The eternal dilemma of using original or refilled ink cartridges will continue for eternity. The initial savings that this widespread practice represents is often associated with a series of associated problems, such as ink leaks, streaks or poor color fidelity. HP has commissioned an independent study to advocate for the use of genuine cartridges and highlight the benefits to be gained over cartridges that were purchased original (or that came with the printer) and then refilled with ink. Among them, superior durability that reached over 50% more impressions when comparing similar cartridges. We tell you the main conclusions of this study.
Use original cartridges or refill the ones we already have? It is not just any question, since the original ink cartridges reach a very high value in the market that sometimes can even exceed the price of the printer itself (a complete cartridge replacement). Despite the savings that the practice of refilling the cartridges implies, the problems and disadvantages that this practice can cause must be taken into consideration . To put the pros and cons in perspective, HP commissioned a study that tested more than 1,000 cartridges that have been recycled or refilled with ink. The first conclusion that jumps out is that with the original cartridges of the American company a54% more impressions on average. Of course, the percentage varies greatly between the use of remanufactured cartridges (with 20% more ) and cartridges that have been refilled with ink, in which the percentage rises to almost 90%.
The number of cartridges that failed in the study is also symptomatic. While none of HP's cartridges failed prematurely, up to 40% of refilled or manufactured cartridges failed before they were used up. A high percentage that shows the great problem of using these alternatives. Some of the more common failures that occurred during the study include nuisance streaks (printing creates horizontal streaks that cut through words), immediate loss of ink intensity (leading to poor quality prints), or leakage of ink , causing unsightly stains on the paper.
To create its ink cartridges, HP goes through a complex process that takes five years of development for each line, and requires testing up to 1,000 different prototypes to find the right one. Thanks to this, very advanced results are achieved on which the company relies to defend the use of original cartridges. Of course, they still have a price that far exceeds that of alternatives such as cartridges manufactured by third parties (original HP cartridges that are recycled by other companies) or that of refilling the cartridge manually. But if we want a quality result it may be worth investing more moneyto obtain good impressions, especially if among these impressions we find photographs that should last over time or documents that we are going to present or share with other people.