Difference between Original and Compatible Cartridges

No matter which type of printer you use, whether it’s a Laser printer or Inkjet Printer, Cartridges are an essential part of it. Nowadays the market is flooded with varieties of cartridges that comes with huge price differences. So which kind of cartridge you should buy and what exactly is the difference between these cartridges. Well there are generally 4 kinds of cartridges available in the market, there meaning and the price band for a valid reason is mentioned below:

OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer):

Also known as the Genuine Cartridge, these are the cartridges that are sold by the printer brand itself. They are high priced because of the quality they maintain and not just that, cartridges are their cash cows. They can charge money for cartridges as they are the only product that has a recurring need and they also need to cover the expenses which they make in the Research and Development of the printers and Cartridges. Thus, they are priced high in comparison to other cartridges.

Compatible Cartridges:

These are the kind of cartridges that are manufactured by some third party but works perfectly fine with your printer model. These are available for both Inkjet as well as laser printers and are available at very cheap rates. The compatible are also the brand new cartridges and are not used before but are no affiliated with the manufacturer.

Refilled Cartridges:

Refilled cartridges are the ones that are once used and then again filled back. This kind of Cartridges is mainly used for Inkjet Printer Cartridges as they refill the ink and sell it again. They are comparatively cheaper in price but are not as good as brand new cartridges.

Remanufactured Cartridges:

This is similar to refilled cartridges but is used for Toner cartridges or Laser printers. They are also used once but the empty cartridge is returned back to the manufacturer, all the working parts are extracted and placed in another shell, that cartridge is cleaned and then refilled and sent back in the market. They are also available at lower price than that of OEM.

The question that remains is which cartridge we need to use and which we should not. Well, it totally depends on your usage. You can use compatible cartridges for regular and cheap printing. They work perfectly fine and even the warranty of the printer is not affected by the use of Compatible Cartridge. They are very cheap in comparison to OEM and the difference in printing quality is negligible. Only professional photographers who need high-resolution prints are advised to go with the original.