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Four different choices for the one printer cartridge, which is the best for me?



It can be a difficult decision to make, yet once you make it, you very rarely dwell on it.

There are four possible areas for concern here: here, reliability, quality, yield, and price.

But first of all, what are they? It doesn't matter whether they're InkJet or cartridge, the four choices remain the same, we'll explain them here as follows:

Genuine Cartridge

As the name suggests, its the one originally produced by the printer manufacturer. Hence a Canon printer cartridge is either made directly by Canon, or under licence to them. The interesting thing with the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacture) cartridge is that some of the componentry can be produced by another brand manufacturer or manufacturer.

They are normally very reliable and sometimes do not advertise the yield, because they are what they are, ...original.

Compatible Cartridge

Compatible Cartridges are giving the genuine ones a real shake up for their money.

Although their unreliability  was questionable 5+ years ago, this is not so much the case today.

The compatible is manufactured by companies that specialise in this area, such as G & G, Print Rite, Uninet etc. If their product was unreliable they wouldn't still be in business, as simple as that.

Copyright laws are obliging compatibles to make up to a 35% alteration in the shape of the cartridge, although this can be a detriment to the genuine brands, as the compatible can be altered to hold a greater quantity of ink/toner, therefore higher yield.

Remanufactured Cartridge

This cartridge is the genuine one which has been taken back to a factory,where it is taken through a process of cleaning, examining, replacing worn out parts, filling it with ink/toner and post tested for quality, in a sterile environment.  In most cases, the body of the cartridge is the original body actually made by the same manufacturer that made your printer.  Many of the parts inside the cartridge are reused original components that may have been cleaned and left for a second cycle.  Many users swear by remanufactured inkjet cartridges and say that they can't ascertain differences in print quality over more costly OEM products. 


Refill Cartridge

The refill cartridge is also a genuine cartridge which is refilled by drilling a small incision into the tank of the cartridge at both ends, and using a needle type instrument to refill it. Refills might also have the heads cleaned to prevent clogging when reinstalled. 


So back to reliability, quality, yield, and price.

The reliability will vary little between the first three cartridge types above from reputable suppliers, although if you are operating a business where reliability is of upmost concern, then genuine is the way to go. At the bottom end of the scale is the refill, owing to the lack of quality control or replacement parts (seals etc.). Compatibles & remanufactureds do have a  high reliability, and for most users should not be a consideration.

Quality will again be 100% from genuine cartidges, so that if you were a professional photographic firm, you would probably not want to risk compromise. Having said that, many photographers have experimented with compatible/remanufactureds and stayed with them. But one bad experience will normally have you scurring back to genuines. Again refills are suspect in this regard. For the home user though, probably not a problem.

Yield and Price are very related. But compatibles and Remanufactureds have usually the same yield, or greater yield than the genuines. But how can that be for remanufactureds you say, as they are the same. Well unfortunately the genuines are not filled to the maximum, so don't have the same yield. 

So the Price issue is a no-brainer. Genuines really struggle against the other types here, and that is what has let the non-genuines into the market big-time.


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DO I BUY A GENUINE, COMPATIBLE, REMANUFACTURED, OR REFILL PRINTER CARTRIDGE?

  Four different choices for the one printer cartridge, which is the best for me? It can be ...


 

 

 Confusing, isn't it, when its time to go buying a new printer?

There are so many things to consider when buying a printer, like what sort of printer cartridge do I use (Inkjet or Toner), what functions do I need it for, do I want colour, etc, etc.

We have discussed a number of these issues on previous blogs, but today we are looking at the issue of what brand is the best to buy?

There are 18 major brand names out there you can choose from, and because they are major brand names, you are unlikely to buy a lemon.

However each brand sells a lot of different models of printers. And some of those models, while you wouldn’t necessarily call them lemons, they might not be offering the best range of features e.g. one printer might produce a higher quality of print than another from that same brand. If printer quality (good v acceptable) is not your hot point, then it doesn’t matter.

There is no particular brand that is better than another. Like saying all Russians are communists, or all French people like wine, you can’t say all ‘x’ brand is better than ‘y’ brand.

Rather than buying a brand because it is better, look at factors like what is their after-sales service in your location like, do they have efficient repair facilities, are their prices competitive for the type of printer you want?

