1. Close to the ink at zero distance

1. Original ink with high price

Everyone knows that if you become a user of an inkjet printer, you will have to face endless consumption of ink in the "lifetime" of the printer. An unavoidable fact tells us: consumable sales support the inkjet printer market. Take Hewlett-Packard, a major inkjet printing company, for example, the sales revenue of printer consumables is 60% higher than the revenue of printers. So the price of the printer is less important than the cost of replacing the ink cartridge.

We know that replacing ink cartridges may cost nearly one hundred yuan or even five to six hundred yuan, which can understand why people are always keen to find a good way to reduce the cost of printing per page. The relatively high price of ink cartridges has led to a boom in ink filling kits and compatible ink cartridges. Many ink cartridges integrate a print head, but not all of them have it. When the original ink is exhausted, whether these print heads can be reused is still a controversial issue. Most printers use two separate ink cartridges, one is black ink, and the other contains three color inks (cyan, magenta, yellow). When the color ink of one color runs out, you have to replace the entire color cartridge, even if there is ink remaining in the other two colors. Some printers use four separate ink cartridges, long-term use of this type of printer will help you save some expenses.

In fact, it’s just like it doesn’t cost much for a mobile phone to connect to the Internet, but the phone call fee is very expensive. You will see that some special printers on the market are cheaper than replacing ink. In order to get new ink cartridges, you can even buy a brand new printer, leave the ink cartridges you want, and then "dispose" the machine.

We can understand that ink is a disaster, how can we put it? We all know that as long as inkjet printers use ink-it seems that there is no doubt that print head clogging is difficult to completely avoid-this is almost the problem that inkjet printer users complain most. When the situation is not serious, the print head cleaning procedure can be used to solve the problem (the cost is just wasting some ink), but sometimes it does not help to consume a whole box of ink. This situation is mostly because the printer has not been used for a period of time. If your printer uses an ink cartridge with an integrated print head, then the loss can be tolerated. At most, you can replace it with a new ink cartridge. If the print head is installed inside the printer, the most terrible situation is to be notified after being sent to the maintenance agency. It will cost you hundreds of dollars to replace a new print head. Calculating the cost, the ink cost for just cleaning the ink head, plus the price of replacing the print head, almost caught up with the cost of selling a new machine. Although such unfortunate incidents are not always encountered, it is necessary to know the relevant warranty rules before purchasing, and perhaps you should also ask about the price of replacing the print head by the way.

2. Look for compatible ink to replace

Having said so much, can we actually find a quick and effective way to reduce printing costs? The answer is yes, we can use compatible ink, which is one of the effective methods. First let us know what is compatible ink? In general, we call the matching ink cartridges designated by printer manufacturers for their own inkjet printers as original factory consumables, and their clear identification is that the consumables are consistent with the printer's factory standard (such as Epson, HP, Canon, Lexmark, etc.) ). We refer to all types of ink cartridges and refilling inks that are different from the printer manufacturer as compatible consumables. In fact, this has nothing to do with the place of origin. For example: if an ink manufacturer produces a product for a printer manufacturer called original products, then the product it sells with its own trademark is compatible ink-in fact, is this not the same thing?

Of course, the point of view of printer manufacturers is that users must use "original" ink, and they have cited scientific basis such as original ink "small particles and stable chemical properties". At the same time, using compatible ink (cartridge) will damage the printer. Failure to provide warranty service will "threate" inkjet printer users to use "original" inks and never use "compatible" inks. In fact, on the one hand, the use of original ink can indeed ensure the normal operation of the printer and ensure the quality of the printing, but this is based on an extremely expensive price, not that we do not want to do it, but sometimes it is indeed powerless For this reason, in terms of the strategy of printer manufacturers, they are getting some small profits from the printers, and a steady stream of huge profits from the ink cartridges! In foreign countries, the sales volume of brand-name compatible inks is not lower than the original inks. Why do we need our Chinese players to bear the obligation of allowing printer manufacturers to make high profits? So we can try to use compatible ink.

