Anyone that uses a printer will appreciate how expensive the cost of ink can be. Most people are aware that using a good quality compatible cartridge can save you money but how much can you save?

Let’s take a look at the Epson T0715 Multipack for example, if you were to shop in your local high street or shopping centres these are the sort of prices you could expect to pay *

Argos  – currently on promotion £34.99 was £37.99

WH Smith  £38.39

PC World   £36.99

Staples       £36.97

That works out at an average of £36.83 each.  Some online stores offer savings, here at Ink & Media you would pay £34.96 with free delivery.

Alternatively, by using Jet Tec compatible T0715 cartridges you could save considerably more.  A multipack currently costs just £15.95, if you do the maths that’s an incredible 125% saving, even better than a 2 for 1 offer.

If you prefer to buy single black cartridges, average high street prices of Epson T0711 are £11.48 (based on stores above).  The price of Epson originals at Ink & Media Ltd. are £10.96 each.

Alternatively you could save £££ by switching to Jet Tec compatibles all singles, available in black, cyan, magenta & yellow are £5.26 each.

Even greater discounts are possible if you buy 2 or more Jet Tec E71 Multipacks you pay £14.45 each, purchase 5 or more for £13.25 per cartridge.

This offer also applies to Genuine Epson cartridges.

The T0711 black ink cartridges which contain 7ml of ink and print up to 250 pages.

Single price £10.96 each

(2 to 4 items) £10.36 each

(5 or more) £9.65 each

1 Multipack T0715 is priced at £34.96

(2 to 4 items) £34.36

(5 or more)    £33.65

Comparisons at a glance

Epson Multipack T0715 versus Epson singles T0711,12,13,14 (black, cyan, magenta, yellow)

Jet Tec E71 Multipack versus Epson T0715 originals

Another factor to consider is the size of the cartridge, Jet Tec compatibles contain 13ml of ink & claim to print up to 30% more than originals.

Conclusion

If you are fed up spending your hard earned on ink for your printer why not give Jet Tec compatibles a try?

They are

• One of Europe’s leading manufacturers of compatible & remanufactured cartridges
• Based in the UK
• Have spent 25 years perfecting their inks
• All products are tested before leaving the Lincolnshire factory & come with a 100% guarantee

What have you got to lose?

* All prices include VAT

Dye- and pigment-based inks are two common types of inks that make a big difference in how your printer performs. The type of ink your printer uses will tell you whether it’s designed to print photos, black and white text, or colour graphics. Compared to industrial oil-based inks and those based on alcohols, they’re considered ecologically friendly—but they both have their own strengths and drawbacks.

Pigment-based Inks 

Pigment-based inks are not water-soluble, although if you break open a pigment-based ink cartridge you’ll see a liquid. These inks are basically small pigment spheres suspended in water. They’re created by grounding chemically-based polymer resins into a small powder and then added to water.

Pigment-based inks are more resistant to UV waves than dye-based inks, so they won’t fade as quickly when exposed to sunlight. They have a longer life expectancy overall. But the colours themselves aren’t as brilliant as those you’ll find in a dye-based ink printout. Because they’re not water soluble, these inks aren’t likely to smear when they come into contact with water—so they do a better job than dye-based inks of resisting both water and UV light.

Pigment-based inks are not often used for colour desktop printing, because they tend to be more expensive and difficult to produce than dye-based inks. They can also run together and block the cartridges if they’re used heavily. Colour printers that use pigment-based inks tend to cost more, because they require special hardware that keeps the ink from running together, blocking the cartridges and producing overly dense colours.

However, they do tend to be used more often in black printer ink cartridges. With black ink, colour brightness isn’t as much of an issue—and the fact that pigment-based inks are more resistant to water and light than dye-based inks make them more desirable in that regard. Many printer manufacturers use pigment-based black cartridges in conjunction with colour ink cartridges that use dye-based inks.

In addition, pigment-based ink is usually considered more desirable for archival printing, because it retains its original colour and look much longer than dye-based inks do—even if it’s exposed to sunlight or comes into contact with water.

