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OEM Ink cartridges are an interesting topic. OEM is the abbreviation for original equipment manufacturer, a printer ink company that produces cartriges to be sold under another company's brand. These cartriges are designed and built to the specification of the printer's original design. Ino other words, a Canon cartrige for a Canon printer, an Epson cartrige for an Epson printer, a Lexmark cartrige for a Lexmark printer, and so on. Typically, the oem ink cartriges will cost more than and aftermarket or refilled cartrige. Reasons for the higher cost include brand name licensing and engineering expenses. Many individuals will buy nothing but oem printer cartriges out of fear that any aftermarket, or off-brand cartriges will not perform at the level of the oem printer cartriges. This may or may not be true.
Aside from the design of the cartrige itself, there is the ink contained inside. OEM ink cartriges use the exact ink necessary for compatibility with the printer. What many consumers don't realize is that the inks used in the afetrmarket, or remanufactured cartriges many times are a universal ink supposedly compatible with all printers. This is where we find the difference. The ink quality can be as good as oem ink in some cases, but the chance of a substandard or incompatible ink exists. A remanufactured, rebuilt, or refilled cartrige becomes a pot luck investment.
Then comes the matter of financial investment. Which is the better value, an ink cartrige that costs twice as much as another... or an ink cartrige that costs half as much but may need replacement twice as often as the other? OEM ink cartriges are most certainly priced well above the aftermarket or refurbished ink cartriges. In some cases they can cost twice as much as a discount priced remanufactured cartrige. Depending on the frequency of printing as well as the volume of printed pages, it may actually take some experimentation to determine which is the better value. Printing a child's homemade, very colorful art project may not need the same quality ink as if a legal document were being printed. Yet printing a child's art project may use more ink per page, as much as four times a much depending on the content of the picture or pictures. Personal use of the printer may certainlty be the largest factor in determining the type of ink cartriges purchased. Johnny Cartrige recommends putting some thought into your replacement ink purchases because home printed documents and pictures are more common than ever before.
Sincerely,
Johnny Cartrige.
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