Showing posts with label printer cartridges. Show all posts
Showing posts with label printer cartridges. Show all posts

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Cartridges

“Cartridge” refers to a detachable sub-unit that is held within its own container. They were popularized by early home computers like Commodore 64 and early TV games systems. The advantage of cartridges lies in the fact that they facilitate quick loading of software from one media format to another. It also helps maintain the software in a sturdy and damage-resistant form.

Throughout the 80s and the 90s, all home video game systems were cartridge-based. As technological advancements in the late 90s ushered in CD technology as a cheaper alternative for data storage, hardware companies shifted from cartridges to CD-based game systems. This was on account of the lower costs and larger storage space provided by a CD-ROM.

Now, cartridges are most commonly used in printers. They are encased in a larger container, which has both inlet and outlet ports that contain around 13500 fibers and 16KB of space for storing table of contents and file-location information. Each cartridge can store about 25MB of uncompressed data.

There are several types of cartridges, including inkjet cartridges, laser cartridges and toner cartridges. These cartridges come pre-filled with ink, though there are some innovative cartridges that are refillable on the market as well – these are called remanufactured cartridges.

Remanufactured cartridges of all types are abundant so care should be taken to ensure that the job of refilling them has been done safely and problem. The most common problem with remanufactured cartridges is they can be prone to leakage, especially if not filled correctly. If remanufactured cartridges are leaking inside the foil pack, then they should be returned to the place of purchase.

Buying Printer Cartridges

Printing has become an absolute necessity for people all over the nation and world these days. Whether a person needs to print an essay for a school project or a business plan to present to their peers, having a reliable method of translating work done on a computer to a sheet of paper is a must. One important part of a printer that often gets overlooked in the process, however, is the printer cartridge. Containing the ink necessary to write lines and create diagrams on a blank sheet of paper, printer cartridges are something that no printer can be without. It is important, therefore, that anyone who plans on using his or her printer on a continuous basis have a reliable method to replace their printer cartridges when they inevitably dry out of ink.

One of the most common mistakes that is made is to buy a printer cartridge only after the previous one has become useless. The simple truth is that these cartridges are often very expensive and are not always easily acquirable. Because of these attributes, there are several strategies to employ when purchasing printer cartridges for the future.

The first thing to remember is that printer cartridges come in a great variety and that a person can’t just plug the first one they see at the store into their printer and expect results. You have to buy a printer cartridge that is compatible with your printer, or you will have wasted your time and money. For example, if you own a Canon printer, it would be foolish to buy a Lexmark printer cartridge. If you are not sure about which cartridges fit your printer, jot down the printer brand and model and ask a sales representative to help you out.

Also remember that while printer cartridges are quite expensive, it is best to get backups when they go on sale. If for example, you own a HP printer and see a sale on all HP and Epson printer cartridges during Thanksgiving, you should head down to the store and pick some up. There is no point in waiting until you really need the printer cartridge to buy them and paying double or triple the price. On a similar note, if the sale were for Xerox and Pitney Bowes printer cartridges, don’t buy them just because they are discounted. If the printer cartridges are not compatible with your printer, they are basically worthless. But overall, being a smart consumer and thinking ahead will do nothing but benefit you in terms of saving time and money.

Overall there are many different printer cartridges, from Xerox to Pitney Bowes, and many different printers, from Canon brands to Lexmark, which they can be used with. Knowing which printer cartridge to buy and taking advantage of sales can go a long way in ensuring that your printer will be working with high quality whenever it is needed!