Dye-based Inks 

Dye-based inks are easier to incorporate into digital printers because they’re cheaper and easier to make than pigment-based inks. Dye-based inks are water soluble, and they’re made by dissolving a colourant enhanced by optical brighteners into water. The resulting colours are much brighter than what you’ll get with pigment-based inks.

However, dye-based inks do tend to fade much more quickly in the sun and to have a shorter shelf life overall than pigment-based inks do. This is because the optical brighteners used to make the colours more vivid are also strongly affected by light and chemical exposure—and they’re likely to break down over long periods of time. Dye-based ink printouts can also take longer to dry than those made with pigment-based inks, which means that if you handle the paper too quickly when it comes out of the printer, it could smear and ruin the printout. Since dye-based ink is water soluble, it’s also more likely to smear if it comes into contact with water—even if it’s already dried on the page.

Dye-based inks are more often used for producing professional-level colour graphics and photos. If you have a colour inkjet printer, chances are it uses dye-based inks in its colour cartridges. Pigment-based inks, however, are generally only used for black and white or grayscale printing. It’s possible that your inkjet printer uses pigment-based ink in its black ink cartridges.

As to which type of ink is better for you, it depends on the type of printing you’re doing. If longevity is more important than any other factor, pigment-based inks are probably a better choice than dye-based inks. But if you need printouts that display brilliant colours, you’ll need dye-based inks—and the industry has already made that choice for most consumers by including dye-based inks in most colour inkjet printers. If you’re printing only in black and white, the other benefits offered by pigment-based inks may outweigh the fact that their colours aren’t as bright as those of dye-based inks—and you should make sure your black ink cartridge contains ink that’s pigment-based.

We had been using Norton Internet Security from Symantec for a good 5 years or so. It seemed to do its job; it kept us virus free. But we have recently learned that there is a difference between your virus protection keeping you virus free and your virus protection simply never reporting any issues. It was renewal time and instead of paying blindly for Norton again, we thought we’d do our research. Kaspersky Internet Security is the recommendation we kept receiving, so we thought we’d give it a go. At 5 licenses for the full Kaspersky package for £40,  it didn’t exactly break the bank so we were quite pleased before we’d even installed it. It was the first scan after installation where Kaspersky proved itself, and was the moment we lost faith in Norton forever.

5 years of Norton; 1 hour of Kaspersky

This screen shot shows the report that was returned from the Kaspersky scan on one of our machines. How’s that for a total number of malicious items? 343 viruses and trojans, and 2 items of riskware. No-one knows how long they have been there, or what damage they could have caused. Norton, which ran a scheduled scan and was kept fully up-to-date, never found a thing.  This was just the tip of the iceberg. 2 other machines reported over 200 items. The rest had no less than 20. Now we aren’t saying that Kaspersky is perfect; no virus protection is. They all have pros and cons and all will detect threats that others miss. But compared to Norton, it’s the best thing since sliced bread in our opinion. People of the world, share your virus experiences and lets rid the world of virus protection that does more harm than good.

Printer solid ink is used instead of liquid ink in special printers which melt wax based ink and spray it on to the paper.  The technology was first developed by Tektronix in the 1980’s . Xerox bought out the company in early 2000 and launched its own range of solid ink printers. The latest models today are the Xerox Phaser 8500, Xerox Phaser 8550, and the Xerox Phaser 8860.

Solid Ink Printers have several advantages over conventional inkjet and laser toner printers these are.

Ease of Use – very easy to use some laser printers can be more complex

Fast Printing – Solid ink printers  are the fastest colour printers in there class.

Environmentally friendly – requiring significantly fewer supplies and maintenance items compared to laser technology.

Wide Range of Paper – Solid ink printers are less sensitive than laser printers when it comes to paper thickness and quality therefore print on a wider range of paper.

Compatible Supplies – Over 30% in savings can be made when compared to Xerox branded solid ink sticks. Media Sciences solid ink is backed by a comprehensive warranty and is the informed customer’s choice as the premium quality price alternative.