Will the use of compatible ink damage the printer? We know that the use of other brands of ink can easily cause blockage of the ink cartridge nozzles, which can damage the printer. This is an important reason why printer manufacturers disagree with users using compatible inks. However, here I want to exemplify this statement is not correct: we take Canon thermal jet printers, most of which use an integrated structure of ink cartridges and nozzles. If the ink runs out, the nozzles and part of the heating control circuit are also not correct. Then the ink cartridges will be scrapped, which will cause great waste from the perspective of environmental protection. Do you need to worry about clogging or damage to the nozzles that are not used? You should know that good quality compatible inks and ink cartridges, like the original ink, have a formal production line, system raw materials and auxiliary material testing, scientific process arrangements and strict quality management system, especially the sponge and ink of each type of ink cartridge The cooperation of the ink is individually tested and adjusted to ensure that it will not conflict with the original ink and cause precipitation, so there will never be a phenomenon of clogging the nozzle. For example, the nozzle is like a gate, and the small particles in the ink are like ping pong balls. When do you see a ping pong ball and block the gate? However, some brand inks (such as Epson) use quick-drying inks to improve the printing effect. Even the original quick-drying inks are just as easy to dry up-otherwise, why do so many printer repair stations specialize in cleaning the nozzles? People often have such a mentality that their printer is clogged with original ink, and they will think like this: Is my operation wrong so that there is a problem? But if there is a problem with compatible ink, I will think like this: God, the compatible ink broke my printer... Ha ha, the user's psychology is so strange, in fact, after reading the above text, everyone It should be understood: at least in terms of "printability", compatible ink and original ink are irrelevant.

Except for "printability", can the print quality of compatible inks be comparable to original inks? We know that the effect of printing is mainly determined by three points: the printer’s own printing technology, the printed ink and the printed paper. Since the manufacturer’s ink formula is probably as confidential as Coca-Cola, the original ink factory has attached it. Except for the "compatible ink" of our own brand, the performance of compatible ink is generally not as good as the original ink-although the price is very high, for example, the edge of the text effect on ordinary paper is a little blurred, and the blackness is not deep. Some models The ink cartridges will have a slight color shift after being filled with color ink. This is inevitable. In fact, when printing the same picture with different models of printers of one brand, there will be more obvious color differences. La.

3. Do you need compatible ink

As mentioned earlier, compatible inks can actually partially replace original inks. But in our impression, compatible inks are prepared for users who cannot afford original inks. These users want to spend less money to get products with low prices and quality close to the original consumables, usually using compatible ink cartridges ( Ink) is about 60% of the cost of using original ink cartridges, and the cost of using refilled ink is about 10 to 30% of using original ink cartridges. A lot of cost savings are at the cost of a certain quality and manual labor (filling ink). Of course, compatible inks are not recommended for the following people: 1. Users who have professional precision and color requirements, such as those who need advertising production and sample production; 2. Users who have sufficient funds and pay more attention to image; 3. Direct printing results Users who are used for commercial or profit purposes; 4. Large sums of money, very rich. If you feel that your hands and feet are clumsy or you are worried about the trouble of filling ink and want to use compatible consumables, it is appropriate to directly choose compatible ink cartridges instead of refilling ink.

2. Fully purchase compatible inks

1. Know the ink market

Now I will focus on how to buy compatible inks with you. First of all, you must have a clear understanding of the entire compatible ink market. You know, compatible ink is not equal to counterfeit ink. As I just said, genuine compatible ink is also a strict product with a very production system.

Last year, a total of 16.5 million ink cartridges were sold in the entire inkjet printing market, plus other consumables, and the annual sales were close to 3.5 billion yuan. The profitability of ink cartridges (water) is also obvious to all. Driven by profits, counterfeit ink cartridges are rampant, because many users have used such cheap "original" ink cartridges, causing the printer failure rate to remain high. Here we need to specifically identify the difference between counterfeit ink cartridges (water) and parallel and compatible ink cartridges (water).

According to reliable sources, fake ink currently accounts for 70 to 80% of the market volume! Their channels are very hidden, and even most sellers don’t know the authenticity of the ink cartridges. All kinds of fake and inferior products emerge one after another, mainly as follows:

1) Fake leather and fake core: This is very simple, it means that the packaging and ink cartridges are all fake (but people who don’t know how to do it can’t see it, but a real expert can see the difference between the Zhejiang version and the Guangdong version). It is also one of the most on the market;

2) Fake leather and genuine core: The packaging is fake, but the ink cartridges are real. Because the sales profit of inkjet printers is also very low, some printer sellers replace the original ink cartridges in the printer with fake ink cartridges, and then Original ink cartridges are sold separately. As a result, the profit of a printer has changed from 10 to 20 yuan to more than 100 yuan.

