If you search online, you will literally be inundated with articles and information regarding compatible cartridges or toners which are particularly topical again. As yet another printer manufacturer (Lexmark) has successfully settled with 10 of the companies it recently sued over alleged patent infringements.

Lexmark lodged cases against 24 companies with the U.S. International Trade Commission and a Federal Court in Ohio for patent violations relating to the manufacture, sale and import of toner cartridges for their laser printers but the interesting point about all this is that Lexmark was able to bring about legal proceedings in the U.S. that concerned companies based in China. Manufacturers are being consistently aggressive in following up alleged patent violations relating to printer consumables since Epson lead the way in the UK in 2006. So why are they so worried about 3rd party companies producing cartridges to fit their printers?

Quite simply, printer consumables is a very lucrative market and hold the key to valuable sales that Manufacturers are keen to protect and they wish to discourage any potential competition. Anyone who owns a printer is familiar with the high cost of purchasing (genuine) replacement cartridges, but with the ingredients in your average inkjet cartridge little more than some pigment and de-ionised water – why are they so costly? It’s because the Manufacturers want it so.

Generally many printers are sold with only a small profit margin and in some cases virtually at cost, especially in the inkjet market, so costly cartridges are an easy way for printer companies to boost profits. After all, a printer is of no use without any ink! Since cartridges aren’t a costly item to produce in bulk and are only overinflated by the printer manufacturers, this has left the market wide open to 3rd party companies to produce low cost alternatives. Compatibles are therefore not cheap because they are a poor quality copy but because their cost lies somewhere between the actual production costs and a sensible retail cost that allow the company’s producing them to still make a profit and seem cheap only when compared to the cost of genuine.

So, this gives a little understanding of why there are compatibles in the printer cartridge market, why they seem so cheap and why manufacturers are so keen to prevent them becoming easily available. The next question is, are they right for you?

The answer to that lies in your expectations and what you require from your printer. Realistically and honestly, there are going to be some differences between the printing quality of a manufacturer’s genuine cartridge when compared to a basic unbranded compatible, especially if your motivation was to simply pick the cheapest on offer. However, if the main requirement is that text can be easily read and you print the occasional picture expecting it to be a good example of the original then there’s no reason why an economy range or unbranded compatible won’t do the job.

If you print a lot of photos and are looking for a reasonable quality, then branded or re manufactured may suit better. Re manufactured cartridges are OEM cartridges that have been used, professionally cleaned then refilled using high quality ink and are considered to be a ‘greener’ option, so kinder on both pocket and the environment. All compatibles should install in your printer the same way as the original ink cartridge and as a rule are filled with more ink, so a compatible can not only cost you less but allow you to print more. You could easily end up saving 50-70% against the costs of the original. You can find a wide selection of genuine, compatible and re manufactured cartridges online at  needink.com which generally work out cheaper than buying on the high street but it’s definitely worth looking around to compare things like postage costs, returns policies and how long it will take for your order to actually reach you.

A reputable online retailer should offer a guarantee to replace any faulty ones should you get any, easily, with no fuss and will probably offer free postage too. Don’t be caught out by sites offering low prices only to add high delivery charges at check out. On a final note, if considering a new printer purchase, personally I like to know reasonably priced compatible are easily available, even if I still choose to use genuine – it’s always good to have options!