A few years ago in 2007, a Boston man filed a class action lawsuit against the Staples office store in the United States. He accused them of colluding with Hewlett Packard to keep ink cartridge prices high. The lawsuit alleged that HP paid Staples $100 million in market development funds to refrain from selling less expensive third party cartridges. The ink cartridges that were a generic Staples brand are no longer sold in their stores. This forces the hand of the consumer to replace their cartridges with the most expensive manufacturer’s option.

Since printer companies make the bulk of their money with cartridge replacement as opposed to printer sales, companies do everything in their power to push cartridge sales. Some consumers have reported purchasing a new printer just to avoid the cost of expensive printer cartridges. Companies realize this and fluctuate the cost of the cartridges in order to effect consumer behavior.

The ultimate goal of the printer company is to lock consumers into purchasing the products from the manufacturer. If the accusation against Staples and HP is true, eliminating other options from the market is a great way to ensure consumers purchase the one option available to them. Some printer companies have gone even further in ensuring that their printers will lock a consumer into one brand of ink.

These companies are installing chips in their printers that enable only one type of printer cartridge to operate in the printer. These chips disable third party ink cartridges, making them useless. Some ink company representatives say this type of jockeying for market share is common. Many consumers believe it violates anti-trust laws.

HP continues to deny its involvement in anticompetitive practices. They are also accused of giving Staples a cut of each cartridge the store sells. Obviously, this would encourage salespeople to push HP cartridges over all other options. If salespeople can not be trusted to do so, Staples would need to take further measures to eliminate the competition for HP. If the arrangement were found to be true, it would seem as if Staples were working in conjunction with HP to defeat all competition.

There are ways to avoid the high cost of manufacturer printing ink. It may require a bit of research, but if you choose a printer that does not include the exclusivity chip, you can purchase refurbished cartridges or third party cartridges. There is some risk involved with either of these choices, but there are now enough reputable options that if you look hard enough, you can easily find a safe, inexpensive alternative.

Printer ink can be one of the most costly expenses a small business faces. Even those using a printer at home for personal use may find that it is one of their more expensive office expenses. If you are concerned that companies like HP and Staples are abusing their power, consider your third party ink options. This may be the most cost-effective measures a printer owner can take to fill their printing needs.

Solid ink colors: true, vibrant…and earth-friendly.

Solid ink’s cartridge-free design and minimal packaging, its nearly waste-free printing process and its safe, toxin-free solid ink sticks make it a very environmentally-conscious way to print.

Less consumables means less to throw away.

When a laser printer runs out of toner, you are left with big, bulky print cartridges that need to be disposed of. Not to mention other replaceables such as fusers and imaging units.

Solid ink printers use compact solid ink sticks with no cartridges. So when you run out of ink, there’s nothing left to throw away. And because the ink sticks are so small, there’s also less packaging to recycle. The only other replaceable unit is a maintenance roller. This lasts for tens of thousands of pages, so it only needs to be replaced a few times in the life of the printer.

“Over the 4 year life of a typical cartridge-based toner printer, the waste generated amounts to 450 lbs. A Xerox solid ink printer produces only 23 lbs. of waste!”

Save valuable real estate.

Besides drastically reduced landfill waste, Solid ink’s cartridge-free design and minimal packaging also means less energy used during manufacturing and less storage space for better transportation efficiency and fewer delivery trucks on the road — saving you shipping costs while benefiting the environment. Solid ink packages are small enough to fit in your desk drawer, saving your work environment too. There’s no need to take up an entire cabinet with printer supplies.

“A Xerox solid ink printer produces only 23 lbs. of waste!”

Multiple functions use less power.

When you choose a solid ink MFP, it does the work of several stand-alone office products (printer, copier, scanner and fax) while consuming less electricity.

More ways to save with solid ink

Efficient use of paper Standard features like automatic two-sided printing and copying and N-up printing fit more output onto a single sheet, saving time, trees and money.

Save more with free software With every Xerox solid ink printer or MFP you buy, you can download GreenPrint™ software for free. It automatically highlights and removes unwanted pages — like that last page with just a URL, banner ad, logo, or legal jargon — prior to printing. A reporting feature keeps track of the pages and money you’ve saved.

