Printer Ink News

by: PrinterWizard
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Printer ink is one of the most expensive things in the world in terms of when you break down how much it costs per millilitre. Printer ink is the most expensive of all printer equipments. A survey by Kodak has revealed that almost half the people in the UK think the cost of printer ink is a rip off. As much as 60 percent of the ink contained in a typical inkjet cartridge is wasted, when printers ask users to throw away half-full cartridges, according to research commissioned by Epson. I also despise the games inkjet manufacturers play to get you to replace cartridges that may still have ink inside. Some customers and industry analysts charge that inkjet companies are using their influence to unfairly distort the price of replacement ink cartridges and shut out off-brand competitors.

Cartridges contain electronics to communicate with the printer and the printer driver (the software that enables your computer and printer to communicate). Cartridges use a sponge to hold ink, by overfilling you wet the upper portion of the sponge causing the ink to want to flow upwards, away from the print nozzles. Cartridges made by (or for) the printer manufacturers are expensive.

Some customers and industry analysts charge that inkjet companies are using their influence to unfairly distort the price of replacement ink cartridges and shut out off-brand competitors. Despite the calls that the inkjet market stifles competition, there are still many alternatives available.

On average, inkjet printers provide an ink efficiency of just 58 percent when used for photo printing purposes and 47 percent when used for printing business documents such as presentations. Durability is another important consideration for printed photos. The big three manufacturers (HP, Canon and Epson) all make archival inks for their middle and higher-end photo printers.

Especially in the case of photos, the combination of a manufacturer's printer, ink and paper most often results in photos that look the best and last the longest without fading. Durability is an important consideration for printed photos. However, if you're not printing photos and aren't concerned about longevity, third-party printer ink is often just fine

After a 2006study, Henry Wilhelm concludes, If one includes print permanence as an important aspect of overall product quality, then the aftermarket photo inks and media we looked at in this study fall far short indeed. SO once again if printing photos, stick to the OEM cartridges.

We wish there was some complicated reason like it costs a lot of money to produce or something like that, but the truth is that printer ink is so expensive because manufacturers can make it that expensive. "Official" printer ink is more expensive than heroin, but instead of competitive pricing, they go hand in hand with RIAA's marketing folks (read: more competition equals pricier products). A solution to the rising cost of printer ink is to buy "generic" brands of ink instead of the original brand of your printer

About the Author

Printer ink is a subject Alan Wilson has a great knowledge of, having over 10 years working with printer ink for many applications.  

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