Welcome To Our Blog

January 27th, 2010

Hello and welcome to the blog for Cartridge Discount

We will be using the blog to keep you informed and updated on all news and related articles in the ink cartridgetoner cartridge industry and

This will include educational articles, printer reviews, buying guides and any other information that we feel could be useful and interesting.

We will also be keeping an update of the new ink cartridges and toner cartridges we have added to our website. We are dedicated in our research to find the latest products for all printers and continue to offer our best possible prices!!

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Is the website clear or is it difficult to understand?

May 4th, 2012

How would you rate a website; clear enough, hard to understand, half and half, easy?

Most companies chop and change the design of their websites and they always get constant feedback as to what looks good, what works well, what doesn’t work, colour scheme doesn’t match and much more, but for the companies that are selling products, do they make their website clear enough?

For Cartridge Discount we do find customers order incorrectly and blame the set up of the website but we find ourselves it is quite efficient as we supply two different search methods which customers can use to look for the products they need but we still get the odd customer supplying us with negative feedback due to the search – Enter cartridge or printer – as when using this it’s like anyone using a search engine, it does not bring up the exact match to your search it brings up the closest match and this is when customers assume it is the exact correct match for them.

I do understand some websites are difficult to understand and that customer services aren’t always online or the phone is busy but there will always be a way to know if you are getting the correct product or if the information you are reading is correct for you.

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Head clean nozzle cleans

May 1st, 2012


Do you ever wonder why we advise customers to do a head clean nozzle clean through their computers printer software?  We give this advice because what this normally does is un-block any dried ink and cleans the printer heads within your printer. This should be done once or twice a month if you do not use your printer very often.  This maintains your print quality and can prolong the life of your printer.

This usually solves the problem if the ink is not showing correctly on the page.

How can I do a Head Clean Nozzle clean?

This can be done through your printer software nearly all printers have this software program on their computer.  This is usually found in the printer properties or under maintenance in your programs, it all depends on your printer model where it would be

By following the instructions when you click onto printer properties or maintenance your printer will automatically does a printer head clean.  When this is done print a nozzle check pattern. If the ink is still not showing on the page or correctly sometimes you have to try this a few times.

What can I do if this does not work?

If the printer head is located in the cartridge if you remove the cartridge from the printer and sit the cartridge on some moist tissue making sure the bottom on the cartridge (where the ink comes out from) is in contact with the tissue.

Leave the cartridge sitting on the tissue for 15 minutes, and then re-insert the cartridge back in to the printer. This should soften any blocked ink.

If the Printer head is located in your printer there are a couple of things you can try.

(Only try the following if you are confident doing this to your printer)

By using isopropyl alcohol putting 7 to 10 drops in the ink where the ink flows from the cartridge to the head. You can also leave it for a few hours or overnight before repeating the head clean nozzle clean.

Cleaning cartridges are available.  These are just what they sound like cartridges that fit into your printer just like a normal cartridge. They help to unblock the printer head without getting your hands dirty

There are also printer head cleaning kits available on the market.  If you follow the instructions carefully, this can also be successful in unblocking the printer heads.

If you are still having a problem with printing the cartridge may be faulty.  If you have another cartridge please try this to rule this out.

If still unsuccessful you may want to consult a service technician to repair your printer head, if you have a damaged print head or your print head failed no amount of any cleaning solution will fix a damaged print head.

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Finding the correct cartridge for your printer

May 1st, 2012

Every now and again you get a customer ordering the incorrect cartridge and sometimes this is easy to do but now with updated websites and better search engines it is getting easier to order the correct cartridges and harder to order incorrectly.

The best way to find the cartridges for your printer is to know the full make and model of your printer and use the search box on a website to find your specific printer and most websites have the printer linked up to the correct cartridges for you, they’ll have a range of listing from remanufactured/compatible to the originals, different prices for different quantities etc. If you do not know your printer model number then it is advised to stick with the cartridges you have already installed in your printer and they usually have a sticker on top or the side with the number that cartridge is, for example a Canon CL-511 may have 511 on the top or CL511 and some colour dots. It will always have some indication as to which cartridge it is, if it does not we will always advise customers to consult their printer manual as it will state in there exactly which cartridges are compatible with their printer.