Scan to save paper The email and scan-to-fi le capabilities on solid ink MFPs replace the need to mail hardcopy documents, reducing paper inventories and minimizing the energy required to deliver documents by air or ground transportation.

Ever wondered how ink cartridges are manufactured?

Well have a look at this video of Jettec in action.

Jettec are a renowned UK Ink remanufacturing company. They offer a broad range of compatible and remanufactured inkjet cartridges covering Epson, Brother, Canon, Dell, HP, Lexmark and Samsung printers. Additionally, their award winning Extra life technology, allows the consumer to obtain up to 100% more prints than the original.

Quote From Phil Sneath, Senior Account Manager at DCI:

‘We have managed to sustain an phenomenal rate of growth and demand for our products has not wavered despite challenging trading conditions. This is partly down to the high quality of our products, which drives repeat sales and helps us to retain and grow our client base. But it is also because, as a business, we are constantly evolving and finding new ways to promote our green agenda whilst keeping our costs competitive and overheads minimized by refusing to outsource. At times like this it is fundamental that business’ take inspiration from other successful UK based organizations. We feel that British manufacturers need to encourage retailers and suppliers to strongly promote British made goods and produce in order to protect the interests of British industry’.

Ink and Media are delighted to be authorized Jettec retailers, supplying their full product range.

Have any of your friends encouraged you to just buy a new printer instead of wasting money on replacement ink, now that printers are often dirt cheap? There is a variety of differing opinions concerning this issue, and it is important to take other things into consideration, in addition to cost. The printers that are up for debate are inkjet printers. Inkjets are the ones that are often deeply discounted, and most of them require both a color and black cartridge in order to print properly. Replacing both ink cartridges can often cost more than $50. When those who print frequently can find rebates and sales on inkjet printers, they are often sold for as low as $25 or $50. Most include the needed cartridges in this price, which means that for as little as half the cost of the replacement inks, you get a new printer, new warranty, and new cartridges.

Now, any knowledgeable printer enthusiast will note that this discount ink trick depends on the brand of printer you use. Some printer manufacturers include only starter cartridges with their printers which means you will get only a portion of the printing from the new printer you would from the replacement cartridges. The other issue is how frequently these cheap printers are available. Granted, if you are a bargain hunter, you are sure to find cheapo printers during Black Friday sales or around the start of a new school year. However, these printers are going to be rock bottom quality, along with their rock bottom price. Remember though, you will only be using it for as long as you use the ink, so it may not make a difference if it breaks within six months. If you are after high print quality though, you are not going to get it with the cheapest printer on the market.

The problem most printing enthusiasts have with this problem is it is an environmental disaster. Even those who would not consider themselves earth conscious or “green” shudder at the thought of tossing a piece of technology in the garbage every three months. The inconvenience of filling your garbage with a printer may be enough to convince you this is a bad idea. Then again, most of these “disposable printers” are no bigger than a supermarket shopping bag full of cans, so it may not be a big deal.

Even those convinced throwing the baby out with the bathwater is really cheaper may still be more comfortable choosing other cost saving options. Printer companies are beginning to catch on to how infuriated customers are having to spend a load to replace printer cartridges, and many of them are now selling more expensive printers with cheaper ink.

Another option is using off-brand ink and ink refills. This will require a bit of research to pick the cartridge compatible with your printer, or to choose a printer initially that allows this off-brand option. However, in the long run, you may find the cost savings is worth your time. You can also try those old tried and true techniques of printing in draft mode or using a lower quality print option for your existing machine. All of these are more environmentally friendly and will allow you to hang on to your current printer.

Some people rush out to buy the latest technological update as soon as it is available. But if you are someone that is always last to upgrade, it may be time to but a new printer. There are a few tell-tale signs that your old printer is ready to be put out to pasture.

