As Europe's leading supplier of office accessories, we source only the best products, whether it's branded HP printer ink cartridges or their unbranded equivalents. Each has its merits, and we're proud to be able to offer them to you at the best prices, whether you're buying in bulk for your business or making a one-off purchase as an individual.
While ink cartridges might seem like a recent addition to the office arsenal, the process of their creation began with the invention of the typewriter. Known as 'impact printing,' it relied on the striking of keys, which would launch an arm, finished with a letter on the end, onto a strip of fabric soaked in ink. The impact of this motion would imprint the letter onto the paper behind the ribbon. However, the origins of what we now know as inkjet printing can be traced back to the early 20th Century, courtesy of a lawyer by the name of Chester Carlson. His process, known as 'xerography,' involved using an ink-filled drum combined with photosensitive sensors to automate the printing process. His early discoveries led to the development of the photocopier and the ink cartridges we know today.
Those early steps laid the foundation for cartridges of all sorts, including HP printer ink cartridges. As technology has evolved, so too has the precision and definition offered by the likes of HP ink cartridges. Today, they work using resistors in the equivalent of the typewriter’s letters, known as the resistors. When heat is passed through the resistors, the ink travelling through the nozzles is vapourised. At the same time, this creates a bubble in the printhead which, when it bursts, pulls more ink through. In the average inkjet printer, this process takes place around 36,000 times each second. As manufacturers of inkjet printers have been able to refine the process, this has resulted in printers being able to deliver higher-resolution images and text. This resolution is measured in Dots Per Square Inch (dpi). As a rule of thumb, the higher the dpi, the greater the level of clarity, and if you're printing in colour, the greater the gradation of colours in the final result.
One of the biggest arguments regarding ink cartridges is whether to use 'original,' branded ink cartridges or compatible cartridges. While using compatible models can help to keep office running costs down, there's something to be said for going straight to the source. Original products, such as HP ink cartridges, are extensively measured against industry standards to ensure that they always deliver the best results. On top of that, manufacturers of ink cartridges are always striving to provide the best printing experience, constantly upgrading the quality of their ink and cartridges. According to research, the manufacturers of HP printer ink cartridges invest almost £1 billion each year in the quest to improve the standards of their products.
Similarly, there is a mistaken idea that original ink cartridges are worse for the environment than their compatible cousins. The manufacturers of HP printer ink cartridges offer an easy-to-use recycling programme, which ensures that all their ink cartridges can be recycled. All it takes is entering the details of your empty cartridge into their recycling system, and HP will send you a prepaid envelope in which to send your old ink cartridges off on their new journey. As part of their Planet Partners pledge, Hewlett Packard has managed to recycle an estimated 875 million toners and ink cartridges, helping you and your business to minimise your impact on the environment. None of the cartridges sent through the HP Planet Pledge programme is ever sent to landfill, and the process is free. If green credentials are essential to your business and your customers, using branded and original cartridges can be a significant step in the right direction.
While there’s some short-term expenditure to be saved on buying compatible cartridges, they come with their own problems. According to a study by the Colour Cartridge Reliability Comparison Study, which weighed up HP ink cartridges against non-branded products, compatible cartridges created more problems than they solved. 80% of those surveyed found that non-branded products were more prone to leaking or drying out than original HP printer ink cartridges. In turn, this led to more malfunctions in office printers, which resulted in lost time and the inability to print on demand.
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