Each branded printer uses a specific cartridge normally a colour and a black one. While brand cartridges such as Canon, Lexmark and HP are often priced very highly they tend to offer better quality. If price is an issue there are cheaper non-brand ink cartridges available which still offer great value for money, it is also possible to refill an old empty cartridge and special kits are now available in order to do this. If that sounds a little messy for you it is possible to buy refilled cartridges from specialist retailers.

Ink Cartridges

Ink cartridges are an essential component of inkjet printers as they hold the actual ink that appears on the paper. Each ink cartridges contains one or several ink reservoirs that tend to be partitioned off from each other, it also contains electronic contacts and a computer chip that is used to communicate with the printer.

Toner Cartridges

As opposed to using ink cartridges there are also toner cartridges, these are used in laser printers and also photocopiers. Toner itself is an actual powder and in its early form was carbon powder; it is now mixed and blended to form a polymer which was done to increase the quality of print outs. The exact polymer varies by printer companies; that is why the quality of printers can vary to such a degree.