{"id":27290,"date":"2012-01-31T09:59:09","date_gmt":"2012-01-31T14:59:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/?p=27290"},"modified":"2012-02-09T17:31:39","modified_gmt":"2012-02-09T17:31:39","slug":"bob-rankin-should-you-buy-discount-ink-cartridges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/bob-rankin-should-you-buy-discount-ink-cartridges\/","title":{"rendered":"Bob Rankin: Should You Buy Discount Ink Cartridges?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/20100914bobrankinlarge.jpg\" alt=\"bobrankin\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" class=\"attachment wp-att-7652 alignleft\" \/><\/p>\n<p>By Bob Rankin<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s hard to ignore the big price difference between OEM ink cartridges (an &#8220;original equipment&#8221; product supplied by HP, Canon, Epson Lexmark or another manufacturer) and the alternatives. Compatible off-brand cartridges or remanufactured inkjet printer cartridges typically cost 15 percent less than OEM cartridges at OfficeMax, Staples, and other physical stores.<\/p>\n<p>Online, you may find discount ink cartridges costing 30 to 50 per cent less than brand-name goods. Nonetheless, many people hesitate to buy no-name or remanufactured ink cartridges.<\/p>\n<p>There is a persistent rumor that using anything other than manufacturer branded OEM cartridges will void a printer&#8217;s warranty. That is not true, at least in the United States. The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (15 U.S.C.A. 2302) forbids the conditioning of a warranty upon the purchase of any product or service &#8220;which is identified by brand, trade or corporate name.&#8221; In other words, your printer&#8217;s warranty cannot be voided just because you used a non-OEM ink cartridge.<\/p>\n<p>Whether an off-brand compatible or remanufactured discount ink cartridge will perform as well as an OEM cartridge depends, of course, on how well it is made. A fly-by-night outfit may use inferior inks that don&#8217;t produce vibrant, non-fading colors; skimp on cleaning print nozzles and other parts; and skip quality control testing to save money. Shoddy cartridges can leak and ruin the electronics of a printer.<\/p>\n<h3><b><a href=\"http:\/\/askbobrankin.com\/should_you_buy_discount_ink_cartridges.html?pcp\"_blank\">Article continued here:<\/a><\/b><\/h3>\n<p>This excerpt is shared with permission from Bob Rankin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/techtalk.pcpitstop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/20100914bobrankinlarge.jpg\" alt=\"bobr\" class=\"attachment wp-att-7167 alignleft\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Are discount ink cartridges a good deal? I&#8217;ve heard they can ruin your printer, void your warranty, and that the quality is lacking. Others have told me they&#8217;re great and can save you lots of money. What&#8217;s the scoop on cheap ink cartridges?&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":66012,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[14,839],"class_list":["post-27290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bob-rankin","tag-bob-rankin-2","tag-ink-cartridges-printers"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Bob Rankin: Should You Buy Discount Ink Cartridges?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"&quot;Are discount ink cartridges a good deal? 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