*NEWS*THE PRINTER CARTRIDGE WARS

[Anonymous]

The Printer Cartridge Wars:oem, Generic or Remanufactured Cartridges Right for You?

As”generic”,
“remanufactured”, and “new compatible” inkjet printer cartridges and
laser toner cartridges creep deeper into the printer accessories
market, the choices become varied and often confusing. It is estimated
that by the year 2004 the aftermarket share of the inkjet and toner
cartridge market will exceed 11% of the estimated 12 billion dollar
printer accessory market Here’s a look at what all these terms mean,
and an examination of the upside and downside of using non-“brand name”
printer cartridge products in your printer.


Terminology

First, let’s examine the terminology. When shopping online for a new
inkjet or toner cartridge for your printer, you’ll likely encounter
these terms:


OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) or brand name products

A “brand name” inkjet or toner cartridge is just that – it’s a printer
cartridge that carries the brand name of the manufacturer on it,
usually the same as the printer manufacturer, for example, Epson,
Canon, Hewlett Packard, etc.


New compatible, off-brand or generic products

A “new compatible”, “off-brand” or “generic” inkjet or toner cartridge
is manufactured by a company other than the original printer
manufacturer. There are a large number of these “new compatible”
manufacturers, and it’s quite true that the quality of their product
can vary (more on that a bit later). In the case of inkjet cartridges,
“generic” cartridges are completely new. In the case of toner
cartridges, to qualify as “new compatible” the toner drum must be
replaced with a brand new drum, as well as all major parts serviced and
replaced as needed.


Remanufactured products

A “remanufactured” inkjet or toner cartridge, by definition, is a
cartridge which has been serviced, cleaned, refilled with toner or ink
and possibly had a few component parts repaired or replaced. In many
cases, remanufactured toner cartridges do not have new drums; they
instead refurbish the original drum and send it out for another cycle.

An Important Note About Toner Cartridges

The relatively unknown truth is that almost all laser toner cartridges,
including most of the original brand name “new” cartridges, have been
remanufactured to some extent. The defining point is to what degree
they have had component parts repaired and/or replaced. For example:
check the box for a brand new Hewlett Packard Laser Jet 4000/27X. Brand
new, right? Well, it is. But check the fine print, which says: This
newly manufactured product may contain parts and materials recovered
from the HP planet partners recycling program. This means that the
product, while “new”, is possibly not completely new; it’s quite
probable that components of this cartridge have been used before, and
have been recycled.


Quality vs. Cost

It’s a fact: the cost of brand name inkjet and toner cartridges can be
exceedingly high in comparison to generic or remanufactured inkjet or
toner cartridges. In many cases, new compatible inkjet cartridges can
be as much as 70% less than the cost of brand name cartridges. New
compatible or remanufactured toner cartridges on the whole tend to be
as much as 50% less in cost than their brand name counterparts. For
example, an Epson T013201 black inkjer cartridge, used for various
Epson Stylus printers, sells for $17.09 direct from Epson. The same
cartridge, compatible, at an online retailer, Abacus24-7 , sells for
$4.95. The difference….70% in savings.(Prices as of August 2005)


What’s the catch?

Well, there really isn’t one, if you find a quality off-brand product
you can purchase from an online merchant you can trust, one who stands
by their product in those rare cases that generic or remanufactured
products don’t perform as well as you expect. Brand name cartridges
cost much more than generics primarily because of the marketing and
advertising budgets most OEM manufacturers spend in promoting their
products; a cost most smaller manufacturers don’t have. And then
there’s the issue of your printer warranty – we’ll discuss that issue a
little bit later.


Inkjet Cartridges: Performance

Generic or new compatible inkjet cartridges are in general highly
reliable and perform as well as, or nearly as well as, brand name
cartridges. Latest technologies and adherence to ISO 9001 codes
(internationally recognized standards for quality assurance) by most
producers of generic cartridges has increased the overall reliability
of these aftermarket products in relation to your typical brand
cartridges. In particular, Epson and Canon new compatibles are highly
reliable, as the technology required to duplicate the performance of
their cartridges is minimal (with the exception of the very latest
Epson cartridges with the “computer chip”). In terms of print life (how
many pages they print) generics stack up pretty well – usually within
plus or minus 5% of the life of your typical brand name cartridge.

High quality photographic printing is the one area where generic
cartridges are occasionally suspect. The quality of the inks used by
the manufacturer play a significant role here – lower grade ink which
doesn’t have the same density or brilliance and consistency of color
can produce inferior results in the most high-demand cases. Although
most manufacturers of generics have moved away from inferior inks, we
recommend you ask your online merchant about the quality of the inks
used by their supplier, if you are doing this kind of high-quality
photographic printing. In particular, the inks should be made in the
U.S.A.. With good ink your results should be just fine.

