New ISO to Standardize Ink Cartridge Testing

Today’s market is flooded with various brands and models of printer devices and printer cartridges. In fact, most of us have already tried out several printer types and models and several brands or types of printer cartridges. You may have noticed that some printers tend to consume more ink or run out of ink faster than the other brands or models. If you’re really after cost-efficiency, you’re probably asking how you can tell which printer brand or model and which printer ink cartridge brand or type can give you the most out of what you pay for.

There’s a new ISO standard for printer industry which has been approved by several printer manufacturers. This standard can give consumers a better way to compare the different types of printer ink cartridges. It might also streamline and standardize the procedures on how printer manufacturers should test their ink cartridge products.

Testing printer ink cartridges is important because aside from ensuring the quality of the product before it reaches the hands of the consumers, it also provides a way for consumers to compare several similar products that have different brands. Take the number of pages that an ink cartridge can print. This is established by testing how many pages a particular cartridge can print until the ink runs out. But test procedures for this vary per printer manufacturer so this parameter remains subjective. Printer manufacturers each have its own set of metrics for measuring the number of printouts. For instance, one printer manufacturer measures the number of pages that an ink cartridge can print based on 16% of the page covered in text while another manufacturer may print a page complete with graphics but with only 10% text. As such, the test results are not standardized and will depend on the parameters used by a printer manufacturer. Sad to say, printer manufacturers do not disclose the parameters or conditions that they use for testing their ink cartridges. Instead of making things clear, the disparity in specifications in ink cartridges can confuse consumers and give them wrong notions. This example tells us that without the establishment of standards, consumers are still left in the dark as to the real and actual capacity of an ink cartridge.

The new ISO standard can help put in place standardized test methods that printer manufacturers should follow in identifying the number of pages printed and other parameters of their ink cartridge products. It will also prompt printer manufacturers to use the same software and settings for the test pages, ink volumes and others if they want to become ISO-certified. Now, consumers can compare ink cartridge products more easily.

At the moment, ink cartridges can be expensive but with this new ISO standard in place, consumers can buy the least expensive ink type or brand that can give the most number of printouts.

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Let's Get to Know MICR Toner Cartridge

If you have been browsing through online stores for printer supplies, I’m sure you have already seen the acronym MICR. What is MICR? What is the difference between an MICR toner cartridge and an ordinary toner cartridge?

MICR is an acronym for Magnetic Ink Character Recognition. A toner cartridge that uses MICR technology is custom-made for encoding, reading and sorting checks and deposit slips. It allows computers to read special information like account numbers from printer documents. This is also different from barcodes and other similar technologies because MICR codes are readable even to humans.

MICR cartridge characters are usually a series of numbers. For example, the series of numbers located at the bottom portion of a check comprise an MICR code. This is the same number that banks use as reference to route and process payments. The MICR toner cartridge magnetically charges each character so it can be recognized by high-speed machines. The high-speed machine translates the MICR code to digital data. Each check deposited in a bank is read and sorted several times by the high-speed machines. As such, the reliability and quality of the MICR toner cartridge is critical to make the transaction efficient.

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Recycled Pens from Used Inkjet Cartridges

Close the Loop, a company hired to recycle for ink and toner cartridges by various printer manufacturers like Lexmark , has thought of another way to reduce wastes: recycle the inkjet cartridges to ink pens.

For the past 18 months, the company has been working hand in hand with Lexmark to develop the recycled pen in its Northern Kentucky branch. The target date to make the pen product available in the market is by middle of 2010.

Close the Loop also operates in Australia. It sorts the used printer cartridges to segregate components like metal, polymers, and ink. Among these, the ink poses the greatest problem because the Close the Loop has been storing inks for a long time while trying to think of ways to make these useful. The company came up with the idea of recycling the wastes to pens when one of its leaders asked if the ink can be used in a pen. Initially, the reaction was a resounding “no” since printer ink is a fusion of various colors but when it was tested, the idea worked.

Since then, Close the Loop has been finding ways to also recycle some of the plastics and metal wastes to make the bodies of the pens. The output products is made from 84% recycled materials but the company is still working on to make it 100% recycled.