So when buying a new printer, this could be your order of priority:

1.    Type of printer (Inkjet/toner, single/multi function, mono/colour, photo/copier etc.)

2.    Cost of printer, including cost of printer cartridges.

3.    Investigate reviews, talk with large multi –brand retailers, other users etc

4.    When you have a short-list, if a large (expensive) printer,look at the supplier’s after sales service, maintenance agreement; if low cost, look up model on the internet to get user’s opinion.

Then make your decision, don’t procrastinate (an awful word), and buy it!


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WHAT BRAND OF PRINTER SHOULD I BUY, BROTHER, EPSON, XEROX.....?

     Confusing, isn't it, when its time to go buying a new printer? There are so many things to consider when buying a print...
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10 July 2012

 

 

You do save by bulk buying, but only if you have use of all the colours.

When  you buy cartridges over the internet, an option you will often find is "B,C,M,Y Bundle" (usually for compatible/remanufactureds) , or "value Pack" (usually for genuines) as an option to purchasing a particular colour.

Should you take advantage of these options? 

 The answer most times is yes you should. If you look at the individual prices of each of the black, cyan, magenta, and yellow cartridges, you will find that if you buy all four individually, their collective cost will be often significantly higher than the bundle offer. Also if you choose to buy each one individually as you require it, you will most likely be paying for the shipping cost, often anywhere between $5 to $10, and sometimes $15+ charged by the suppliers whose cartridge price is unbelievably low. If the price of your cartridge is say $22 then this is a heavy impost.

But if you take advantage of the bundle/valuepack offer, and suppose you don't as have much requirement for colours as you do for the monocolour (black), you can end up with extra colours, not being used.

The solution for this is to order a bundle/value pack, and also order an additional black, or cyan etc, if that colour of cartridge is what you use more. You will pay more for the additional cartridge because singularly it doesn't attract the bulk buying discount, BUT you do save on additional courier costs, as most retailers will charge only the one courier fee, no matter haw many cartridges you order at the one time.


FOR OTHER BLOG ARTICLES FROM ABC PRINT SUPPLIES, CLICK HERE



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WHY BUY PRINTER CARTRIDGES BY THE BUNDLE /VALUE PACK?

    You do save by bulk buying, but only if you have use of all the colours. When  you buy cartridges over the internet, an optio...


How long is a piece of string, you might ask? Not really.

To clarify this article, we are discussing the storage life of cartridges, not the usage lifetime once installed, or yield.

For inkjets and toners, as they use different materials, one liquid ink, the other powder, we are talking quite different storage life expectancies.

Inkjet Cartridges

Inkjet Cartridges, if stored in an upright position, and left unopened, in an area where the temperature remains below 35 degrees Celsius and above -15 degrees Celsius, will store for a longer period than the ‘use by’ date on the box, which is normally two to three years. Not all inkjet cartridge boxes have a use by date, but the cartridge is in a package designed to minimize any evaporation. If after a long period of time, when you do open the packet, and install it, and it doesn’t work, your print head might be blocked, then you can clean it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGKFg0r7CXc . For maximizing  the lifespan of your inkjet cartridge when in use go to  http://tinyurl.com/8ybeogk

Toner Cartridges

Toner is a dry polymer powder used in laser printers (laser is an acronym for ‘Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation’) which is literally melted onto the paper when it passes through the fuser. It won't dry out, and will last indefinitely. However, in high humid conditions, it can congeal. But again, if the cartridge is protected by a sealed package, then storage life for a toner is not really an issue, as the printer’s life span could even be shorter.

 

FOR OTHER BLOG ARTICLES FROM ABC PRINT SUPPLIES, CLICK HERE

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STORAGE LIFESPAN FOR INKJET AND TONER CARTRIDGES

How long is a piece of string, you might ask? Not really. To clarify this article, we are discussing the storage life of cartridges, not...

Your printer is about to pack it in, and you have worked out what type of printer you want i.e Multi functional (print, copy, fax etc.), with colour, and so on. But which brand/model do you buy?

To assist you in that regard, look up this previous blog on what printer should you get.

Time to look up the reviews to get your answers, but where or how do you do that?

One way, is to call up sites that specialise in reviews, by using different search keywords, such as "printer reviews" This will provide a fair assortment of different options.

Reviewers will often provide a filter for letting you advise what you are searching for. The filter determinants can include different choices such as Brand (Company), Category (Multi-function, copier, inkjet etc), user favourites Editors Choice...... so there are lots of ways on the better review sites to determine what printer best suits you.