In the HP world of printers there are specific models which take HP364 and HP364XL. We find a high amount of customers order incorrectly when it comes to these cartridges as they don’t understand what XL means, they think this is a large size cartridge where as in fact it is the standard HP 364 but filled with a higher capacity of ink. Then there is the big BUT! Some of the printers take 4 of the HP 364 cartridges but others take 5 and it becomes confusing as altogether there is a black, magenta, cyan, yellow and photo black, so when customers simply search 364/ HP 364/ HP 364XL it brings up all 5 cartridges but what do customers do that only have 4? They order the 5 and cause more inconvenience for themselves. This then becomes a bigger issue as they wonder why they are receiving an error message stating the cartridge is missing or it is not fitting in correctly when placing the photo black in their printer which is NOT compatible.

Altogether the best way to search is to have some knowledge of your printer make and model and the number of the cartridges it takes.

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The World of Recycling

May 1st, 2012

The World of Recycling

Why should we recycle ink cartridges? They’re only plastic tanks aren’t they? Well no, here are your answers as to why you should always recycle empty ink cartridges.

In the UK a study has shown up to 30 million ink cartridges are throwing away each year and this results in 1,425,000 litres of oil which has been used to produce the cartridges is simply put to waste. The cartridges that are thrown away are sent to landfills which some can take up to 1000 years to decompose causing rapidly expanding landfills, plus these cartridges are considered to be hazardous waste. Do you really want to put more hazardous waste into the Earth?

Nowadays you will find that many ink manufacturers or normal supermarkets have a recycling scheme for ink cartridges as it is 100% more efficient to join the recycling world. Ink cartridge recycling involves the altering of the physical form of the container. It is turned into a waste product and then reformed into a new cartridge which can involve the melting down of the plastic and then the recasting of new product.

Tesco have a scheme where you benefit from Recycling ink cartridges to as you can receive 100 green clubcard points for each cartridge recycled or you can donate a £1 to Cancer Research UK (http://www.tesco.com/greenerliving/greener_tesco/ink_cartridge_recycling.page) .

Cartridge Discount as manufacturer supply recycling bags with your order and a £1 for every useable cartridge received is donated to Leukaemia Research.

If you do not recycle and feel the need to help the environment then you can recycle and help a charity and save a life.

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The answer to WITH chip or WITHOUT chip

April 18th, 2012

Daily you will get customers asking what it means where there are cartridges listed with chip or without chip. They’ll ask if it will work with a chip on there, what does the chip look like, what does the chip do and so on, well here you will find an answer.

The chip is a little gold memory which contains the ink levels, allows it to recognise it is created for a certain printer type and can also read when there is an error with the cartridge. The cartridges are simply ink tanks which are filled with the ink but without the chip they won’t work as the printer is not going to realise that a cartridge has been installed and therefore you won’t be able to proceed on with printing, and an error message will appear stating ‘missing cartridge’.

We supply cartridges with and without chips as some customers find without chip easier to work with as we do provide a description of what without chip means and instructions on how to transfer the chip from an old/previous cartridge, and by doing this it saves money and it is more efficient as you are simply recycling and helping the environment. We do often find that customers prefer with chip as they are not very confident in transferring the chip from one cartridge to another or taking the time to do so.

If the instructions are not followed clearly the chip can become damaged and will not work from the onwards and this is where people can make a mistake and realise it is not for them transferring a chip.

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Continuously updating technology

April 18th, 2012

The process of printing is continuously changing; all these different models of printers with different functions, the printers which are better are photos, for quicker printing, for better quality and so on, but the latest seems to be ePrint for Hewlett Packard. The ePrint function allows you to print no matter where you go, whether you’re sitting downstairs and your printers upstairs, if you’re on your way to work and you forgot to print your work out from the night before, it allows you to do this from anywhere and everywhere.

HP ePrint is a free mobile printing feature that uses an exclusive email address which is only assigned to you HP ePrint enabled printer, letting you email the documents you would like printed, directly to your printer. You can use a smartphone, laptop, iPhone or any other device without having to install any software.  It can be any document from images, text files to PDF documents, it is really anything you need to print, all you simply need to do is attach the document you need to print to an email and send it to the email address which is specific to your printer and when you next go to the printer it will be sitting waited and printed for you.

How efficient is ePrint?

  • Save time: Are you running late and need to print a presentation? An important document for work? Simply attach it to an email and click send and it will be waiting on your arrival.
  • Save Resources: HP ePrint uses mobile devices in which you already have, which means you can avoid the hassle of downloading any software or having to install any.
  • Work from anywhere: If you are a business you can print and share documents from wherever you are – directions, meeting plans and more, all from a mobile device.

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Printing on the move Airprint

April 18th, 2012


Printing used to be so very restricting. Traditionally it involved a printer, your computer and a printer cable. Now it seems you can print from just about anywhere, using new technology, printing is becoming more and more versatile.

Airprint is used by apple devices such as IPhone, Ipad, Mac book etc.   There is no software to download and no drivers to install and no cables to connect. Airprint automatically locates your printer on your Wi-Fi network to enable it to print.

There are lots of advantages to printing from your phone you can print Emails, photos, web pages and Cinema tickets.  Whilst you are printing you can go to other applications so the printing is done in the back ground.

Initially the printers needed for printing were said to have to be Airprint compatible printers. Now with new technology and software you can down load an Airprint Activator which you can download from a number of links on the internet. Here is one of the links http://netputing.com there is also www.collobos.com/ fingerprint which charges a small fee.

These download enables Air print for your printer. So you don’t have to have an Airprint printer to be able to print. However, if you are in the market for a new printer, below are a couple of AirPrint Printers available as examples there are many more on the market today.

HP Deskjet 3050A e-All-in-One Printer, AirPrint and ePrint Enabled cartridges £34.97* John lewis

Canon PIXMA MG3150 All-in-One Colour Printer £44.12* Amazon

Epson Stylus SX445W AirPrint Printer £99.95*Apple

*prices for printers are correct at time of publishing.

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Keeping the ink costs low

March 20th, 2012

We at Cartridge Discount although we sell ink we like to pass savings so customers can print more successfully

One of the main concerns brought up from a survey done by PC advisor and noticed by us was that customers were concerned about the rising cost of Ink cartridges and the ink not lasting long enough. This is no surprise because of the changing economics and household budgets being tightened.

Customers are now more aware of the Total cost of ownership of a printer. Companies like Kodak, Canon, HP and Epson have to become more focused on reducing the cost of the cartridges and making printers and cartridges more cost efficient without losing quality.  So we at Cartridge Discount would like to give you some of our ink savings advice.

Top 10 Ink savings advice

1)      Buying Compatible or recycled cartridges are a great way of saving money the quality is just as good as original cartridges without the high price tag. Manufactures claim that generic cartridges damage your printer or invalidate your printer warranty but this is not true.

2)      Some companies have special offers each week so it is best to sign up to their newsletter so you get these offers sent to you.

3)      When you are printing Website pages try to copy only the part that you want not the adverts.

4)      Reduce the size of the page you are about to print before you print or if you can put more pages on one page e.g.  If you are printing a power point presentation you can print more pages on one page.  In turn this will save paper.

5)      Try Adobe Lean Print.  This is new software only printing solution a trial is available to from Adobe for free for 30 days if for an individual or 90 days if you are an organisation this software can monitor the amount of ink you are using and the cost. To find out more check the Adobe website http://www.adobe.com/products/lean-print.html

6)      Print in draft mode if your printer has setting, you could print in this mode unless you are printing a photograph or a business letter.

7)      Clean the ink cartridge heads you can find this through your printer software under head clean/ nozzle clean.  If you do this now and again to make sure the cartridges are flowing correctly or when you have not printed in a while.

8)      When your printer is not in use switch it off the heat from the printer can make the cartridge dry out.

9)      Storing the cartridges at room temperature and only buying when you need the cartridges means that the cartridges that you buy are at their best possible condition. Keeping in mind that cartridge’s can deteriorate over time.

10)   Last but not least if you do not use the cartridges regularly, at least once a week the cartridges can also dry out so when you are thinking you are saving on ink it is costing you not to use your ink, as the ink can evaporate and can dry out.  So to your benefit use your printer weekly to keep your cartridge ink flowing.

Happy Printing!

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Inkjet printer cartridges which ones shall I buy?

March 2nd, 2012

Firstly there are three types of cartridges available.

1) Original cartridges OEM (original equipment manufacturer)

2) Remanufactured cartridges

3) Compatible cartridges

Original Cartridges

Original OEM cartridges are made by the original manufacturer e.g. Canon. Epson, Lexmark etc. These cartridges have never been used before.

With Original cartridges there is no problems with these they are what they say they are Brand New cartridges.

The cartridges will show the ink level in your printer but when it is running low it advises you to replace them.   If you can ignore or override this message you can usually print more pages.

The disadvantage would be the price.  Sometimes it is cheaper to buy a new printer as some of the older cartridges can cost a lot or try another choice of cartridge.

Remanufactured Cartridges

The remanufactured cartridge is the original cartridge but recycled and manufactured to a high standard.  It has usually been checked by highly trained technicians any parts that are damaged are replaced, then the cartridge is cleaned and then filled with ink and after that it gets sealed and is then tested again.

The main advantages for consumers to buy Remanufactured cartridges is that Compared to Original cartridges remanufactured cartridges cost considerably less between 30-70 percent less.  The reason for this is because the cost of remanufacturing is cheaper we do not have to buy in the raw materials, so the savings are passed on to the customer.

Remanufactured cartridges are  also normally filled up to the top so they usually last longer than the original cartridges as they are only filled up to a certain level so there is the advantage of the remanufactured cartridge lasting longer then the OEM counterparts.

There is also the advantage that there will be less waste sent to landfill so using the remanufactured cartridges will help save the planet.

The quality of the printing with remanufactured cartridges can be just as good as the original OEM products.  This is if the cartridges have been manufactured to a high standard by professionals.  Most remanufacturing companies have strict controls. The best thing to do would be to compare companies and check if they have a good return policy for the cartridges

The only disadvantages for using remanufacturing cartridges could be that the ink levels on your printer will show either low or empty as the ink levels cannot be reset because remanufactured cartridges have been used already the chip cannot be reset so with most remanufactured cartridges the only way you will know if the print is running out is if the ink is faint or missing lines on the page.

Demand can also be high for remanufactured cartridge so supply can be sometimes limited. As remanufacturing companies can rely on consumers returning spent cartridges for recycling

Compatible cartridges

Compatible cartridges are new cartridges that will work exactly the same as the original OEM cartridges. They are not made by the original manufactures.  They are produced by independent manufacturers.  Because the original manufacturers have a copyright for the designs of the cartridges they cannot be copied so although the cartridges will be compatible cartridges they will look different to the original cartridges but they will fit in the printer models and work as normal.

These cartridges are new and they produce a good quality print at a much lower cost much less than the Original OEM counterparts.

The only disadvantage is that the cartridges do look different and consumers may think that they do not fit or work in their printer.

Conclusion

The choice is up to you.

If you as the consumer don’t mind the cost, go for the original cartridges you get 100% quality

Or if you are out for a bargain and you are more environmentally conscience choose the remanufactured cartridges they are just as good a quality than the original OEM products.

If your printer takes compatible cartridges there is nothing to worry about, you are saving money each time.

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There are millions of printers to choose from where do you start to find the right printer for you? Here is a basic guide to buying a printer

March 2nd, 2012

Before you go out and buy the first printer that you see, which can sometimes be a costly mistake.  You need to ask yourself a few questions.

What am I going to print?

Will it be word documents or will it be images photos.  Or will it be both?

