The Inkjet Investigation

This is a really interesting article and very thoroughly investigated - it gives me some reassurance in my recent decisions regarding the original vs compatibles debate.

We are a small business and we have 4 different types of printers including a colour laserjet and a range of other inkjets. We just had to replace a Brother fax/copier/printer combo after 18 months because it decided that the magenta didn't exist despite having put 2 new original cartridges in! The cost of fixing was much higher than the cost of replacing and after some investigation we found that Brother had the best deal again but our model was defunct - the printer arrived and of course the cartridges are different so now we have a cupboard full (slight exaggeration) of Brother cartridges that will gather dust along with all the other useless cartridges left over when our printers break!

I had to ask my colleague why on earth cartridges aren't more standard - I know the answers are obvious but it doesn't help the frustration.

Having bought this new printer we had to purchase cartridges as it comes with a pitifully small supply. Originals or compatibles? ....I thought long and hard. We stuck with originals with the Brother hoping this would mean it would last longer & the quality would be better - that's the natural assumption, plus I think there is probably small print that says the warranty is invalidated unless your use branded ink!

Still, when you think about the costs of buying originals vs compatibles over the years then compatibles are definitely more cost effective. I've always assumed that the branded originals must be far superior in all sorts of ways but your article give me much reassurance that this is generally not the case and I feel much happier that my decision to buy compatible printer cartridges was a good one. We are lucky that we do not need high quality printing and our information would need updating far sooner than the ink would fade so all in all I will feel happier to have a few of these ink cartridges left over when this printer bites the dust.

We've found a good supplier too who we have used before. We got our <a href="http://www.cartridgeshop.co.uk/">printer cartridges</a> from Cartridge Shop who offer really good prices and have some interesting special offers.

An interesting article that answers some of the questions. I have a Canon i965 that is two years old. From the begining I have used compatibles from Choice Stationary. Now, despite any amount of head cleaning, including several deep cleans, the prints come out with an overall purple hue. I am informed that the head is damaged through not using original cartridges. Any views on potential damage from using compatibles??