Remember that reviews are not there to tell you what to buy, but what are the advantages & shortcomings of each printer that you look at. You have to make the decision as to what is important to you and what is not.

And don’t forget that once you have a shortlist of the printers you prefer, to look up the cost of printer cartridges be they  genuine, compatible, or remanufactured to help you determine the long term cost of that printer.

To help you in your quest, here are a few review pages you might find of interest: 

Cnet Reviews

PCworld Reviews 

AlaTest Reviews  (my favourite)

 

 

FOR OTHER BLOG ARTICLES FROM ABC PRINT SUPPLIES, CLICK HERE



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WHERE CAN YOU FIND REVIEWS WHEN BUYING A NEW PRINTER

Your printer is about to pack it in, and you have worked out what type of printer you want i.e Multi functional (print, copy, fax etc.), with co...
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05 July 2012

 How to save on paper, ink and printer costs while helping reduce carbon emissions into the environment.

 

 

 

Then you should have a look at 'Greenprint Home Premium', a downlaodable software product. There is a 32 bit & a 64 bit version.

One user reviewed it as", Works GREAT on my XP Home system, saves a bunch of ink and a ton of paper that would be wasted without it. Also saves time, since I don't have to wait while things I don't want or need are printed." We can't vouch as to whether this was an interested party or not.

Greenprint previews your print jobs for you, removing the unneccessary pages such as images and pages with no text before printing, enabling you to print a lot less pages, depending upon your application. It can also be used to create PDF files form the pages instead of printing them.

The PC World Editorial Review of 'Greenprint Home Premium'  advises it is easy to use and that you instal it as a printer driver, and when you want to print, choose it on your printer driver. You then get a preview of all your pages where you can remove the graphics, text, and entire pages. When you're done, tell it to print.

In bringing this product to your attention we do not necessarily  recommend it, and we would advise you to use the free trial version for 30 days before whole heartedly launching into it at a price of $29.00.

To download Greenprint Home Premium, click here.


 

FOR OTHER BLOG ARTICLES FROM ABC PRINT SUPPLIES, CLICK HERE

 

  

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WANT TO PRINT FEWER PAGES AND SAVE PAPER AND INK?

 How to save on paper, ink and printer costs while helping reduce carbon emissions into the environment.       Then you sho...
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03 July 2012

 

How do I maximize the life of my Inkjet cartridges?

To get the longest life out of your inkjet cartridges (and your printer), you should do the following:

1) Prevent your inkjet cartridges from drying out. If you are going to go on vacation for an extended period the Ink Cartridge left in you printer may dry out. Think of it just like leaving the lid off a paint tin, eventually the ink will thicken and cause blocking to your print-heads. Take the time to remove these cartridges before you leave. Make sure you follow the instructions provided by your original printer manufacturers manual before you do this. Wrap them in plastic and place in your refrigerator until you arrive back. Make sure that you use your maintenance software when you do re-install them to clean and prime the heads again.  You should print using the colour and black print out at least once in 2-3 weeks, but preferably once a week. If the cartridge is already dried out, do not use it to print, it will damage the print head with heat.  You can clean the print head of the cartridge

2) Cleaning Water Based Cartridge Print Heads:

If  you think your print head is blocked, then there is a simple procedure to clean it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGKFg0r7CXc  Don’t forget to run the print head cleaning mechanism as described in your printer manual before using it again

3) Cleaning Pigment / Oil Based Ink Cartridge Print Heads:

For some oil bases pigment inks you may have to use isopropyl alcohol instead of warm water. (follow above water based cartridge maintenance instructions)

4) Cleaning My Printer?

You should be aware that you have to maintain your printer on a regular basis to ensure consistent print quality. On most printer models you will notice that when you change ink cartridges or when you first turn your printer on the printer goes through what is known as a Print Head Cleaning Procedure. For the life of your printer this will happen hundreds of times. You may not have noticed that while this automatic head cleaning and alignment is taking place that old ink and paper residue is being dumped into a holding bin usually a small plastic container situated towards the right hand side of the printer under the lid. This is where your printer head sits while parked and not in use. If this Ink Dump Area gets over loaded, or generally un-maintained instead of cleaning your printer cartridges is does quite the contrary, it clogs them up with old ink and paper dust, a sticky residue almost like a Crude Oil blocks the tiny pores in your fragile print head and results poor printed output which shows print banding or print discolouration. In severe cases complete print-head blockage has been noted.

