Lasting impressions

It is every home printer owners’ classic dilemma — whether to go for ink refills, shell out an extra premium for an original cartridge or just exchange the printer for a new model. So, what should you be doing? Here’s our take.

INK REFILLS
Refills are usually not prescribed by the printer manufacturer but are most often recommended by your neighbourhood technician. It is also the cheapest way to get your printer back on a roll. While prices vary from a vendor to the printer model you own, you would pay a minimum Rs 250 for monochrome refills. Various estimates suggest that it can take up to 450 years for a printer cartridge to decompose, hence, you would be doing a favour by recycling your cartridge with ink refills.

But proceed with caution. When we tested several third-party ink refills, we figured out that the print quality suffered and bulk of the prints seemed mediocre. There’s a fair chance that ink refill kits can get messy and spoil the printer with spillages. Do keep in mind that after each refill, the cartridge should weigh the same as a new one. Cartridges use a sponge to hold ink, by overfilling you wet the upper portion of the sponge causing the ink to flow upwards, away from the print nozzles. This causes ink spillage. Using such ink refills do not void your printer’s warranty, however, the warranty will not cover any damage that might occur as a result of the use.

If you don’t mind the drop in print quality, occasional ink smudges on paper and a 50 per cent possibility of the cheaper ink spoiling your printer permanently, then you are good for ink refills.

NEW CARTRIDGE
After refilling a print cartridge four to five times, the print head will eventually wear out. Then you will have to buy a new cartridge. According to HP research, original ink cartridges worked always, against the 42 per cent success story of refilled cartridges. Printer suppliers like Staples and CartridgeWorld, for example, back their remanufactured ink and toner cartridges with full service assurance for any damage caused by defective cartridges. That’s a good option than resorting to cheap picks from the grey market.

In most cases, the neighbourhood technician would convince you that replacing cartridges can cost as much as buying the printer. He’s right too. Entry-level printer like Hewlett-Packard’s Deskjet 1000 Printer cost a little over Rs 1,450 and replacing the original cartridge can set you back by Rs 500.

Expect to pay between Rs 450 and Rs 1,800 for an original ink cartridge and Rs 2,000 (or more) for a toner cartridge. Also, if you own a colour printer then keep in mind that colour cartridges are easily contaminated when left for long periods with tape across the heads or left unused for long periods in the printer. So, make sure that you use all ink cartridges regularly to stretch your printer’s life.

While using genuine ink cartridges might be expensive, there are times when it’s much better to buy a genuine one than to pay for a refill. For instance, if you print photos on your home printer, using a genuine cartridge will guarantee the quality of your pictures because there’s always a chance of refilled cartridges to blot. Besides, a genuine printer cartridge usually comes with a warranty so it would be easier to request for a replacement if you are not satisfied with the results.

NEW PRINTER
A new inkjet printer will cost you Rs 1,800 (older models from manufacturers) or more, while a coloured laser printer starts at Rs 2,700. That’s an affordable price tag for many home users.

But if you are looking to replace your existing printer with one of the low-cost printers, then be sure that these often come with starter cartridges that run out faster than a regular cartridge. So, is it practical to choose a new printer every time it runs out of ink? Not really. The costs that you need to factor in with your printer purchase is the cost of buying compatible ink, toner, media (paper, envelopes, photo paper) to go with the printer that can make a far bigger impact on your wallet than the printer itself. Besides, you will be doing a lot of ecological damage by switching printers instead of refills or new cartridges.

For your own benefit, learn to understand the signs your printer sends out. For instance, when a laser printer indicates that it is running low on toner or if you see streaks in printouts, don’t run to buy a new one yet. There should probably be enough toner in the cartridge for some more printing. Remove the cartridge, shake it slowly and then reinsert the cartridge. You can also choose to donate your used printer to a local charity or school but let them know that it needs a new cartridge.