As with most products on the market, there are varying standards of quality when it comes to ink cartridges. Like a dog can spot a sandwich from a mile away, your printer can detect a non-genuine cartridge, and your print quality will suffer.
Opting for cheap, non-genuine cartridge alternatives can seem tempting for any budget-conscious user. However, with lower printing yield and the risk of causing significant damage to your printer, non-genuine alternatives can be costly in the long term. Read on to find out why genuine ink cartridges are so much more than a brand name.
Premium Quality
Non-genuine cartridges are manufactured in bulk quantities, and designed to fit a whole range of printers. By contrast, genuine ink cartridges, such as hp envy 4500 ink, are specifically designed for your brand of printer, therefore optimizing performance and print quality.
Genuine, branded ink cartridges are subject to rigorous industry standards and are made by specialist teams who undertake significant research and development into both print quality and modern technology. Genuine ink cartridges therefore offer clear, vibrant and smudge-proof qualities; far eclipsing their knock-off counterparts. With up to 70% of print quality determined by the ink cartridge, it pays to buy branded.
Value for Money
Any budget-conscious user should understand the varying print yields between cartridges, before making any purchases. Page yield has a dramatic impact on printing expenditure, as it describes the number of pages a user can print with a printer cartridge, before it will run out of ink. Non-genuine cartridges have a significantly lower yield than branded cartridges, meaning you spend more money by constantly replacing empty cartridges.
Genuine cartridge manufacturers comply with the industry-wide standards set by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), for printer cartridge page yield measurements.These standards exist to ensure that cartridge manufacturers do not short-change their customers, and to ensure consumers can understand exactly what they are paying for. Non-genuine cartridge manufacturers have not signed on to be part of these standards, leaving their customers in the dark about what they are purchasing.
Ethical Recycling
While the manufacturers of genuine, branded cartridges are committed to environmentally sustainable practices, including ethical recycling (at a direct cost to themselves), non-genuine cartridge manufacturers are notorious for their environmentally damaging business practices.
Every year, up to 80 million used ink cartridges are sent to landfill, leaking harmful chemicals into our soil. Genuine ink cartridge manufacturers have partnered up with recycling programs, such as Cartridges 4 Planet Ark, to keep these harmful chemicals out of our landfill. These recycling programs ensure that empty cartridges can be reused and reapplied to produce useful items, including asphalt and even stationery.
Printer Health
We all recognise the damage that can be caused by trying to jam something into a place that doesn’t quite fit. This is the same for printers when users insert non-genuine cartridge alternatives. Genuine, branded cartridges are designed specifically for your printer model. This means they have been manufactured to fit the printer, and will not need to be forced into place.
Repairing your printer is costly, both on your wallet and on your productivity. Purchasing genuine ink cartridges reduces your risk of damaging your printer, and therefore minimizes the occurrence of printer breakdowns and other unforeseen printer issues. Some printer manufacturers will even void your warranty if your printer is damaged due to an incompatible cartridge. Genuine ink cartridges are easy to use, clean to handle and will slide into your printer like two parts of a whole.
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Understanding the key differences between branded cartridges and non-genuine alternatives is essential in order to make an informed decision when purchasing your printers fuel. Give your printer premium quality fuel by purchasing branded cartridges, and enjoy superior quality in your prints.