The Solution: Maintain your printer by cleaning the Print Dump Container and the Cartridge Parking area. Use a cotton bud ear cleaner and some Isopropyl alcohol. Make sure that you remove as much old ink as you can, but before doing anything make sure that all electrical power has been switched off and that you are working in an environment suitable for the job in hand.

 

FOR OTHER BLOG ARTICLES FROM ABC PRINT SUPPLIES, CLICK HERE

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GETTING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR INKJET CARTRIDGE

  How do I maximize the life of my Inkjet cartridges? To get the longest life out of your inkjet cartridges (and your printer), you should do t...

  

 

"Mummy - I'm bored!" The school holidays are happening, but the children have nothing to do.

If you have a computer, and a printer with colour cartridges, then there is a solution.

You might have to learn this free drawing application yourself to show the kids how, but the free time to do other things will justify your return many times over. Happy children means a happy home.

This game is simply called 'Drawing for Children', (click on this link to go to the web page) and it's easy to instal. Did I mention that it's free? It works like a kiddies' photoshop, but oh so simple to use. Just be ready for their printed portrait of you.

Not only does it help further familiarize your children with computer usage, but it also feeds their creative abilities, and it makes them think, and enjoy.  And its something you can share with them.


FOR OTHER BLOG ARTICLES FROM ABC PRINT SUPPLIES, CLICK HERE


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BORING HOLIDAYS FOR CHILDREN? COMPUTER DRAWING IS THE ANSWER

     "Mummy - I'm bored!" The school holidays are happening, but the children have nothing to do. If you have a computer, and a p...
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29 June 2012

 

                                                            

 


There are so many ways to get the most of your printer use at home - here are some of them.

Often home users rarely use their printer, perhaps because they aren't aware of the many print benefits they can get. Following are various uses that you might not have thought of:

1.      Forms.   Many webpages have forms option on their sidebar at no cost. A good example is a Statue of Declaration form

 

2.      Tickets.  You want to go to that new movie that is on in town, or your sporting team has a big home game coming up Saturday week, and you want some tickets. The internet not only allows you to select where in the  theatre/stadium etc you can choose to sit, but allows you to print your tickets on the spot

 

3.        Photos.  You get a virus in your hard disk drive and you havn't backed up to a removable drive. The real heartache occurs when you realize that you have not printed those special family photos. The quality of printers and inks/toners today, along with glossy photo quality paper, enables you to produce great quality photos for your album.

 

4.        Children's Games, Drawings & Keepsakes.  Children on holidays need to be kept occupied, but 3 children do not go into one computer. What to do? Print-out games that they will enjoy doing on paper. Or when they do a computer drawing, it's a masterpiece of course, and must be put up on the wall in the bedroom - imagine if there was no printer!

 

5.       Recipes.  You want a recipe for Thai Chicken, as your partner is bringing home the boss who apparently has a real penchant for it. So you find just what you are after on the internet. So if you don't have a printer, you have to either write it own, or keep referring to the monitor which of course has gone into stand-by mode.....aaaagh. Printing it gives you quick, easy reference, plus you store it away in your recipe book for next time after the boss says it was the best he's ever had.

There are numerous other uses for the home computer printer. So make sure you have a spare printer cartridge available as well, or the children will never forgive you, even Ben at 18, who needs a map printout to get to his new girl friend's place


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WHY PRINTERS ARE IMPORTANT TO HOME USERS

                        ...
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28 June 2012

 

Getting poor quality print outs from your inkjet/toner printer, is it the cartridge or  printer maintenance to blame?

Are you seeing smudges on the paper, colours mixing, or missing sections? Then it could pay you to have a look at the maintenance of your printer,

Here are some things you should regularly do to maintain good printer quality:

 – Use your inkjet printer regularly

When  your printer is left unused for long stretches of time, the ink in the print head and nozzles can dry and cause printing flaws such as jagged lines and incorrect colors. To prevent this,  use your printer frequently, even if just a page of printing.

– Perform nozzle checks

If you leave your printer unused for a long period of time, you should perform a nozzle check before you use it again. This will make sure your printer prints normally. The nozzle check can often be run thorough your printer’s utility function. Look at your printer’s user manual for specific directions.

 – Clean the print heads

If your nozzle is clogged, cleaning the print heads should fix any poor print quality issues. Cleaning utilities come with your printer drivers. Some printers even have a print head cleaning button on their control panel. Your printer’s user manual will have specific directions.

