Ink cartridges have come a long way

The earliest versions of ink jet printers and their ink cartridges used a print head that contained the ink nozzles and the elements that heated and fixed the ink. The print head was separate from the printer ink, making it easy to change the ink. A fairly common occurrence was for one of the ink jet nozzles to become clogged with dry printer ink or dust, resulting in smearing or just not printing from that jet. While the nozzle could be cleaned, more often than not, it was easier to replace the printer head than it was to clean it.

Since the mid-90s, most printers use an ink cartridge that contains the printer ink, the thermal head and all the parts needed to actually deliver and fix the printer ink on the paper. If a print nozzle in the ink cartridge becomes clogged, all that's usually necessary is to carefully wipe it clean (though most manufacturers recommend that you not touch the actual print surface). It's far less expensive to replace the print cartridge than it was to replace the print head if that happens.

Printer manufacturers reasoned that since the part of the printer was most likely to wear out, it made sense to replace the printer head every time you replace the ink cartridge. The inclusion of the print head in the ink cartridge is part of the reason that that ink cartridges are so expensive - especially if bought directly from the manufacturer. In many cases, manufacturers sell the actual printer at cost or even at a loss, counting on the sale of supplies for their profit.

The companies can count on your business for supplies because ink cartridges are designed specifically to fit a particular model (or line) of printers. Generally, the ink cartridge that fits your Canon printer will not fit your Hewlett Packard printer. There are ways around that built in profit margin, though, and they include 'compatible ink cartridges', remanufactured ink cartridges and ink cartridge refill kits.

Compatible ink cartridges are ink cartridges made by third-party distributor that are designed to fit printers made by one of the major manufacturers. They're brand new with all new parts, and are manufactured to meet the specifications of OEM (original equipment manufacturer) parts. Think of them as 'designer knockoffs'.

Remanufactured ink cartridges are recycled ink cartridges that are made from OEM ink cartridges. They are disassembled, inspected, reassembled and refilled, then resold at considerably lower prices than new ink cartridges.

For more information on OEM printer cartridges or to select from a range of printer supplies and products choose from the following:

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