What is the difference between Manufactureres original and compatible or third party inks? and more importantly which is the best?
When you start looking at the costs of ink cartridges the immediate thing that jumps out is the price differential between original and compatible or refilled cartridges. The second most asked what is the difference between the expensive manufacturer’s originals and the compatible/refilled ones. Or the other way we are asked that question is ‘are the compatibles as good as the originals?’ Let’s answer both questions here and now. The manufacturers original ink cartridges in the printers they have been designed for and using the manufacturers own brand paper are unbeatable – the output you will get from any of the major printer manufacturers is quite simply breathtaking, and the cost of printing with them can also generate a pretty sharp intake of breath.
For the average user the compatibles are adequate. We actually test all of the cartridges that we offer for sale and are willing to guarantee the quality of the output and the life of the cartridges. We have a standard high resolution picture which we print onto 125GSM photo gloss paper and print using the originals and using the compatibles. Our results are then stuck onto our wall to test for fading over a period of time. The definitive answer to the question ‘are they as good as the originals’ is NO, but based on a price/performance ratio they are more than adequate, and some might even be tempted to say that they are very good.
Finally bear in mind that the manufacturers originals will not block your print heads or cause streaking (some compatibles will do both), but if the compatibles are causing problems run a set of originals through the printer which will clean and lubricate your print heads, then switch back to compats – thus giving you a reasonable cost of printing. If you base your cost of printing on one set of originals to three of compats then it should be a bearable cost to ensure good quality output.
One final thing, what is the difference between compatibles and refilled/remanufactured?. The answer is quite simple although the technology behind both types of printers is very complex. Epson, Canon and Brother all produce a printer with a built in print head, so when you replace the cartridge all you are changing is an ink tank. Nowadays these printers all use individual ink tanks for the different colour inks (up to 10 different cartridges in some top end printers) which means that when one colour runs out you simple replace the empty cartridge.
HP, Lexmark, Dell (printers are actually manufactured by Lexmark for Dell), Philips and Olivetti all produce a cartridge which has the print head integrated into the cartridge. So every time you change a cartridge you install a new print head. These cartridges are intrinsically expensive because of the unbelievably complex technology that every single one has built in. These are the cartridges that are worth re-cycling because the print heads can be used several times without degradation of quality.
Compatible ink tanks are brand new, but manufactured by third party manufacturers – who have nothing to do with the original printer manufacturers, refilled cartridges have been used once, and recycled and refilled with third party ink. So you can get compatible ink tanks for the Epson, Canon and Brother printers, but only refilled or remanufactured cartridges for HP, Lexmark, Dell etc.
If you look at an HP Cartridge you can see immediately that it is not going to degrade and decay in our landfill sites very quickly, in fact it is estimated that it will take 10,000 years for them to decay so cartridge recycling is a big thing, but you have to be aware that the only cartridges that are currently worth the expense of refilling are the ones with the integrated print heads i.e. the HP/Lexmark/Dell types. The Epson/Canon/Brother cartridges are simply ink tanks and are not generally recyclable.
So my final answer in this debate is that the compatibles are generally fit for purpose. If you are printing general office/home documents then save your money and use the compatibles. Run a set of originals through occasionally to keep you print heads in good condition and you should have a cost effective and good quality printing experience
