Ink Cartridge

Your ink cartridge needs will be different depending on what type of printer you have. Some six-color printers need two ink cartridges to reproduce the full color scheme, and eight- and nine-color printers may use three ink cartridges. HP has a photo printer that uses nine ink cartridges to reproduce vivid, rich colors.

More and more people are buying non-name brand ink cartridges and printer supplies & accessories to save money. There may be slight variations in how they reproduce some of the colors, but by and large they are compatible. Also, black ink cartridges will, of course, be more affordable than color cartridges.

When buying a printer, it's important to consider how many cartridges will need to be replaced, and how often. Cartridges can get pricey, especially if you have to replace six or more of them to enjoy full color printing! If you are printing photos, it may be more important to you to have true color reproduction than if you are printing spreadsheets. It may be worthwhile to you to research cartridge prices before settling on a printer. If Epson ink cartridges and Epson ink refills are less expensive than Lexmark ink cartridges or HP ink cartridges, for example, that may enter into your decision.

If you choose to refill your ink cartridges, beware. Manufacturers are coming up with ways to prevent you from doing so. Some cartridges don't have access holes for ink to be inserted, and others actually have chips inserted to tell the printer it is out of ink, even if you have managed to refill the cartridge.