May 17, 2005

OEM, Compatible, and Re-Manufactured Inkjet Cartridges

By: Jim Bradley
Website: http://www.inkjet-cartridge-cafe.com

As you browse inkjet cartridge web sites you will no doubt hear the terms OEM inkjet cartridges, compatible inkjet cartridges, and re-manufactured inkjet cartridges mentioned. When making a purchase decision it is important to recognize the difference between these cartridge types, as both the product and price will differ.

Original Equipment Manager (OEM) Inkjet Cartridges

These are inkjet cartridges which have been produced and packaged by the printer manufacturer. These inkjet cartridges are generally most expensive and carry the name of the manufacturer, i.e. Lexmark, Dell, Epson, etc. Be aware that some of these cartridges might be "hi-yield" versions. This means more ink is included. Hi-yield cartridges do however cost more than regular ones.

Compatible Inkjet Cartridges

These brand new inkjet cartridges are built for mainstream printers (i.e. Canon, Dell, Epson, etc) but have been manufactured by a third party. Compatible inkjet cartridges offer significant savings over OEM inkjet cartridges. Compatible inkjet cartridges are manufactured to provide the same level of quality, reliability and yield as OEM inkjet cartridges and have been known to even exceed the performance of the original printer cartridge.

Due to the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Improvement Act, one cannot void a warranty through using compatible inkjet cartridges. Printer manufactures cannot sell a product and then force its customers to buy replacement parts (i.e. replacement inkjet cartridges) directly from them. To make matters even better, many compatible inkjet cartridge vendors have guarantees in place that will cover you in an unlikely event your printer is damaged through using their inkjet cartridges.

If you are planning to purchase compatible inkjet cartridges online and ship them to your home or office, beware of shipping via air. Some compatible inkjet cartridges are made in different pressures than OEM inkjet cartridges which means the lower pressure experienced in flight might cause the cartridge to rupture and leak.

Please note that due to technical and legal issues, it is not possible to obtain compatible inkjet cartridges for HP or Lexmark. Instead, try finding re-manufactured inkjet cartridges for these models.

Re-manufactured Inkjet Cartridges

These are used inkjet cartridges which have been collected by the manufacturer and subsequently disassembled, cleaned, and refilled. Once re-assembled, these inkjet cartridges are subject to stringent quality control tests to ensure they will meet the standards of a new cartridge. As is the case with compatible inkjet cartridges, these cartridges can be purchased online at a cost more reasonable than OEM inkjet cartridges.

Re-manufactured inkjet cartridges are popular choice for Lexmark and HP printers as compatible inkjet cartridges are not available for these makes. If your inkjet cartridge has a print head you might also have to settle with a re-manufactured inkjet cartridge as generally compatible inkjet cartridges are not available for this type.

For more information on Compatible Inkjet Cartridges and related online vendors, please click on a link above.

About The Author:

Jim Bradley is a successful author and publisher of http://www.inkjet-cartridge-cafe.com, a complete source for Compatible Inkjet Cartridges and other ink and inkjet cartridge supplies for printers.

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