– Align the print heads

If your printouts have vertical lines or horizontal bands this generally means that your print head needs to be aligned. This utility can be found with your printer drivers or in your printer control panel. When you align the print heads, the printer will print a pattern on a piece of paper. You then follow prompts from your printer to adjust the pattern. Specific information for performing a print head alignment can be found in your printer’s user manual.

– Replace your inkjet cartridges

Flawed printouts can often be caused by cartridges that are low on ink. Your printer will prompt you when a black or color cartridge reaches a certain level of ink. Printer manufactures say you should replace your cartridge when you receive this warning because print quality will suffer if you don’t. When replacing your printer cartridges, be sure your purchase the correct replacement cartridge ( check the printer models on the cartridge box or from the web page) and install it as the supplied instructions or your printer’s user manual directs. Incorrect installation can cause more flawed printouts.

 – Turn your printer off (the correct way)

Leaving your inkjet printer on for extended periods of time can cause clogged nozzles and flawed printouts. After you finish using your printer for the day you should turn it off using the printer’s own power button. In most printers, the power button initiates a process that seals the print head from outside air, preventing clogged nozzles. If you unplug your printer, or turn it off using a power strip, the print head sealing function may not run.

 

Alternatively, to check your cartridge, insert an alternative one, if it prints well, then contact your supplier to replace the malfunctioning one. But remember, cartridges don't last forever - if it is over 3 months since you've received it, or experienced abnormal temperature conditions, then discard it as the supplier is unlikely to offer replacement.


FOR OTHER BLOG ARTICLES FROM ABC PRINT SUPPLIES, CLICK HERE

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CARTRIDGE FAILURE OR PRINTER MAINTENANCE?

  Getting poor quality print outs from your inkjet/toner printer, is it the cartridge or  printer maintenance to blame? Are you seeing smudges o...
1 | |
26 June 2012

 


 

The questions you should ask yourself before making a decision on the best printer for your usage.

 

There are many features and options available to you when buying a new printer, that if answered correctly, should enable you to buy the most suitable printer to your needs. And not necessarily the most expensive.

So ask yourself these questions:

  • What category of printer is required? There are three categories to chose from:

                 1) General Purpose or Special Purpose – The vast majority of printers on the market are general purpose (they are good for doing a little bit of everything). Special purpose printers are designed to do specificthings (photo printing, document printing, label printing). Figure out what purpose you need your printer to serve.

                2) Home Use or Office Use – Where will you be using your printer? Home use printers are more likely to print photos. Office users will focus on printing text. Maybe you are a home office user. If so, get multifunction printer.

                3) Laser Printer or Inkjet Printer -  Laser printers are designed for text heavy printing. Inkjet printers are better for photos and graphics. What you print will determine what you need.

 

  •   Do you need to print in color?                                                                                                   If the answer is yes, you are probably leaning toward an inkjet printer. If you answer no, then find yourself a laser printer.

  •  Do you need a single function or multifunction printer  (MFC or MFP)?                                  If all you want to do is print, go with a single function printer. If you would like the option to make copies, scan documents/images and fax, you are going to need a multifunction printer.                                                                                                                                                                                      

  • What kind of print quality do you need?                                                                               Print quality differs by the type of printer. Check the print quality for text, graphics, and photos separately. Just because a printer prints high quality text does not mean it will print high quality graphics and photos. Find a printer that produces high quality results for what you print.

     

  • How much speed do you need?                                                                                                 If you are the sole user and you typically print 1-2 pages at a time, you probably don’t need a printer with a lot of speed. If you are printing individual documents with many pages, or share the printer with a number of people, you are going to want a printer with a high print speed.

  • How much do you print?                                                                                                             Make sure you check the printer’s monthly duty cycle.The duty cycle the manufacturers recommended number of pages you should print each month. Each printer has a different duty cycle. Printing in excess of this number may cause your printer to wear out faster.

  • How are you going to connect?                                                                                                 In addition to USB ports, most printers now allow you to connect via an Ethernet connection or Wireless connection. The advantage of Ethernet and Wireless is that they allow you to add your printer to your home network. You can link all your computers to a single printer. 

