If you want to have any sort of productivity at home you’ll need a printer for your computer.

Whatever type of printer you choose is a personal choice depending on the features you require.

If you want to print out digital photos then you’ll want a high quality photo printer. If you just want to print out the occasional email or Word document then there are lower end of the scale printers that are perfect for that.

Before you get all worked up on just what the right printer is, it’s helpful to do a little bit of research about printer ink cartridges. There are good reasons why you should choose your printer ink first, printer second.

Printers are really well built these days and can last through several computers. The biggest expense with a printer is the printer ink. So it makes sense to look for a printer that has the lowest cost printer cartridges to reduce your overall operating costs.

The first thing to check out is how much a brand new cartridge from the manufacturer costs. If the print cartridge costs more than the printer then it’s really not worth it.

Instead look for an inexpensive replacement cartridge.

Look for aftermarket cartridges as well. There are plenty of manufacturers that provide new inkjet cartridges at a much lower cost than factory originals.

You can find refurbished cartridges for even cheaper than aftermarket ones and they will work just as well.

The final option in printer cartridges is refillable ones. With this you just buy a refill syringe and kit and do it yourself. Be careful though it can be messy!

Cost is the main reason why you should choose your printer ink first, printer second. By shopping around you can find a printer that will suit your needs but has lower operating costs.

Printing has come a long way since the first Guttenberg bible.  Ever since that first manuscript was printed, ink cartridges have evolved. They moved from rolled on ink, mimeograph machines, and ink ribbons and finally up to the printer ink cartridges we know today. Here’s a history of printer ink cartridges.

When computers first started being produced for mass consumer use printers were stuck with basically the same ink delivery system as a typewriter. They used an inked ribbon on a spool cartridge and used a process called dot matrix to produce a really low quality image.

The next area of innovation was the toner cartridge.  They’re still in use today for mass black and white copying and printing. These are common in copiers and laser printers. They allow for high-speed mass reproduction of any black and white document.

Moving up to the modern era though we have the ink jet cartridge that lets you produce high quality printing in black and white and in color. The way it does this is by using two separate sets of cartridges. The first cartridge is just for black ink. The second cartridge contains three primary colors that mix together to give you great eye-popping color prints and even photographs.

For years whenever an ink jet cartridge was empty you just tossed it away and bought a new one. Now a days though you can refill your inkjet cartridge or buy refilled/refurbished ones.

Refurbished printer ink cartridges typically cost much less than a brand new one. If you choose to refill the cartridge yourself it’s even cheaper, but can be a little bit messy.

So there’s a history of printer ink cartridges from the lowly dot-matrix ribbon through modern photo quality ink jet printers.  There are all sorts of options out there for whatever printer you choose.

If you have a Lexmark printer then it is most likely that you have purchased an OEM Lexmark ink cartridge as a replacement in the past. Buying an OEM cartridge is a suitable option as you know that you have purchased the optimum printer ink for your printer. The problem with purchasing OEM cartridges is that they can be quite expensive and this is particularly so if you do a lot of printing. There are however cheaper alternatives to purchasing an OEM Lexmark ink cartridge that can save you money.

An OEM Lexmark ink cartridge is an Original Equipment Manufacturer cartridge. It is a cartridge that has been manufactured by Lexmark. Although these cartridges are of very high quality they can be expensive. If you can afford to buy all means purchase an OEM cartridge but if you are looking to save money then there are other cost saving alternatives.

One option is to purchase a remanufactured Lexmark ink cartridge. These cartridges are used OEM Lexmark cartridges that have been thoroughly cleaned and refilled with fresh printer ink. They are then tested to ensure that they meet the same high standards as set for OEM cartridges. Not only are you saving money by purchasing remanufactured cartridges but you are also helping to save the environment as you are essentially purchasing recycled cartridges.

Another option is to purchase a compatible Lexmark ink cartridge. Compatible cartridges are new cartridges that have been manufactured by a company other than Lexmark. In other words you are purchasing a generic brand of printer ink.

In the past, some printer ink manufacturers have made you believe that using a compatible or remanufactured cartridge will void your warranty but this is not the case. Legislation has been created in the US to prevent companies from making these claims so essentially you can use these cartridge types without the worry of potentially voiding your warranty.

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