Have you noticed every time you print a document, it smears and bleeds? Are there large gobs of ink splattered all over your paper? It could be the printer causing this problem. The first thing to check is whether your paper quality is adequate and whether you are feeding it properly into the printer. Then check your settings and make sure you have not accidentally set your printer to “big glob dropping.” If neither of these unlikely scenarios appears to be the case, you should start shopping around for a replacement printer. An old printer may not perform as well.  The last thing you want is to ruin an important project because of an old, unreliable printer.

All printers will make noise, but if your printer is gurgling and thumping more than usual, it may be on its last legs. You should also expect some vibration from lower end printers, but excessive movement is not normal. If the printer is shaking, you risk it shaking itself right off its stand. This could leave you completely printerless, something you would not want to be in the middle of the night with an important paper due first thing in the morning. If you are beginning to expect your printer may not be working in a few weeks, try not to wait until the last minute to replace it. This way, you are in control of the time frame and price, and you can make the best decision. You will also know your new printer will be up and running long before you face an emergency printer situation.

When you are using an older printer, it may be tough to find the appropriate drivers, toner, or ink for the machine. If you feel you are paying an arm and a leg for everything you need to run the printer, it may be time for an upgrade. Printer companies want to push their new products so they will raise the price of outdated features, encouraging consumers to buy a new printer. This way, they can push newer inks and toners, and discontinue making the old cartridges. Even if you do not like the idea of giving into the printer manufacturer’s whims, it may do your wallet a world of good to upgrade.

Older printers are often very basic. You may not realize how many conveniences have been added to printers over the years. If you upgrade, it could save you a lot of time and effort. Newer printers offer options that do not involve turning on your computer. This could save energy and time. You can also buy a mobile printer that can be used outside of the home. You can save money by choosing a new, multifunctional printer. For those who fax, copy, and scan, this can be a great money saving investment.

Giving up on your old printer may be a tough decision, but one you will be happy with once you make the leap. Start shopping around, and you can get the most features for the best deal in your own good time.

If you have a child or children in homeschool you may be surprised to realize how much a printer can add to your lesson plans. Having a home printer is necessary for a home school program, but you may want to consider an upgrade. Start simple, and work to incorporate your printer into your homeschool lessons.

First, be sure your lessons are age appropriate. For younger students, you can print coloring sheets from images that are practical for each of your lessons. You can also convert custom images into black and white images for coloring. Imagine teaching your preschooler about extended family by allowing them to color images of their relatives. You can also print a variety of images that are relative to lesson plans for any age. Coloring may be primarily for younger children, but it can be relaxing and therapeutic for children with special needs, or for older children that just need a break from things.

A popular use for printers is scrapbooking. Scrapbooking can be incorporated into a homeschool program, helping children remember their lessons and exercise their creativity. Students can scrapbook family events or events they find in the news. A current events scrapbook is a great way to get children active in learning about the world around them.

If you find your homeschool student is interested in current events, perhaps they would want to write a letter to the editor of a local paper. Once the letter is completed, the student can fax their letter using a multifunctional printer. Imagine the thrill your homeschool student will feel when they read their letter printed in the newspaper!

Multifunctional printers are also great for studying. Students can copy textbook passages and assignments to study from at their convenience. Copying lessons is especially helpful if you have more than one child and the younger child will be following the same homeschool curriculum in the coming years.

If your child enjoys writing, they may be interested in creating a newsletter as a part of their homeschool lessons. They can use the copier function on the multifunctional printer to create copies of their newsletter to share with family and friends. A child will be motivated to keep writing and creating if they are able to see their hard work in a tangible form like a newsletter. The feedback they receive will also encourage their creativity.

The printer itself can also offer a lesson. If you are upgrading to a new printer, keep the old one on hand for the technology-minded child to explore. The old printer gives them a way to explore the inner workings of a printer. They can also help with the installation and set up of the new printer. Before long your homeschool child will be more familiar and comfortable than the adults working with technology.

Another great use for printers in homeschooling is art lessons. Kids can create cards, tags, and various graphic images to print and enjoy. Homeschooling gives kids the advantage of nearly unlimited access to computers and printers in the home. Be sure to utilize these items to their full advantage when homeschooling.