What is my budget?

When buying you have to take in consideration as well as the cost of the printer the cost of the ink cartridges and paper.

What features and specifications do I need or want on my printer?

There are numerous features and different specifications on today’s printers. It all depends what is important to you.  It’s best to check out what you need and if there are extras you would like to have on your printer.  Here are a few features that you might be interested in.

Auto document feeder which saves you from manually putting each sheet into the printer,

Stop button. This is ideal if you press the wrong amount for printing.

USB ports for direct printing

Memory card slots

Touch screens

Double sided printing

The Speed – Its best to check out how fast the printers print this is shown in pages per minute (ppm)

Resolution – This refers to the maximum of dots per inch (dpi) and can determine the quality of the print higher the resolution the more detailed the text and clearer images.

Once you have answered these fundamental questions you are half way there to getting the right printer for you.

You also might want to know more about the types of printers that are on the market to help you decide.  There are five types of printers on the market right now.  Inkjet, laser printer, multi functional, photo printers and mobile printers

Inkjet Printer

The inkjet printer is the most popular and cheapest of the desktop printer on the market today.

As the name suggests the ink is propelled and tiny droplets of ink onto the paper with precision to create good quality letters and pictures.

More often than not these printers start at £30 and are cheaper to buy than buying the new cartridges for them unless you can find a company that sells quality recycled cartridges.

The reason why these printers are so cheap is because manufacturers rely on ink sales for their profit.  Another reason is because the print head is incorporated onto the cartridge itself and the printer has less problems therefore lasts longer.  The paper also used in the printer can greatly determine the quality.   You can use normal copier paper, or get a better quality print with Ink Jet paper.

Even though an Inkjet printer itself is cheap, you have to take into account the cost of the cartridges and the paper if you want a more superior quality print. The inkjet printers are the most popular printers and are best for family use Small home businesses.

Laser Printers (Monochrome/colour)

The laser printer price starts at £50 this is what you would buy for a decent Inkjet so they are becoming more affordable to buy and the prices are coming down more quickly because of increased technology & innovation.   Offset by the fact they are consistently fast and economical.  Although the Toner cartridges cost a bit more but they last a very long time so the Laser Printer does not cost as much to run makes this a better investment than the Inkjet printer.

The printers themselves can be large and bulky so they are more suited to Office environment and small businesses. So if you are short of space this would not be an ideal choice.

Multi function printers

These printers are known as an All in One Printers.  The cheapest inkjet all in one printer price starts at £29. They can be inkjet printers or Laser Jet, In addition to being a printer it can also has facilities to scan, fax or E-mail a document etc.  Because the printers can have different functions and all of these processes are together you are saving s money and space.  These printers are Ideal for home and small business use.

Check out each function individually on the printer to make sure it is suitable for your needs because each individual function may be slower or not as good quality as you would like.

Photo printers

Photo printers only print photographs so buying a photo printer would be only advantageous, if you print a fair amount of photographs.

Unlike standard printers Photo printers do not have to be attached to your computer.  They have memory card reader ports or USB cable port, where you can input your memory card or USB cable so the printer reads from the memory card or from a camera. These printers normally use thermal die technology.

Inside the printer itself instead of spraying the ink onto the paper the heads on the printer melts the various dyes onto the photo paper which is usually a glossy paper which prevents smearing.  This means that the picture looks natural and does not get the pixilated effect you sometimes get. When buying a photo printer make sure it has options of different paper sizes to make it more flexible.

Mobile printers

As the name suggests these are printers where you can print on the move.  They are very versatile you can print anything from Photos, Web pages, Power point presentations, Airline passes and contracts.

Some of the best have Bluetooth technology and Wifi.  This allows one to wirelessly print photographs and documents from mobile phones and PDAs.

When these mobile printers first came out printing was slow but some of the newer models can now match the desktop printers.

There are a lot of printers on the market today the search for the most suitable printer for your printing needs starts with researching what your needs are and what you want to use your printer for.  This is the start of finding the best possible printer.

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