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.

Lexmark platinum pro 905 also has a cartridge finder Smart Solution that locates and prints out a copy of a map showing the nearest retailers carrying the ink cartridges for the Platinum Pro 905. The driver gives you the option to print using all available ink, black ink, or color ink only to extend the life of consumables. The printer uses ink cartridges–one pigment black for printing text and three dye-based yellow, cyan, and magenta cartridges for color prints. The black page of ink to cost 1 cent, and color page cost approximately 3 cents.

Lexmark Platinum Pro 905 is one of the fastest printers in the industry. The black text prints obtained from this cheap printer is close to the laser quality.

Another benefit to the cheap E460DW is the back features a built-in 802.11b/g/n wireless print server and antenna to sniff out local Wi-Fi networks. There’s an Ethernet port on the back as well for connecting to a wired network. The middle of the monochrome laser printer gives access to the removable toner cartridge, and the bottom-loading input drawer extends out to accept up to 250 sheets of 20-pound paper, a standard amount for any monochrome laser printer. This cheap printer can accept different sizes of media, up to 8.5 inch by 14 inch legal paper.

The Lexmark E460dw contain high-yield 9,000 page toner cartridge, and replacement high-yield cartridges cost $229. The average cost comes out to be 2 cent per page. According to Lexmark, the printer can print up to 80,000 pages per month which are more than enough to handle the output volume of most small to midsize businesses.

The performance of this cheap monochrome laser printer is excellent. The E460dw can print a sheet of black text at 38 pages per minute.

This mono laser printer includes a toner cartridge. The E352dn ships with a 3,000-page cartridge. E352dn offer cheap cartridge at $157 for 3,500-pages and a $267 for 9,000-pages. Both cartridges also are available at a great discount under Lexmark’s return cartridge program. Under this program, the 3,500-page unit costs $132 and the 9,000-page unit costs $242. E352dn contain a 366MHz processor and 32MB of onboard memory (expandable to 160MB).

The Lexmark E352d is a little speed demon of a laser printer. It prints out a text document at a rate of 24.13 pages per minute and a page of mixed text and graphics at an impressive 25.47 pages per minute. The Lexmark E352d displayed excellent text quality, with clear, sharp characters unmarred by jaggedness.

The CP770 cheap printer uses dye-sublimation ink technology to heat-transfer images onto Canon’s proprietary paper; Canon sells different media options, including greeting cards, postcards, and 2-inch by 3-inch credit cards. The dye-sublimation printing process is different from typical inkjet; the paper makes four passes through the machine: the first three lay down the base colors (cyan, magenta, yellow) and the last pass places a thin overcoat on the image to prevent discoloration and extend durability.

The Selphy CP770 printed a photo at an average rate of .79 pictures per minute. These cheap printers are fast and easy-to-use.