Remanufactured Inkjet cartridges are another subject. Primarily you
will only find remanufactured Inkjet cartridges for Hewlett Packard,
Lexmark and Dell, as these companies have meticulously patented (and
subsequently filed suit against anyone who tried to duplicate) their
inkjet cartridge designs. There are no true “generics” for HP or Dell
inkjet printers.

Remanufactured cartridges are a huge cost value over new cartridges –
usually over 50% less – and for every day printing work just fine. The
failure rate of remanufactured cartridges is slightly higher than new
product, however, and so it’s important your online merchant guarantees
their product to cover the occasional return. For typical printing,
remanufactured inkjet cartridges can be the right choice over new ones.
Lately, Dell computers and printers are increasing in popularity.
Dell’s popular models include the Color 720, and All-in-One a920, a940,
and a960 models. Direct from Dell, one can buy an OEM cartridge, for
example the color cartridge (X0504) for the Dell a940 printer for
$34.99 from dell . The same cartridge, yet remanufactured, sells online
for $23.95 at Abacus24-7.(Prices as of August 2005)


Laser Toner Cartridges: Performance

As with generic or new compatible inkjet cartridges, new compatible
toner cartridges are for the most part highly reliable and provide a
noticeable cost savings over brand new toner cartridges. Again, ISO
9001 standards have greatly increased the consistency and reliability
of the aftermarket toner product in recent years. Further, many new
compatible toner manufacturers increase the volume of toner in the
cartridge, providing for a longer print life. Quality new compatible
cartridges will have new or replaced mag sleeves, wiper blades, and
magnet tips.

Remanufactured toner cartridges in general have a less stringent set of
criteria applied to them, and as mentioned before may not contain a new
toner drum. Be sure to ask your supplier. It is our humble
recommendation that you go with toner cartridges that have a new
aftermarket drum, as opposed to a refurbished or recycled drum. Lastly,
ask if the new drum is “high density”. You want that.

Color laser new compatible toner cartridges are just coming to market,
and although early feedback seems to indicate a positive outlook, an
evaluation of these cartridges is premature at this time.

Good for the Country, Good for the Environment

If you care about recycling or the good of the Country’s economy, consider these facts:

– 99% of new compatible toner cartridges are manufactured in the USA; most “OEM” brand cartridges are manufactured overseas

– Nearly 40,000 tons of plastic are saved from our nation’s landfills each year, by remanufacture of inkjet and toner cartridges

– It takes on average 2 quarts of oil to manufacture a Brand New Toner
cartridge but less than half of that amount to manufacture a new
compatible toner cartridge


Your Printer Warranty and You

A legitimate concern of many people is whether using generic or
remanufactured cartridges in their printer voids the printer’s
warranty. The answer is no. The following is a partial quote of the
text of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Improvement Act, which deals with
this exact question:


MAGNUSON-MOSS WARRANTY IMPROVEMENT ACT


United States Code Annotated



Title 15 Commerce and Trade



Chapter 50 Consumer Product Warranties



15 Section 2032



… (c) No
warrantor of a consumer product may condition his written or implied
warranty of such product on the consumer’s using, in connection with
such product, any article or service (other than article or service
provided without charge under the terms of the warranty) which is
identified by brand, trade or corporate name; except that the
prohibition of this subsection be waived by the commission if:



1) The
warrantor satisfies the Commission that the warranted product will
function properly only if the article or service so identified is used
in connection with the warranted product, and



2) the Commission finds that such a waiver is in the public interest.



In English,
this means that no warranty may be voided by use of aftermarket
products unless the manufacturer acquires a waiver that clearly shows
such voidance would be in the public interest, or that their product
will only function properly if the specified manufacturer parts are
used.



There is one
catch, however: the manufacturer (in this case your printer
manufacturer) is not compelled to repair their product under warranty
if damage done to the product occurred as a direct result of using
aftermarket parts. In other words, using generic cartridges is fine,
and if your printer ever fails under conditions which have nothing to
do with the cartridge you are using, no problem. However, if the damage
is directly caused (however unlikely) by the use of a generic
cartridge, the warrantor may elect not to repair it, although the
warranty would remain in effect for all other warranty issues.


Conclusion

In general, aftermarket generic and new compatible or remanufactured
printer cartridge products are an excellent way to cut significant
costs from your every day small business or personal printing expense,
while maintaining quality printing results. Those who need extremely
high quality printing (such as photographers and artists) can, with a
little trial-and-error testing of different generic cartridge products,
find a product which provides the quality results you need.

In all cases, be sure to buy your cartridges from an online supplier
who 100% guarantees their product without question, and isn’t afraid to
answer your questions when it comes to the quality and reliability of
their products.

[Author]

September 12, 2005 at 11:30 AM