A Word of Caution Concerning Printer Ink Cartridges

Photo Source: fetchtoto.com

Teebo recently wrote in to Chris Pirillo about generic print cartridges and the dangers therein. An ink cartridge or inkjet cartridge is a replaceable component of an ink jet printer that contains the ink (and sometimes the print-head itself) that is spread on paper during printing.  Teebo taught me a few things that even I didn’t already know… and hopefully you’re about to learn something, as well.

Here’s what he said:

There are two types of ink cartridges today: one is a complete cartridge which includes a print head, the other is only an ink reservoir. The advice I was given when I bought my last printer was to buy one whose cartridges contain the print heads. That way, each time you buy a new ink cartridge, you’re getting a brand new print head.

Every time I buy new ink, I get new print heads. I never have to worry about them failing again. Generic cartridges don’t come with print heads, of course. My recommendation is to not buy generic ones… but to simply take your name-brand ones in for refills to save yourself money. These work great for home use. When the print heads finally do fail on the ink cartridges, simply throw them out and buy new ones. This is going to save you a lot of money, and a lot of headaches.

My previous printer had the print heads built right in to the printer itself, not on the ink cartridges. One day, the print heads failed. I called customer service, and was told that it wasn’t worth it to fix the machine. They said I was better off buying a new one! I was so unhappy with their response that I DID buy a new printer – from a different company! I made sure to purchase one that uses ink cartridges that include the print heads.