7 Febrary 2022
By Roger Kenendy
roger@TheCork.ie
If you think OEM cartridges are a rip-off, you are not alone. Many consumers agree. Despite competition from smaller brands, giants like Canon or Hewlett-Packard are still charging customers a lot. Does this mean original ink provides better quality?
How Prices Compare
Name-brand cartridges for HP Officejet models like 7510 and 7610 cost £61.99 if you buy a “value pack”. In comparison, the hp 932xl combo pack produced by Smart Ink costs merely £15.99. You save even more than £42, as capacity is more than doubled. Printing twice as many pages for under 30% of the price is a nice offer.
Quality Standards
Buying OEM supplies is easy because the quality is uniform. With compatible supplies, however, you have to do some research to shop wisely. On the upside, trustworthy brands have nearly bridged the performance gap. The differences are barely noticeable.
To give customers peace of mind, these shops prove excellence by providing quality certificates. Look for compliance with international standards, such as:
- ISO;
- Reach;
- CE;
- STMC;
Compatible products are perfectly safe to use as long as you install them correctly. Like original cartridges, they have sensitive elements and must only be placed into corresponding slots. This is not rocket science!
Warranty
Like original supplies, compatible cartridges are warranted to be free from flaws in materials and workmanship. A two-year money-back guarantee is just as good as the HP warranty. It covers transportation damage, too, but shops use multi-layer packaging to prevent it anyway.
Maximum Volume
As you can see from our example with the HP Officejet Pro, some cheaper products contain more ink than OEM counterparts. The XL volume yields 1,000 and 850 pages for the black and colour cartridges, respectively. The standard yield for this model is enough for 400 and 330 pages, respectively.
Remanufactured Cartridges vs. Refilling
Refilling cartridges at home is dangerous and messy, while taking them to a professional is inconvenient. Despite a plethora of DIY tutorials, do not try injecting ink at home. Too many things can go wrong: you could miscalculate the amount, create bubbles inside the cartridge, damage the chip or contacts, etc. These mistakes may result in temporary or permanent damage to both the cartridge and the printer.
The industry has come up with a smart solution — professionally manufactured products. Used OEM cartridges are collected, cleaned, revamped and filled with fresh ink. Thanks to rigorous testing protocols, they work as well as before.
Instead of tinkering with empty cartridges and spoiling your clothes and workspace, order remanufactured products. You will save money and reduce your impact on the environment. What’s more, these cartridges come with the same warranties and benefits as compatible supplies!