Close the Loop is currently looking for retail partners to market their pen products. The recycled pen looked like this (bearing the Lexmark name since these were made from Lexmark waste materials):

However, the design might change since the company is also looking for a partner who can enhance the design. The materials are flexible enough to turn the pen’s body to any shape or size. The prices for the said pen products have already been set but is not disclosed yet. According to Jim Tocash, Vice President for Close the Loop in Kentucky, pricing will be near those of roller-type pens.

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Great 2010 Deal from TonerBoss

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Increase Your Revenues with Print Cost Assessment

What is Print Cost Assessment? A lot of companies and individuals have not heard of this or do not consider this as an important aspect of their budget and cost analysis.

In a study done by well-known IT research firm, IDC Research, it was concluded that around 90% of today’s businesses do not include the costs of printing and copying in their offices. Based on a sample print cost asssessment, it seems that the copy or print costs in offices should be considered in planning the budget and costing. The study reveals that the average copy or print costs in companies consume about 3% of the total revenues. This is why companies should learn how to manage their print cost assessment so they can keep track of their copy and print costs and maximize their revenues even more.

A print costs assessment is an indispensable tool that can help you determine the total costs of prints and copies in your office. The process of doing a print cost assessment is tedious. It requires an inventory and listing of all printing and/or copying machines installed and being used in your office. You will also have to list down the print volumes of all these devices based either on the printer specifications or on a given time frame like monthly, yearly, and so on. The costs considered in the assessment include contracts (if any), supplies, service, and acquisition. You also have to track the actual costs. Here is a sample print cost assessment done by the DocuSense group:




Based on this sample assessment, a company can spend as much as $27,502.00 on prints and copies alone. This figure is substantial to the company’s revenues.

This shows that companies and also individuals should learn how to do print cost assessment and include this into their budget planning and strategy. If this is done correctly, the print cost assessment tool is important in letting you see and understand the operational costs in your company. Once the print or copy costs are determined, the company can plan and manage the costs and frequency of document outputs. It can also devise certain programs that will address the print and copy costs in the office.

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Differentiating OEM, Compatible and Remanufactured Cartridges

Today's market is teeming with different types and brands of printer cartridges. Indeed, one cannot blame consumers who would often find themselves unable to decide on which type or brand of printer cartridge they should get for their printers.

Consider the scenario in which you own a printer and you have just discovered that you had run out of ink or toner. What will you do? You would probably say “I'll just remove the empty cartridge and replace it with new ones.” Well, you better think again. Try going to a physical or online store and you’ll see that there’s more to printer cartridges than meets the eye.

A visit to the local computer or online store will make your realize that there are different types of printer cartridges available in the market. To help ensure that you are making the right ink or toner cartridge for your printer, it is important to know that there are three types of printer cartridges in the market today namely OEM, compatible and remanufactured printer cartridges.

OEM Cartridges

OEM is short for Original Equipment Manufacturer. These are what you would call as genuine or original because they are made by printer manufacturers themselves. For example, HP OEM toner cartridges are manufactured by HP for use in specific HP printer, fax, or copier models.

The main advantage of purchasing OEM printer cartridges is you get exactly the same cartridge as the one you got with your printer. This assures that you get a printer cartridge that will surely work with your printer and that you will get exactly the same print quality as you did when you first used your printer.

However, buying OEM printer cartridges can also be disadvantageous because they are the most expensive in the market. In fact, it may cost you more to buy replacement OEM printer cartridges than to get a new printer. Printer manufacturers justify the costs of OEM cartridges by citing that they have invested heavily on technical know-how, expert manpower and technologies to produce high quality printer cartridges.

Compatible Cartridges

If OEM printer cartridges are genuine and original, compatible printer cartridges are their “off-brand” or “generic” counterparts. This is because compatible printer cartridges are manufactured by third-party companies that do not manufacture printers. For example, Fullmark, TonerBoss and Color Toner Expert are three of the trusted compatible printer cartridge manufacturers but they do not manufacture or produce printers, they only manufacture and sell ink and toner cartridges.

