May 31, 2007

Re-manufactured Ink Cartridges: Where is the Truth?

Printer vendors make the bulk of their money, not on the sale of the actual printer, but in the after market of printer supplies. Toner and cartridges is where the money is. Of course if you purchase branded paper they're making even more money from you.

Yesterday, HP announced the results of a third-party research study designed to test how Original HP inkjet cartridges compared to 13 common brands of refilled inkjet print cartridges when measured on reliability and yield. In tests conducted by QualityLogic, an independent quality organization in the world, HP cartridges consistently outperformed refilled cartridges in all test areas.

I asked Michael W. Levin (pictured), President of Media Sciences, a NJ company which makes toner cartridges for laser printers about this. He said the truth to the aspect of original equipment manufactured (OEM) cartridges vs ones made by other companies lies somewhere in the middle.

Please note: HPs study is comparing original cartridges to those which are refilled, not those which are made by other vendors. However, I think the aspect of buying "brand" ink cartridges or toner, vs non-brand is important.

QualityLogic concluded that Original HP inkjet cartridges printed 57.5 percent more pages, on average, than the refill brands tested. HP cartridges were also found to be far more reliable. None of the Original HP inkjet cartridges failed during the test, whereas an average of one in five refilled brands was either dead-on-arrival or failed prematurely.

Michael said that the most important question is how does the consumer identify the quality products that deliver true value?

- Look at the company that stands behind the product. In the case of Media Sciences branded products, they are brought to market only after completing a rigorous development and testing process.

- Are the printer cartridges/toners newly manufactured? If so, this means that the manufacturer controls all aspects of the manufacturing, resulting in a consistently high quality product, like Media Sciences.

The QualityLogic study concluded that original HP inkjet cartridges printed twice as many as pages as cartridges refilled at shops or kiosks.

On average, more than one in four inkjet cartridges refilled at shops or kiosks failed prematurely, or were dead-on-arrival, and more than one in five refill brands of inkjet cartridges were dead-on-arrival or failed prematurely.

When you're shopping in Staples or some other retailer for your next supply of ink or toner for your printer, don't be dissuaded from buying non-OEM cartridges, but rather be educated on how to buy quality products and on the brands that have proven to deliver quality products time and time again.

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