The ink cartridges are mostly used for printing documents. These printers are mostly found in homes and offices. If you are using a colored printer, then you can find a tri-color system ink; blue, red and yellow, that are mixed to form millions of colors while printing a document. In some printers, you can find the printing ribbons of three different colors while in the others a single ribbon contains all the three colors. The ink jet printers use a pigment based dye for good quality printing.
With the advancement of technology, the top printer manufacturing companies like Hewlett Packard and Dell have transferred the printing heads on to the cartridges, thereby reducing the cost of the printers. But there are still some companies like Epson, that have cartridges without printing heads on to them, as a result the cost of the printer that they manufacturer never lower down.
Generally, most ink cartridges have two basic operations, they are thermal and piezoelectric. Most cartridges use the thermal process in which the heat is used to heat up a metal plate and form a small amount of ink that is sprayed onto the paper with the help of a nozzle. In the piezoelectric operation, there is an ink crystal attached to the nozzle, when electricity passes through it forces the nozzle and gets the words printed on the paper.
If you are a regular user of a printer, then you must be aware that there are three different types of cartridge available in the market. One is the original OEM, that is manufactured by the same company who manufactures the printers. They are the best one in quality, although the most expensive compared to all its other counterparts. The next in the row is the compatible cartridges that are manufactured by a third party using the original empty cartridges. These are a reliable option and less expensive compared to the original ones. The third one is the recycled one that is refilled and refurbished by the manufacturer or a third party producer. These are the cheapest of the lot as they have been previously used.
In recent times cartridges of higher density and capacity are designed for laser printers. The cartridges have more ink capacity compared to their regular counterparts. But these can only be used with some specific models of laser printers. However, this type of cartridge has lowered the per page printing cost to a great extent.
There are different brands of printing cartridges like Dell, HP, Epson and Lexmark that are available in both online and offline retailers. You have to decide on the type you need to buy for your printer. Searching online will bring you across numerous outlets that offer good quality ink cartridges to their customers. Buying online will also help you to get your cartridge delivered to your doorstep within a couple of days. Moreover, you can also shop around and compare the price till you are offered the best deal.
Author’s Bio – Niall has good knowledge about ink cartridges that he shares with his readers in his articles.