| Did you know? | | | | entire page, so my "extreme inkjet test" |
| | | | document contained nearly 3,500 characters. |
| Ink cartridges are tiny gadgets with mundane | | | | |
| features, which are indispensable to the | | | | I loaded our Lexmark Z65 with a new $30.00 |
| inkjet printers which suck them dry. | | | | black cartridge, company-rated at 600 pages. |
| | | | Our test document printed nearly 694 times |
| They're also very expensive, which I am sure | | | | before text began to fade, resulting in a |
| you can vouch for that based on personal | | | | cost of about 4 cents per page. |
| experience. | | | | |
| | | | I also subjected the black cartridge in |
| Two ink cartridges can be more money (as high | | | | Canon's S820D to our test. The $13.00 black |
| as $80) than the initial investment which was | | | | cartridge has a manufacturer rating of 620 |
| your pretty little printer. | | | | pages. Our test yielded 565 pages of text, |
| | | | approximately 2 cents per page. |
| Buyers do not always do the research they are | | | | |
| supposed to do before actually committing to | | | | You will get your money's worth from original |
| the sale. | | | | manufacturer cartridges. Still, it can be |
| | | | painful to spend $30.00 on a new cartridge |
| They purchase an inkjet printer and find out | | | | when you see ads for cartridge refill kits |
| about 3 months down the road that the | | | | promising to save you loads of cash. |
| cartridges cost more than the actual inkjet | | | | |
| printer. | | | | Refill Kit Caper: |
| | | | |
| Consumers don't always have time to be sure | | | | We tested a number of refill kits to see if |
| whether cartridge producers are giving them | | | | they'll save money and to compare their |
| their money's worth. | | | | output with the results of manufacturers' |
| | | | inks. For our tests, we gauged ease of use in |
| Resellers are pratically giving the printers | | | | preparing and refilling two black cartridges |
| away knowing the future cost of your ink | | | | and then subjected those tanks to the Extreme |
| carts. | | | | Inkjet Test. Further tests took place on the |
| | | | yield potential and color quality of one |
| No wonder why printer divorce is so high, the | | | | color refill system. |
| printer and ink costs can't keep a cheap | | | | |
| relationship. The only one's cheaping are the | | | | Each kit works in basically the same way. You |
| birds. | | | | apply rubber gloves and pry, slice, or screw |
| | | | your way into the empty cartridge. Make sure |
| We took a look at a few cartridge secrets, | | | | you have a good top cutter. You don't want to |
| such as page yields and the effectiveness of | | | | crack the plastic. |
| multiple-cartridge schemes, to see if | | | | |
| manufacturers are delivering on their ink | | | | Then you carefully open a bottle of ink and |
| promises. You need to be aware of this | | | | use a syringe to withdraw a few milliliters |
| information. | | | | of ink. After injecting the ink into the |
| | | | cartridge, you seal it up using the provided |
| Ink Cartridge Primer: | | | | tape or rubber stopper. Sounds easy, right? |
| | | | Easier said than done. |
| Inkjet printer technology became affordable | | | | |
| for average consumers roughly about 11 years | | | | Actually, I found it nearly impossible to |
| ago. Color printers used only one cartridge, | | | | avoid spilling ink. Be careful not to get ink |
| containing colors CMY (cyan, magenta, and | | | | on your clothes, it can soak your skin, and |
| yellow) ink, all stored in separate chambers | | | | when covered properly, ink slopped on the |
| inside the cartridge. | | | | table. |
| | | | |
| This was sometimes called a tri-color | | | | After all this, the cartridge produced about |
| cartridge, as you may know referred to by | | | | 25 full-page photos, which was OK, |
| Hewlett Packard. | | | | considering the huge bottles of ink should |
| | | | last for about nine more refills (about 25 |
| To print text, the printer simply squirted | | | | cents per photo). |
| all three ink colors simultaneously, which | | | | |
| created a composite (and sometimes greenish | | | | Photos looked remarkably good on both plain |
| or brown) black. | | | | and photo paper, but they were grainy |
| | | | compared to photos printed with Epson ink. |
| Then each dot would be placed on top of each | | | | Worse yet, shortly after printing a few |
| other in order to reduce the picoliters. The | | | | photos we attempted to print black text, and |
| smaller the drop size the more clear vibrant | | | | after a few pages, the tank stopped working |
| colors and detail images you would get. | | | | and ink spewed all over the printer. |
| | | | |
| Modern printers improve upon the | | | | The chip resetting software may have caused |
| one-cartridge design by supplementing the CMY | | | | the malfunction. |
| cartridge with an individual black (or K) | | | | |
| cartridge. | | | | In spite of the uncertain cost savings and |
| | | | poor photo quality, refill kits are hot |
| Not only does this improve the quality of | | | | items, flourishing in spite of printer |
| black, but it also helps conserve the more | | | | manufacturers' efforts to convince customers |
| expensive color inks for photos. | | | | that third-party inks are superinferior. |
| | | | |
| The addition of black cartridges also spawned | | | | In spite of advances made by third-party ink |
| the C (cyan) M (magenta) Y (yellow) K (black) | | | | makers, printer manufacturers refuse to back |
| acronym that you see on many inkjet | | | | down from their claims that such inks simply |
| specification sheets and equipped printers | | | | don't work correctly with advanced print head |
| with enough color power to create | | | | technology. |
| approximately 16.7 million tones. | | | | |
| | | | Refill Rebuttal: |
| More recently, a few photo printers began | | | | |
| shipping with light cyan and light magenta | | | | Canon, Hewlett-Packard, and Lexmark all use |
| for improved color transitions; Canon's S820, | | | | thermal print head technology. Epson uses |