3) Genuine leather core: The packaging is to reuse the unpacked real packaging, and the ink cartridges inside become fake ink cartridges. Please pay special attention to this type of ink cartridges.

I won’t say much about the second situation. Those who suffer are friends who buy printers. For the first and third situations, it is often difficult for ordinary consumers to distinguish between them. Not to mention the fake leather core, the fine print of the outer packaging of the fake leather core is almost the same as that of the original product. Even the factory technicians don’t pay attention to it, let alone us small users? If you want to know more about ink cartridges, you can read the article "A Complete Understanding of Ink Cartridges" I wrote before, and you will know more.

There is one point. I think printer consumables should not be distinguished by "original" and "compatible", but by the standards of "high quality" and "bad quality". As long as the quality meets the requirements, don't look at whether it is "original". Generally speaking, regular printer consumable manufacturers pay more attention to quality and reputation. As long as they are used in accordance with the scope of their products, there will be basically no problems. Of course, the products produced by those manufacturers who are eager for quick success and quick gains and counterfeiters who shoot and change places are a different matter. You must pay attention to this.

If we pay attention to the current market, there are more than 30 brands and more than 60 models of compatible ink cartridge (water) manufacturers. The more famous ones include Tianwei, Gree, Endurance, Shenjie, and Suzhicai. There are many kinds of waiting. Generally, we only need to look for the brand to purchase. The product that claims that one ink can "make the world" (applicable to all ink cartridges) is definitely not available, because such a product cannot exist. There are so many printer brands and models, let alone different brands, that is, the formulas of special ink cartridges used by printers of the same brand and different grades and specifications are different. Mixed use will cause a lot of trouble. If there is really a "bag hit the world", So good technology has long been regarded as the guest of honor by printer manufacturers, how can it be guilty to produce compatible ink cartridges? Generally, compatible ink manufacturers with good technology will produce corresponding ink cartridges (water) according to different printers such as Epson, HP, Canon, Lexmark, Color (ordinary), Photo (photo), etc. The product line of powerful brands is relatively sound and can cover almost all Model of printer cartridge (water).

There are two types of compatible consumables for jet printing: Refill inks and Cartridge. Products like refill inks look similar. The outer packaging is a plastic bottle with ink inside, ranging from 15 to 30ml, which is better The product will come with detailed instructions and corresponding filling tools-such as a needle for poking holes and a syringe for filling ink. The user can inject the ink into the used original cartridge and put it back in the machine for use. The filling method is relatively simple, and individual ink cartridges (such as some products of Epson) need to pay attention to the skill of adding ink.

Compared with refilling ink, compatible ink cartridges are very different in terms of internal structure and use effect. Most of them are Epson and Canon ink cartridges without nozzles. This type of ink cartridge has a simple structure and is easy to manufacture, so there are many brands, and it is also the most mixed type. Good quality ink cartridges have been individually tested and adjusted for each model of sponge and ink to ensure no leakage or dryness. The manufacturer is large. There are only a few sets of sponge and ink for common quality compatible ink cartridges. The product range is not comprehensive, at most only a dozen. The produced ink cartridges are only different in outer shell and have the same internal structure.

Recently, with the invalidation of some HP ink cartridge patents, HP ink cartridges with print heads are already available on the market. At present, there are mainly 51626A and 51629A. In the future, models such as 51649A and C1823A will be introduced. This is a new category of compatible ink cartridges. It is very sophisticated and difficult to manufacture. Only two manufacturers in Taiwan can produce it. The cost is relatively high. The market retail price is about 80% of the original ink cartridge price. I believe that their prices will soon drop in time.

2. The principle of purchasing compatible ink

What I mentioned just now is the situation in the market. In fact, we can grasp some basic principles of buying and selling. We all know that qualified inkjet printer inks require ultra-small molecular weight, moderate penetration rate, a certain viscosity ratio, chemical ink transfer and precise chemical synthesis sequence codes. Only when such complicated conditions are reached, the ink can be smoothly controlled and sprayed on the nozzle, and the accuracy and quality of printing can be guaranteed. A good inkjet ink has very strict technical requirements for chemical synthesis. If the chemical composition of the ink is incorrect, the new ink will chemically react with the original residual ink to form a gel or crystal after filling. This failure is almost impossible Immediately cause the nozzle to be scrapped. There are many compatible ink brands on the market. Do not use low price as the criterion for selection, nor