Dramatically cut your replacement cartridge costs by understanding how your cartridge type effects your ink cartridge replacement options

Being informed could potentially save your 50% or more before you purchase an inkjet replacement cartridge. When deciding on a replacement cartridge there are generally two main things you need to know:

• The type of inkjet cartridge your inkjet printer uses.

• The  ink cartridge replacement options available to you.

In this segment we will cover the type of inkjet cartridge your printer uses and how it can impact your inkjet cartridge replacement costs. Ink cartridge replacement options will be covered in another segment. 

First of all you need to realize that the biggest expense of owning an inkjet printer is not the initial investment or purchase of your printer. By far the biggest cost of owning an inkjet printer is in the purchase of the inkjet replacement cartridge. Inkjet printer manufacturers often sell their inkjet printers at or very near their cost. They do this knowing full well that the profits are not in the initial sale. The real profits are in the recurring profit made on each and every ink jet replacement cartridge that gets sold. Think of how many inkjet cartridges you will use over the life of your inkjet printer and how many others, like you, are in the same situation. Now you get an idea of just how huge and lucrative the replacement  cartridge market is for makers of inkjet printers.

Replacement cartridge types and how it could influence your ink cartridge replacement decision

There are 2 basic types of inkjet cartridge:

• The first type (I'll call it type A) uses an ink reservoir inkjet cartridge. On this type of cartridge the print head is an integral part of the printer and is separate from the cartridge. Epson, Canon, Brother and Xerox printers use this type of inkjet cartridge.

• The second type cartridge (I'll call it type B) has an ink reservoir that contains the ink but also contains the print head. The print head is actually and integral part of the inkjet cartridge. Lexmark and HP  printers uses this type of inkjet cartridge. HP and Lexmark both have patents on their inkjet printer cartridge.

Benefits of type A cartridge

Not surprisingly this type of cartridge is generally cheaper to buy than the other kind of cartridge since the manufacturer doesn't need to worry about the integrated print head. There are also less things that can potentially go wrong with the ink cartridge. However, some will argue that because the printer head performance may degrade gradually over time (unless replaced) image and text quality may not be as consistent as it could be. Since the patent restrictions are far less stringent with this type of cartridge you generally have more sources available to meet your ink jet replacement cartridge needs. Your replacement options and sources are also extremely good for this kind of inkjet cartridge.

Benefits of type B cartridge

The obvious benefit, is that you get a new print head with each replacement cartridge you buy. This means that your print quality for both graphics and text will be more consistent over time and you avoid the added expense of getting a new print head later on or even having to buy a new printer just to replace the print head. However, the disadvantage is that this type of cartridge is generally more expensive since the patent protections generally means you have to stay with OEM (original equipment manufacturer) inkjet cartridges. However, the good news is that there are cost saving options available that you can benefit from!

For replacement cartridge sources choose one of the following links: