When buying replacement printer cartridges for a specific printer, you should be aware that there are different options available. Each of the options has its benefits as wells as its drawbacks.
The original equipment manufacturer (OEM) replacement cartridge also known as the named brand is the printer cartridge that has been manufactured by the maker of the printer. The quality of the print works is consistently good. And as expected, there are no compatibility issues between the printer and the cartridge when a named brand is used. Most OEMs only extend warranties on their printer only when a named brand is used. But the issue most users have with the named brand is the cost which relatively high compared to the other two options that will be mentioned below, leading to higher operational cost when using this option.
A remanufactured toner on the other is one made from the used and disposed of toner of an original equipment manufacturer OEM. The toner manufacturer tests the disposed of toner to identify any worn out parts and then replaces the identified worn out parts. The toner is reassembled and refilled with the same quality of ink.
Remanufactured toners are less expensive (especially on 123ink.ca) than their named brand counterpart, while still giving the same quality of printing. Remanufactured toners also help the environment by reducing the number of printer cartridges that are sent to the landfill.
Although less expensive, a lot of experts consider them less reliable because some of the parts that are unchanged might fail during printing. Remanufactured toners are not considered the best option to use when high-quality printing and reliability are paramount. It might be an option for small volume print users. Furthermore, most OEMs do not extend the warranties on their printers when remanufactured cartridges are used.
The last option is the compatible printer cartridges. These are new cartridges made to the same standard and quality but by third-party manufacturers (different from the printer OEM). They have the same page yield as the OEM cartridges and are consistently cheaper than the OEM equivalent. They bring the best of both worlds by combining affordability with reliability. Compatible printer cartridges are the recommended replacement cartridge option for budget users looking for a cheaper option than the named brand but still requiring dependability. But like the remanufactured counterpart, OEMs do not extend the warranties on their printers to cover for the use of compatible cartridges.