 

  •  How much does it cost?                                                                                                              Be sure to check the total cost of ownership for any printer you are thinking about purchasing. You’ll pay a certain amount for the printer when you buy it, but remember you are going to need to buy cartridges in order to continue to use it. To get the total cost of ownership, calculate the cost per year for each kind of output (monochrome, color document, photo) by multiplying the cost per page for that kind of output by the number of those pages you print per year. Add the three amounts together to get the total cost per year. Then multiply that by the number of years you expect to own the printer, and add the initial cost of the printer. Compare the total cost of ownership figures between printers to find out which printer will be cheapest in the long run. More on this at InksupplyGuy.

    Additional information on what printer to get can be seen on a video from PC World

     

     

    FOR OTHER BLOG ARTICLES FROM ABC PRINT SUPPLIES, CLICK HERE

 

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TIME TO REPLACE YOUR PRINTER - WHAT TYPE SHOULD YOU BUY

    The questions you should ask yourself before making a decision on the best printer for your usage.   There are many features and opti...
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25 June 2012

 

 

How do you get rid of those used printer cartridges in an environmentally friendly way (e-waste recycling)?

 

This is becoming a more vexing problem for business and householders as Australians disposed of over 18 million printer cartridges in the last year - mostly ending up in land fills with long term environmental issues. Plastic is a material that nature finds particularly difficult to decompose taking an extremely long period of time. so alternative uses need to be found for them.

One alternative use is remanufacturing of the cartridges, and this is becoming more evident with overseas companies turning profitability from reproducing high quality toner & printer cartridges.

Another alternative use is to break down the cartridges, using the componentry in other industries.

But where can you dispose of the cartridges?

The good news is that organisations such as Australia Post are putting their clout behind solving this problem. They call it e-waste recycling and it makes a lot of sense.

There are other organisations such as Harvey Norman and Officeworks who sponsor disposal collection centres. For more information on where you can dispose of your cartridge, go to www.recyclingnearyou.com.au.

To help the environment in another way, especially if you are a business, create a disposal box on your premises, and only take it to a disposal centre when it is full. That way you are not using as much fuel in transportation - and fossil fuel consumption creates carbon emissions. 

We welcome other parties using this article to spread the good word.

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DISPOSING OF USED PRINTER CARTRIDGES

    How do you get rid of those used printer cartridges in an environmentally friendly way (e-waste recycling)?   This is beco...


 


You're buying a new printer and you want to know what gives you the best bang for your buck. 

 Taking away factors such as print speed, and quality of print ( for genuine recognized brands, are nearly always high ), which can otherwise be important considerations for you, the most important consideration in purchasing a printer is its total cost i.e. price plus running costs over a period of its lifetime, say 3 years. 

Running costs do matter, and a printer with a lower cost per page isn't necessarily going to be cheaper in the longer term. To find out which printer is the best buy, you need to compute the total cost of printing over the printer's lifetime.

In undertaking your comparisons, make sure that the printer cartridge usage yields you use are from reliable suppliers where the yields are measured in terms of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

Remember that cartridge prices are irrelevant unless you also know how many pages the cartridge will print. Focus on the cost per page, not the cost per cartridge. Estimate the number of pages you print per month, both in monochrome (black), and in colour. In printer usage colour also uses the black cartridge.  

Following is a table that will assist you in determining what total printer costa are to you:

 

PRINTER
PRICE
COST PER PAGE
RUNNING COSTS PER MONTH
TOTAL COST PER MONTH
3-YEAR RUNNING COSTS
TOTAL 3-YEAR COST
MONO
COLOUR
MONO
COLOUR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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WHAT WILL BE THE REAL COST OF THE PRINTER I BUY

  You're buying a new printer and you want to know what gives you the best bang for your buck.   Taking away factors su...
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21 June 2012

 

How to Prevent Print Defects in DCP9040CN, DCP9042CDN, HL4040CN, HL4050CDN, MFC9440CN, MFC9450CDN, and MFC9840CDW printers by Brother

PROBLEM

Due to variations in temperature and humidity, any newly installed cartridge (TN-150, TN155) in the  Brother DCP9040CN, DCP9042CDN, HL4040CN, HL4050CDN, MFC9440CN, MFC9450CDN, and MFC9840CDW printers, whether new OEM or remanufactured, can produce density defects if the printer is not calibrated.


Failure to calibrate after cartridge installation can result in light print or over saturated dark print caused by colours not being properly matched. Dumping can be caused by over saturation or by over development of toner.

SOLUTION


To achieve optimal colour density for each colour it is recommended that a manual calibration be performed on the printer at the time of cartridge installation.

To manually calibrate:

  1.  Press the + or - key to choose Colour Correction, Press OK,
  2.  Press OK when printer window displays Colour Correction.
  3.  Press OK when printer window displays Colour Calibration. Then calibrate.
  4.  Press OK again when printer window displays Calibrate OK?

In the event that your manual calibration is unsatisfactory, undo by resetting the parameters to factory settings and then repeat manual calibration.

  1. Press the + or - key to choose Colour correction. Press OK.
  2. Press OK when printer window displays colour correaction. Colour Calibration 
  3. Press the + or - key rto choose Reset. Press OK  when the printer window displays  Colour Calibration Reset.
  4. Press OK again  when the printer window displays Reset OK? 


FOR OTHER BLOG ARTICLES FROM ABC PRINT SUPPLIES, CLICK HERE




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CALIBRATING PRINTERS BY BROTHER

  How to Prevent Print Defects in DCP9040CN, DCP9042CDN, HL4040CN, HL4050CDN, MFC9440CN, MFC9450CDN, and MFC9840CDW printers by Brother P...
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20 June 2012

 

There are four colours used by printers - black, cyan, magenta, & yellow. Some printers will offer additional colours e.g. red, green, photo black etc, but of the four colours first mentioned, they can combine to form any other colour.

BLACK

The black colour can be defined as the absence of all other colours. The reason that something seems to be black to the eye is that no visible colours are reflected back.

Black can be printed by combining 100% of the three other colours, Cyan, Magenta & Yellowcolours (in which case a black cartridge is not needed). In fact with many printers, if your black expires, the colours will automatically take over to print in black, which is an expensive way to print as they normally are far more costly than the black. Also producing black by combining colours has its drawbacks & can create a colour closer to a brown or gray.

CYAN

Cyan is also called process blue and is one of the subtractive primary colours used in the C,MY9K) colour model. The Cyan colour is predominantly blue with some green in it.

MAGENTA

Magenta is also called process red and like Cyan is one of the subtractive colours used. The magenta colour is greenless and is predominantly redwith some blue in it.

YELLOW

Yellow is one of the subtractive primary colours used in the CMY, and CMYK colour models. The yellow colour is blueless meaning that it absorbs all wavelengths of blue from light.


The cyan, magenta , and yellow individually are normally inserted as a cartidege into the printer, or as a combined cartridge of cyan, magenta & yellow. They never form a combination with the black.

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THE FOUR COLOURS USED BY PRINTERS

  There are four colours used by printers - black, cyan, magenta, & yellow. Some printers will offer additional colours e.g. red, green, photo...

 Do you want to get the most usage from your printer cartridge?

There are ways to get more yield from  them, whether genuine , remanufactured , or compatible.

So save money by following these handy tips:

1) When the cartridge appears to have expired, take it out & give it a firm, but not too vigorous shake, say half a dozen times, reinstal it and you could further usage.

2) Purchase more than one cartridge at a time if via the internet, involving couriers, and save on delivery costs. Most supplers will only charge a one-time fee (incl. ABC Print Supplies).

3) If you do have cartridges in storage, then on a regular basis (say monthly).., shake them in their packaging (NOTE: Do not open the packaging until you use them).

4) If you don't need colour for your printing, although you have coloured cartidges installed, then use grayscale in the print instructions & leave this mode as default

 

FOR OTHER BLOG ARTICLES FROM ABC PRINT SUPPLIES, CLICK HERE

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HOW TO MAXIMIZE CARTRIDGE USAGE

 Do you want to get the most usage from your printer cartridge? There are ways to get more yield from  them, whether genuine , remanufactured , or...
1 | |
05 June 2012

 

DID YOU KNOW – THAT USING COMPATIBLE OR REMANUFACTURED
PRINTER CARTIDGES DOES NOT VOID NAME BRAND PRINTER
WARRANTIES.

How often do you hear the distributor/agent/service centre for a main brand genuine
cartridge manufacturer advise that by using a compatible or remanufactured
cartridge, you are risking voiding the printer warranty.
In fact, the warranty can only be voided when the cartridge used actually causes the
damage to the printer.
Under Australian law, consumers are entitled to a number of statuary guarantees
pursuant to Schedule 2, Chapter 3, Part 3-2 of the Competition and Consumer
Act 2010 (“Act”). If a part is ‘not genuine’ but is interchangeable with a ‘genuine
part’, then the non-genuine part would still be seen as being fit for the appropriate
purpose, and would therefore not void any manufacturers’ guarantee/warranty.
Should you find yourself in a situation whereby a distributor/technician attempts to
void your warranty because you are using generic cartridges, you can contact the
Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC), http://www.accc.gov.au/
content/index.phtml/itemId/142 to get redress. Often advising the distributor that this is your intended course of
action will achieve beneficial results.
So, to conclude, it is in fact illegal for a printer manufacturer to require the consumer
to use a particular brand of supply. At ABC Print Supplies, we only supply cartridges that are manufactured under ISO
9001 international standards, and that we warrant.

