encouraged that you buy compatible ink cartridge that are protected by a guarantee. The guarantee protects your purchase by promising a free replacement or full refund in case it is faulty. Besides compatible ink cartridges, there are also remanufactured ink cartridges.
Remanufactured ink cartridge is cheaper than third party ink cartridge. It uses the recycled parts from the original manufacturers. Empty cartridges are often sent to different ink cartridge manufacturers to get recycled into commercial ink cartridges. Every ink cartridge can be refilled several times. It is estimated that an ink cartridge can get refilled up to 15 times. However, each time it gets refilled, its life span becomes shorter. You can save up to 50% if you buy remanufactured ink cartridge.