Common mistakes in purchasing printer cartridges

V4ink Knowledge Base Updated: November 28, 2021

It's easy to use a printer, but it's not easy to buy a printer cartridge. We often get into some mistakes.

This simple guide can help you identify common mistakes in purchasing printer cartridges and help you avoid them. Let’s jump in!

Buying standard yield printer cartridge

Printer cartridges are usually sold in standard yield and high yield to meet the needs of users with different printing volumes. High yield products are generally expensive, but their printing capacity is 2 times or more than that of the standard yield. Many people prefer standard cartridges with lower prices. In fact, the cost per page of the high yield cartridges will be lower.

Let's see the comparison below:

	OEM Brother TN730 1 Pack	OEM Brother TN760 1 Pack
Cost	$34.99	$72.00
Page Yield	1200 Pages	3000 Pages
Cost per Page	2.9 Cents	2.4 Cents

Let’s look at the Brother TN730 standard yield toner cartridge and TN760 high yield toner cartridge as an example. The cost per page of high yield TN760 is 2.4 cents, while the cost per page of the standard yield TN730 is 2.9 cents. With high yield ink cartridges, you can save 0.5 cents per page. It can save you more in the long run.

If you don't print often and don't want to invest a lot of money in the printer, the standard yield cartridge is optional, but for users who often use printer or print a large amount, the high yield cartridge is a more economical choice.

Buy the wrong model (easy to make mistakes)

In reality, many printer users are easy to buying the wrong cartridge models. For example, Brother TN760 and TN660 in toner cartridges, and HP 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65 in ink cartridges. Not only do they have similar model names, but they also look very similar. However, the printer models they compatible are completely different and cannot be interchanged.

Due to the same size, you may be able to install the wrong ink or toner cartridges into the printer, but then your printer will appear an error message to inform you that the wrong cartridge is installed. This is because there are specific chips in the ink or toner cartridge, so that the printer can only identify a specific model of the cartridge, so as to ensure that they will not make mistakes.

Before purchasing a new replacement ink or toner cartridge, if you are not sure about your cartridge model, be sure to check the printer manual. In addition, you can search your printer model on v4ink.com. A list of all of the compatible cartridges for your specific printer are included the printer page. It’s easy for you to get the correct cartridge and buy it directly. For example, if you search for ”Deskjet 2600” on our website and all products of “HP 65XL” will list on the page.

Unable to distinguish between toner cartridge and drum unit

Some Brother printer work with individual toner cartridge and drum unit. You need to buy it separately. However, many printer users are not familiar with the toner cartridge and drum unit, so it is easy to buy the wrong item.

In fact, there are obvious differences between toner cartridge and drum unit. The toner cartridge contains toner (powder), while the drum unit is only a shell and does not contain toner (powder).

If the prints are getting faded, you will need to replace your toner cartridge.

If you are getting blank spaces or streaks in your print, you will need to replace the drum unit.

In general, toner cartridges are replaced more frequently, while drum units generally need to be replaced after using 3 or 4 toner cartridges, because drum units have higher page yield. Taking Brother TN760 toner cartridge and DR730 drum unit as an example, the TN760 can print approximate 3,000 pages per cartridge, while DR730 can print approximate 12,000 pages per cartridge. The page yield of drum unit is 4 times that of toner cartridge, which makes the service life of drum unit longer.

Tri-color ink cartridge and individual color ink cartridge

Many users who buy color inkjet printers will think that they need to buy 4 individual color ink replacement when their print cartridge are ran out, but they are not. There is a color ink cartridge which contains three colors. It is called the tri-color ink cartridge.

What is the difference between them?

1. The position of the print head

The print heads of the cartridges are built tightly into the ink box, so it should be replaced every time the cartridge is replaced.

Individual ink cartridge does not have a built-in print head. Instead, the print head is built into the printer.

2. Different colors of ink stored in the same cartridge or in separate cartridges

Tri-color ink cartridge includes three chambers inside that are filled with cyan, magenta and yellow ink.

Individual color ink cartridge means cyan, magenta and yellow ink cartridge has its own separate ink cartridge.

3. Can it be replaced separately

For tri-color ink cartridge, if there is not enough ink for a particular color, the entire cartridge must be replaced.

For Individual color ink cartridges, each color can be changed as needed.

Before purchasing ink cartridge products, please specify the type of ink cartridge you use. You can take out the original ink cartridge from the printer and see whether it is a tri-color or an individual color ink cartridge.

Thinking the OEM is the best

There is no doubt that the original ink or toner cartridge will be more compatible with your printer, because it is made by your original equipment manufacturer (OEM).

But the price of the original printer cartridge is often higher, which is like the business model of razor and blade. The original equipment manufacturer bundle printers and consumables (ink or toner cartridges). Printers are one-time trading products, while ink or toner cartridges are consumables and need to be purchased regularly. Merchants choose to offer discount on the printer, so that you can buy the printer at an affordable price, and then earn your money with high price consumables.

In fact, you can have more affordable choices on printer cartridges. V4ink compatible printer cartridge can save you a lot of money and provide you with the same amount of printing and amazing print quality at a small part of the famous brand price. For example, Brother TN760 toner cartridge mentioned earlier, the original Brother brand price quotation is $72.00. In v4ink, you can enjoy the same number of printed pages and printing effects as the original brand products for only $25.99, and save 64% compared with the original brand products. Why pay more for famous brand ink when you get comparable results at a more favorable price?

You can also apply for a free trial to experience our products! Click here to get free trial now!

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