subject: Advantages And Disadvantages Of The Ink Jet Printer [print this page] There are two categories that are being installed in ink printer or an inject cartage printer, one is with black ink and other is with colored ink. An ink cartridge or inkjet cartridge is an exchangeable element of an inkjet printer that comprises the ink and sometimes the print guide itself that is spread out on paper during printing. Each ink cartridge comprises one or more zoned ink reservoirs. Some manufacturers also contribute electronic adjoins and a chip which communes with the printer.
Ink cartridge printers are generally costly. Many people use simpatico ink cartridge printers from a marketer other than the printer producer to save money. The high price of cartridges has also offered an incentive for forgers to issue cartridges incorrectly taking as it is made by the original manufacturer. Alternative takes changes of an original cartridge allowing use of continuous ink systems with external ink tanks. Others use aftermarket inks, refilling their own ink cartridges using a kit that includes bulk ink.
Some printer manufacturers set up their cartridges to interact with the printer, preventing operation when the ink level is low, or when the cartridge has been refilled. One researcher with the magazine which? Over-rode such an interlocked system and found that in one case he could print up to 38% more good quality pages, after the chip stated that the cartridge was empty. In the United Kingdom, in 2003, the cost of ink has been the subject of an Office of Fair Trading probe, as which? Magazine has charged manufacturers of a lack of transparency about the price of ink and called for an industry touchstone for measuring ink cartridge performance. Which? Stated that color HP cartridges cost over seven times more per milliliter than 1985 Dom Perignon.
Consumers are often surprised at the price of replacing their printer cartridges, especially when compared with that of purchasing a brand new printer. Sometimes it can even be cheaper to buy a brand new printer every time you run out of the free ink that is initially supplied. The major printer manufacturers Hewlett Packard, Lexmark, Dell, Canon, Epson and Brother use a "razor and blades" business model, often breaking even or losing money selling printers while expecting to make a profit by selling cartridges over the life of the printer. Since much of the printer manufacturers' profits are from ink and toner cartridge sales, some of these companies have taken various actions against aftermarket cartridges
Many programs have been implemented in the United States and Europe to encourage the recycling of ink cartridges. New York has implemented a recycling law for businesses and consumers regarding toner and ink cartridges. In California the Public Contract Code (PCC) section 12156 encourages businesses to purchase recycled ink and toner cartridges.
The list below outlines a few facts about toner/ink cartridges and the impact they have on the environment.
GHGs (green house gases) emissions from manufacturing a single mono toner cartridge have been calculated to approximately 4.8 kg CO2; per cartridge.
Each year over 350 million cartridges are thrown out to landfills.
By 2012 500 million laser cartridges and 1.8 billion ink cartridges will be dumped in landfills.
Each cartridge becomes 3.5 pounds of solid waste sitting in a landfill and can take up to 450 to 1000 years to decompose
