Re posting an article – honest Q&A about printer ink and compatible cartridges – thanks Stuart!
Are All Printer Inks Created Equal?
• Q. What is the difference between original and generic ink?
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• A. Simply put, longevity. Original inks generally have a much higher Ultra Violet tolerance. This means when printing photos or posters that will be exposed to daylight they will fade faster. However some of the better quality brands have solved this problem too.
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• Q. Will I get the same quality with generics?
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• A. In blind tests we have put original and “our brand” of generic prints side by side and asked people to pick the original print. In most cases people can not tell the difference between the two.
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• Q. Will using generic ink damage my printer?
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• A. This is a big one. This is all about the quality of the ink. After 16 yrs in this business we have found the best quality inks that are made in places such as Korea and Germany. Poor quality inks can damage your printheads. (At one time we would have said Chinese inks were poor quality, but some Chinese manufacturers are really producing excellent products now). If you take your printheads on a typical HP photo printer, there are 35 million drops of ink that come shooting out of 42 000 nozzles, 36 000 times per second and at speed of 50 kilometers per hour! If you put poorly made ink through a sophisticated head it can become blocked and burn out.
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• Q. Is that why my cartridge/printhead failed?
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• A. Not necessarily. Cartridges are designed to fine tolerences. As an electronic device that is incredibly complex they do fail. Original manufacturers don’t want you to recycle, so they will attempt to make the cartridge just last its cycle. As I have said before, don’t print your cartridges dry, this will only damage them. Rather get them refilled as soon as you see the quality drop off. Printheads are thermal, ink is a coolant, so no ink will result in heads burning out.
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• Q. Are all generic cartridges the same, just in different packaging?
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• A. No, absolutely not! There are extremely good brands and some totally horrible products on the market. So the cheapest is not always the best deal, in fact now more than ever, it is worth buying a better brand of generic cartridge. We have a number of different brands in store…why? Because over the years we have worked out which are working well and which are to be avoided. We would rather get the balance of cost v’s quality right, so you, the customer, know that you can be sure that you are getting a quality product.
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• Q. Are generics as reliable as originals?
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• A. I wish I could say yes, but the truth is no. The failure rate on original cartridges is almost non existent. Of the 1000’s of originals we sell we have 3 or 4 faulty a year! Generics do have a higher failure rate. The industry accepts a 5% failure rate. Ink Unlimited have our failure rate down to under 2%. If you are unfortunate to get a faulty cartridge do not fear. We guarantee all of our products and will replace or credit any of our cartridges and refills if found to be faulty.
I hope this has been helpful. But if you have any questions regarding printers, ink, toner, cartridges etc, please feel free to chat with us and we will do our best to guide and inform you.
Regards…. Stuart and the Team at Ink Unlimited!