| Read our short review of HP study on refilled | | | | were dead on arrival (DOA) or had early end of |
| inkjet cartridges vs Original HP cartridges. HP | | | | life. |
| conducted a study on ink cartridge refill last year, | | | | DOA does not mean that the cartridges cannot |
| comparing the performance of refilled cartridges | | | | print. HP considers cartridges with substantial |
| with that of OEM cartridges. Not surprisingly, the | | | | visible ink spilled in the bag or on cartridges as |
| results showed that original HP cartridges | | | | DOA. Early end of life means that the cartridges |
| outperformed the refilled cartridges used in the | | | | produce less than 75% of the mean page yield of |
| tests. We will look at the results to see how big | | | | original HP cartridges for the same model. HP also |
| the difference is and whether the study itself | | | | included defective cartridges (DOA or early end |
| helps consumers to decide what to buy in their | | | | of life) in their calculation of page yield (a protocol |
| next purchase. | | | | different from ISO standard). Therefore, if some |
| Original HP cartridges are manufactured by HP | | | | refilled cartridges were dead on arrival, they |
| licensed partners while refilled ink cartridges are | | | | produced zero page, the average page yield of all |
| either branded refilled cartridges or cartridges | | | | refilled cartridges would be reduced. |
| from refill service providers. HP claimed that the | | | | Usually, cartridges sent for refill are not emptied |
| original HP inkjet cartridges produced 46.6% more | | | | completely, this can avoid drying out of the print |
| pages than the branded refilled cartridges and | | | | head and the ink chamber. Since the cartridges |
| 85% more pages than cartridges refilled by refill | | | | are not empty, it is possible that some refilled |
| service providers. Original HP cartridges were also | | | | cartridges are not filled up to full capacity in order |
| more reliable. None of them failed in the tests | | | | to avoid overfilling and ink spillage. This may lead |
| while 27.1% of branded refilled cartridges and | | | | to lower ink volume and reduced page yield. |
| 41.1% of cartridges from refill service providers | | | | |