The main advantage of compatible printer cartridges is that although they are brand-new, they are cheaper than OEM cartridges. You can save up to 50% (or even more) when you use compatible cartridges instead of OEM. The price difference does not affect the high quality of compatible printer cartridges. Compatible printer cartridges are not just imitations of the original cartridges. In fact, they have different designs to avoid any copyright issues with printer manufacturers. In spite of this difference, users are assured that compatible printer cartridges are 100% compatible to the printer model in its box or label.

Third-party manufacturers assure consumers that their compatible printer cartridge products are fully compatible with the printer brand or model. This is because there are cases wherein printer models of different brands are manufactured using the same equipment, process or engine. For example, the early models of HP LaserJet printers were produced using the same engine, process or devices as Canon does. This means that some HP and Canon printer cartridges may be compatible and can be used in place of one another. The same is true for third-party manufacturers who produce compatible printer cartridges. They make use of the same engine, processes and devices as some of those used by printer manufacturers so the OEM cartridges and compatible cartrdiges are relatively the same except for the brand and packaging.

In general, compatible printer cartridges give the same print quality as OEM cartridges do. However, one disadvantage to this is that the print quality may vary from one manufacturer to another. Also, some manufacturers do not have standardized quality control measures particularly on sealing the cartridge shell. In some cases, there are certain brands of compatible cartridges that spill toner or ink so the printout exhibits minor differences in color and print quality.

With compatible printer cartridges, it is important to have a keen eye for a brand that you can trust.

Remanufactured Cartridges

Remanufactured cartridges are used cartridges that have been cleaned and refilled with toner or ink for reuse. Only the parts or components that are no longer fit for reuse are chnaged.

The main advantage of remanufactured printer cartridges is that these have been remanufactured and produced to give cheaper alternatives for printer brands like HP, Epson, Lexmark, and Okidata which cannot use compatible printer cartridges for legal reasons. Also, these printer manufacturers are known to produce printer cartridges that have complex design. All the printing technology and components like the print head are built within the printer cartridge instead of installing them as parts of the printer. These complex design and technology are copyrighted and cannot be copied or imitated legally.

Patronizing remanufactured printer cartridges also allow you to contribute to the conservation of the environment and to decreasing waste volumes especially in landfills. Instead of throwing away empty or used cartridges, these are refilled for reuse.

However, the main disadvantage of remanufactured cartridges is that they cannot be mass-produced. The volume of remanufactured printer cartridges in the market is determined by the number of re-usable empty or used cartridges. Admittedly, this is not a main problem right now since there are thousands of used printer cartridges being discarded annually.

Just like compatible printer cartridges, the quality of remanufactured printer cartridges depends on the manufacturer. Some manufacturers would just drill a hole and refill it with ink or toner. Although the drilled hole is covered and sealed, some manufacturers do not make use of efficient quality and reliability measures so that the print quality and overall quality of the cartridge suffers. Most of today’s printer cartridge remanufacturers (e.g. Toner for Earth) observe a full quality control process for every stage of production such as cleaning, refilling, reassembling and testing of the end products.

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How to Distinguish Ink Cartridge, Printhead and Toner Cartridge

Almost all people around the globe either own or use a printer every day. Printers have become very important tools for work, business and even for schools. This is why it is important for you to know the components of printer systems.

TonerBoss gives you the very basic pointers on how you can differentiate ink cartridge, printhead and toner cartridge. These are all valuable components of printer systems. Without these, any type or brand of printer will not be complete and you will not be able to print your documents or graphics.

• A printhead and a cartridge are not the same.

A printhead and a cartridge are two different components of the printer. A printhead is component that has the printer nozzle which releases the ink from the cartridge to the paper.

A cartridge, on the other hand, can either be a printer ink cartridge or a laser toner cartridge. A printer ink cartridge contains ink while a laser toner cartridge contains toner. These two are different because printer ink is in liquid form while toner is dry ink (in powder form). Whether its printer ink or toner, they both come out through the nozzle in the printhead to the paper.

• Is there a difference in the costs of ink and toner cartridges?

