FollowText.com » Computers » Printer Ink News

---

Printer Ink News

by: PrinterWizard
Total views: 8 | Word Count: 447

Printer ink is said to be the most expensive substance on the planet, often costing thousands of dollars per litre. Printer ink is a $32 billion market worldwide. Printer ink is pricey no matter where you shop.

The printer makers have been waging an all-out war against third-party vendors that sell replacement cartridges at a fraction of the price. According to a recent lawsuit, HP allegedly paid Staples $100 million to refrain from selling inexpensive third-party ink cartridges, although the suit doesn't make it clear how plaintiff Ranjit Bedi arrived at that figure. The companies have also turned to using the ink equivalent of DRM, the use of microchips embedded in ink cartridges that work with a corresponding technical mechanism in the printer that blocks the use of unauthorized third-party ink.

HP is currently the dominant company in the printing market, and a considerable portion of the company's profits come from ink. The tactics employed by the printer manufacturers to maintain monopoly control over ink distribution for their printing products have become increasingly aggressive. According to Wilhelm Imaging Research and other reviewers, if you are primarily printing photos, select the OEM cartridge. However, printing at the maximum quality more than doubles the cost per print, so make sure to check your printer setting before starting that big print run..

Printers actually use ink in the cleaning process, so wasted ink is one of the reasons why third-party inks can be as expensive as OEM ink on a cost-per-page basis. Printers are sold cheap, to attract shoppers; but ink is expensive, to make a profit. Printers are sold using the razor blade business model-the printers are dirt cheap, but you have to keep buying ink for eternity.

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.

If you print mainly text pages, aftermarket printer ink is fine. Everyone knows that printer ink is a swindle: they sell you the printer cheaply (or not so cheaply for higher-end professional models),then sell the colors - unremarkable commodities, let us not forget - at prices that would make a perfumer blush.

---

---

About the Author

Printer ink is a subject Alan Wilson has a vast experience of, having over 10 years experience of the manufacture of printer ink for many applications.  

---

---

More Articles from: Computers

1: How to Fix a Runtime error
    (By: AimyD, On: Sep 12th 2008, Words: 430, Views: 13)
2: Importance of Backup Files
    (By: AimyD, On: Sep 12th 2008, Words: 377, Views: 12)
3: What do I do When my Internet Explorer Freezes?
    (By: AimyD, On: Sep 12th 2008, Words: 397, Views: 9)
4: Protecting Your Computer from Viruses
    (By: AimyD, On: Sep 12th 2008, Words: 290, Views: 10)
5: Hard Drive Data Recovery; What it is and How it Works
    (By: AimyD, On: Sep 12th 2008, Words: 298, Views: 11)

---

FollowText.com » Computers » Printer Ink News

---