Compatibility between an ink cartridge and a printer is a love story as old as Romeo and Juliet — the cost is often high and there are requirements one must follow. Like the Montagues and the Capulets, HP and Epson have very distinct and patented ways for ensuring their printers use the compatible ink cartridge. For instance, there is no such thing as “universal ink.” This is because it is not the ink that makes the printer work, it is the cartridge. Some printer inks will not perform well if used in the wrong printer and can do damage. Because there are two main types of cartridges, you must ensure you are purchasing the correct one or you risk damage to your printer.

The two main types of printer cartridges are sponge-filled cartridges and vacuum retained cartridges. The sponge-filled cartridge is the most common type, used especially by inkjet printer cartridges. Hewlett-Packard mainly develops vacuum printer ink cartridges for their printers. The vacuum printer ink cartridges are Original Equipment Manufacturer, or OEM. OEM cartridges are cartridges that are branded and made by a specific printer manufacturer specifically for their printers. Manufacturers are able to sell their printers cheap because the consumer is required to purchase rather expensive OEM ink cartridge replacements. This is where the manufacturer makes the most profit. To offset the high costs of ink, many manufacturers offer lower cost printers and postage free returns for ink cartridge recycling.

Additionally, printer manufacturers like Epson change the way their printers access the chip on the cartridge. Due to this, a newer cartridge won’t work on an older Epson printer. Even within the same printer model, one cartridge may work with a compatible and another may not. Many times it’s possible to swap out sets of cartridges from various manufacturers in a printer, but you are unable to combine parts of each set for use at the same time. This is due to the patented “chip” or printer head used by the manufacturer.

Finally, there is a huge technological market for printers and ink cartridges. According to CSMonitor.com, Hewlett-Packard spends $1 billion a year on printing and ink research. This is a figure that generic vendors can’t compete with. This heavy investment is why ink costs thousands of dollars per gallon and why the company thinks consumers will stick to high-quality brands.

The ink cartridge is outfitted with a printer head that is read by the printer’s sensors.

If the head is correctly coded, the cartridge is accepted. If not, the printer will not work and damage could be done to it. Like Romeo and Juliet, the printer needs the compatible ink cartridge to work — without the correct one, it dies.

Tags: compatible ink cartridge, compatible ink cartridges, printer ink cartridge

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 15th, 2009 at 1:09 pm and is filed under Buying Tips.