| for example uses six individual cartridges to | | | | patented Piezo-electric print heads. The |
| deliver all 6 color schemes. | | | | technologies employ slightly different ink |
| | | | cartridges and dissimilar ink formulations to |
| Manufacturers, such as Canon and Epson, are | | | | work with the print heads. |
| also implementing four-cartridge schemes, in | | | | |
| which each tank carries only cyan, yellow, | | | | In thermal inkjets, a tiny resistor in the |
| magenta, or black. | | | | print head warms the ink, causing a bubble |
| | | | that forces a droplet out of the print head |
| The primary reason this system is catching on | | | | nozzle. |
| is that it wastes less ink. With a | | | | |
| three-color cartridge, you're forced to | | | | Epson's Piezo-electric technology doesn't |
| dispose of the cartridge when one color runs | | | | heat ink. Instead, a tiny crystal in the |
| out, even if one or two chambers still | | | | print head works like a pump; when a negative |
| contain ink. This can increase your cartridge | | | | charge is applied to the crystal it bends out |
| cost. | | | | from the ink chamber and draws in a droplet, |
| | | | while a subsequent positive charge flexes the |
| The four-cartridge setup lets you toss only | | | | crystal in, pushing the droplet through the |
| empty cartridges, so you'll save ink, but | | | | nozzle. |
| depending on your printing habits, you won't | | | | |
| necessarily save as much money as you like. | | | | Both technologies have exacting |
| | | | specifications for the inks they shoot. |
| If you print one color more often than | | | | |
| another color, your ink costs may drop | | | | Inks used in thermal printers are typically |
| significantly. Average users won't see a huge | | | | dye-based and must be formulated to retain |
| cost reduction by switching to a printer that | | | | good print qualities under heat stress. |
| uses four individual cartridges. | | | | |
| | | | Epson's ink developers, however, are free to |
| Some of them won't print unless all four | | | | dismiss heat factors and instead create |
| cartridges are sitting and locked into | | | | smaller and more consistently shaped |
| position within the carriage itself. | | | | droplets. Pairing inks properly with tiny |
| | | | print heads and nozzles is no simple feat. |
| Ink Sensors & Page Yield: | | | | |
| | | | Ink chemistry is "very complex stuff" in part |
| Of course, to get the most from your | | | | because the various characteristics of inks |
| cartridges you have to determine how much ink | | | | affect the way droplets interact with each |
| you've used. By this, just calculate the | | | | other on paper. Because every manufacturer's |
| amount of pages you print within each month. | | | | papers and inks are so different and |
| | | | multifaceted, there's just no way can a |
| There are two primary methods printer makers | | | | third-party lab reproduce the original ink |
| use to accurately display ink levels on your | | | | quality. |
| screen. Most companies, such as Epson, use a | | | | |
| dot-count method. | | | | Although refill kits may produce prints that |
| | | | initially look nice, it's doubtful they have |
| The dot-count system works using your | | | | the same fade-resistant or water-resistant |
| printer's driver, which analyzes each image | | | | properties of original printer inks. |
| before printing and keeps a running total of | | | | |
| the number of droplets sprayed. | | | | Manufacturers also stress that while using a |
| | | | refilled cartridge doesn't affect your |
| Canon claims to have a superior system that | | | | printer's warranty, if your printer |
| uses both dot counting and an optical sensor. | | | | malfunctions due to a refilled or modified |
| | | | cartridge, the warranty is voided. |
| They contain reservoir inside the sponge in | | | | |
| the ink tank, [and] the reservoir has an | | | | Whether you trust printer makers or their |
| optical ink sensor in it, very impressive. | | | | refill-kit competition, our opinion of refill |
| | | | kits is that they're a bit of a hassle to |
| A light inside the printer shines in the | | | | use. |
| reservoir and the sensor helps determine ink | | | | |
| levels. | | | | If you print a lot of text, they may save you |
| | | | money. However, we wouldn't pair third-party |
| If the reservoir is empty, the printer | | | | inks with expensive photo paper, especially |
| estimates that there's about 20% ink | | | | if you want your prints to last for years. |
| remaining in the sponge below the reservoir, | | | | |
| and your PC begins using the dot-count | | | | Print Job Complete: |
| method. | | | | |
| | | | Ink cartridges are complex, sometimes |
| Because cartridge cases are typically opaque, | | | | controversial, and always necessary for the |
| some sort of ink monitoring system is a | | | | users who depend on inkjets for their stellar |
| necessity. But how can you determine if the | | | | text and graphics production. |
| cartridge will yield as many pages as the | | | | |
| manufacturer claims? | | | | Understanding cartridges and their refill |
| | | | potential will help keep you printing for |
| Most manufacturers assign yield ratings to | | | | years to come, and your knowledge may help |
| black cartridges after draining the tank by | | | | you save a few bucks, too. |
| continuously printing a 1,500-character | | | | |
| document at the default resolution setting. | | | | Hopefully this information has been |
| | | | supportive to you printing means and |
| I decided to test a few cartridges with our | | | | instances that you may have encountered |
| own test, which we felt more accurately | | | | before. You now have the confidence to deal |
| mimicked real-world use. To maximize your ink | | | | with any printing matters. |
| yields you need to drop each printer to its | | | | |
| lowest resolution. | | | | "Be in charge of your printer ink; don't let |
| | | | your ink cartridges be in charge of you. |
| I also wanted a document that covered the | | | | |