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ALL GOOD FOR ALL COMPATIBLE CARTRIDGES

  DID YOU KNOW – THAT USING COMPATIBLE OR REMANUFACTURED PRINTER CARTIDGES DOES NOT VOID NAME BRAND PRINTER WARRANTIES. How often do you hear t...
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26 June 2011

 HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED JUST WHAT IS MEANT BY PAGE YIELD WHEN LOOKING AT PRINTER CARTRIDGE PERFORMANCES?

Whether you are buying a genuine, compatible, or remanufactured cartridge an
important consideration should always be how many pages can I print from the
cartridge.
Now Mr. Mc Scrooge would meticulously keep a record of each and every printed
page, and be contacting his solicitors for false advertising if the numbers of printed
pages was below the quoted quantity by the supplier.
But do you wonder why a T0621 compatible cartridge might last say only 6 weeks on
your Elson StylusC68 printer, after the previous one from the same supplier at the
same rated page yield lasted 3 months. “Something’s wrong with the cartridge” you
cry. But probably not.
Often the reason is due to varying levels of usage. For instance the cartridge
that lasted only 6 weeks might have had to produce the invitations to the annual
school fete, which you had volunteered to do as a member of the parents & citizens
committee of your local school. Also that invitation contained an image of last year’s
fete, along with attractions on the reverse side.
Another reason that the printer cartridge appears to expire before the quoted
number of pages is due to the page coverage. Page yields are based on the industry
standard of 5% page coverage, although page yield is different for every printer.
Thus there is no single page sample that would represent 5% page yield for all
machines.
In the above example of the Epson T0621 compatible cartridge, at ABC Print
Supplies we quote a yield of 450 pages (at 5% coverage). But if you were printing at
a page coverage of 10%, simple maths tells us that you will only achieve 225 pages,
and if you were printing multiple images, then perhaps you should order two or more
cartridges.

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PAGE YIELD AND PERFORMANCE

 HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED JUST WHAT IS MEANT BY PAGE YIELD WHEN LOOKING AT PRINTER CARTRIDGE PERFORMANCES? Whether you are buying a genuine, com...
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26 June 2011

 


Why should I bother with Eco-Friendly cartridges you ask?

Remanufactured cartridges have been recycled to meet or exceed OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) specifications. When an empty cartridge is returned they are taken apart and cleaned, all of the old seals are removed, the wipers, drum and rollers are removed. The recycling and reprocessing process involves disassembling, inspecting, replacing worn parts, reassembling, and filling the toner or ink. Once the remanufacturing process is complete, the cartridge is then print tested, sealed, and packaged for resale, in clean environmental factory conditions.

They are manufactured under ISO 9001 international standards with page yields equal to, and in some cases higher than the originals. These cartridges will cost you about 40 to 60 percent less than using an genuine cartridges, which in themselves often partly use generic components.
They should not be confused with refills, which is where bore holes are placed in cartridges to refill them, and then plugged up. Refills do not have a high reliability level.
Remanufactured cartridges are also very "Green" or environmentally friendly. It takes approximately 2 litres of oil to manufacture a brand new toner cartridge and thousands of tonnes of wasted cartridges are taking up space in land fills each year.
At ABC Print Supplies, we sell Brother, Canon, Dell, Epson, HP, Konica, Kyocera, Lanier, Lexmark, Okidata, Ricoh, Samsung, and Xerox remanufactured cartridges.

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WHY BUY ECO-FRIENDLY REMANUFACTURED CARTIDGES

  Why should I bother with Eco-Friendly cartridges you ask? Remanufactured cartridges have been recycled to meet or exceed OEM (Original Equip...
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26 June 2011
 

Reviews

I’ve just been contacted by support – such quick service!! After significant button pressing, the cartridge is working (we just needed to help the printer along in recognising it).

Thank you both for your assistance. Very impressed and very relieved!