Yes, the prices of ink cartridges are different from those of toner cartridges. Printer ink cartridges are cheaper than laser toner cartridges. The choice of which printer or cartridge to use depends on the printing job and quality that you need. In most cases, laser toner cartridges can give better page yield than printer ink cartridges.

• Which one gives faster printing speed, printer ink cartridge or laser toner cartridge?

In terms of printing speeds, a laser toner cartridge is faster than printer ink cartridge. The difference in speed is due to the different and more advanced printhead technology used in laser printers.

• Does using a printer ink cartridge or a laser toner cartridge have any effect on the print quality?

Yes, of course, there is a difference in the print quality. Technically, laser toner cartridges give better print quality than printer ink cartridges but the difference is not very noticeable and significant.

In spite of these differences, the choice on which cartridge to use remains to be yours. It will depend on what you need or what you require. A laser toner cartridge is not necessarily better than a printer ink cartridge and vice versa. Contact TonerBoss for more details or for your inquiries.

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10 Tips to Save Ink and Your Ink Cartridges

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Admit it, prices of printer ink cartridges can be heavy ion your pockets. Even generic or compatible toners and cartridges are also quite expensive especially if you print a lot regularly.

TonerBoss gives you a few tips on how you can save your ink and your printer cartridges. These tips are very easy, just a few minor steps to take before you click on Print.

1. Make it a habit to do “Print Preview” before printing the document.

Most printer drivers and word processing applications offer a Print Preview function. This lets you view the document as it will come out when you print it. The Print Preview function is actually very useful especially when printing from websites. It will help you ensure that the material will fit into the page. It also allows you to minimize images or remove those that are not necessary.

2. Print only what you need or what you want.

If you need or want information from just a portion of a page, then print only that portion. It is useless to print out the images and other texts if you don’t need them. When printing straight from a website, you can print the portion that you need by highlighting it and then print.

Always keep in mind that most of your files can be stored in your computer or in an external drive so you don’t necessarily need a hard copy. This is not only environment-friendly but also printer ink cartridge-friendly as it will allow your printer ink cartridge to last longer.

3. Preserve the life of your print cartridge

You don’t have to print something every day but try to utilize both black and color printer cartridges at least once a week. If you don’t have anything to print, run a diagnostic test or print a single phrase or sentence. This is because printer ink cartridges that are seldom used will eventually dry up. And mind you, this happens to all brands.

4. Use Generic/Replacement/Compatible Printer Cartridges

Generic/replacement/compatible printer cartridges give you more savings without necessarily sacrificing the quality and quantity. This is especially recommended to those who do bulk printing on a regular basis.

5. Clean your printer head regularly.

Most printer drivers come with a Clean and/or Deep Clean option in their Maintenance tabs. Clean your printer head from time to time and run Deep Clean at least once every two weeks to prevent dirt and residue from accumulating in the printer head. This can help preserve your printer ink cartridge’s life.

6. Turn off your printer the right way.

Some people, especially those who are always in a hurry or who are always busy, would turn off their printers by unplugging the switch from the electric socket without bothering to turn off the power switch. This is incorrect. Take time to turn off your printer the right way because otherwise, you will be cutting off the power before the print heads can go to their correct standby position. Again, print heads left on incorrect positions can make the ink dry up faster.

7. Plan before you print.

Take time to plan what you will print before actually clicking on Print. When I say “plan”, this includes proofreading your texts, fixing your images and double-checking everything before printing it. A lot of people would print on impulse. This is incorrect. When you are not satisfied with what you have printed and would want to print it again, this means wasted paper, ink and electricity.

8. Print more blacks.

Use your black ink more often. If it’s not important, skip the color. Also, make sure that your printer setting is always set to print in monochrome so you can save on your color inks for more important applications.

9. Put the Draft setting into action.

Most printer drivers come with a Draft option. Putting your printer in Draft setting is actually one of the best ways to save on your ink. It also makes your printer print faster than its normal rate.

10. Consider using helpful software.

There is a handful of software available that can help you organize your printing tasks. In most cases, the software works by removing the empty spaces and images that you don’t need so they won’t be printed.

Always keep these tips in mind to save your ink and your printer cartridge. Happy printing!

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