Ask the average buyer, whether they are shopping for their home or business, about printer cartridges, and they will probably cover the following two points and then struggle to tell you more:
- Genuine inkjet cartridges are really expensive
- You can get cheaper ones, but they are bad for the printer
Here, we will separate the myths from the reality, and also provide some guidance on keeping your printers topped up without breaking the bank.
Original and compatible cartridges
Original cartridges are the ones made by the same manufacturer as the printer, for example Canon or HP. The manufacturers will tell you that you should buy their cartridges for the best results. This is reasonable enough advice for two reasons:
- They can only vouch for their own products, not anyone else’s.
- They want you to spend money with them.
There is no reason to believe compatible cartridges will be better or worse than originals, provided you are buying them from a reputable source. Obviously, if you decide to buy a boxful from someone in the car park of your local pub, that’s another matter.
But here’s the other point, even buying original does not mean buying from the manufacturer. Shop around and you will find that sites like Printerinks also stock OEM Cartridges as well as compatible versions, so you really are spoiled for choice.
Will compatible cartridges invalidate the warranty?
First things first – there is really very little that can go wrong with a printer cartridge, so it is highly unusual for one to cause a problem with a printer. The average major retailer might have one incident per year. But if you are really worried, here are the facts regarding warranties.
Manufacturers are legally obliged to provide a one-year guarantee on electrical products, and they are not allowed to incorporate anti-competitive terms. In other words, if your printer breaks in the first year, they cannot say that you have invalidated the warranty by using third party ink cartridges, which seems to be what most people are afraid of. To have any sort of argument, they would have to prove that it was the third party cartridges that caused the fault, and as we have already mentioned, that is practically unheard of.
Extended guarantees
If you have elected to purchase extended cover beyond 12 months, the first question to ask yourself is exactly what you were thinking of, as they are seldom, if ever, worth it. You can also find yourself on shakier ground making a claim if you have not used OEM cartridges.
Here, the manufacturer dictates the rules, so those anti-competitive terms are fair game, and they could deem your guarantee invalid if you have used third party cartridges.
Performance
Numerous tests have been run comparing OEM and compatible cartridges, and most have found no difference between the two. However, the most important advice to take away is that whether you choose OEM or third party, it always pays to shop around for the best supplier, as this is where the biggest savings can be made.
Photograph by Tookapic