Inkdepot.com.au – Ink and Toner Cartridges

Laser printing technology is deceptively simple. You use some software to create a digital image and a laser temporarily etches the image onto a round drum which picks up toner and transfers it onto paper which then passes through a heating source to “cure” it – simple, right? Wrong!

Let’s take it one step at a time:

1. You create a digital image – this is actually a complex mathematical set of numbers describing each point in the image as a grid reference.
2. Each of these grid references becomes an address for the laser beam to use to reproduce the image on the drum.
3. The drum is given an electric charge as it rotates which is negated by the laser beam as it follows the instructions of the software to reproduce the image onto the drum.
4. The drum picks up the toner in the areas which the laser has negated.
5. An electrostatic charge on the clean paper then attracts the toner from the drum.
6. The toner is then heat fixed onto the paper which is why it feels warm when it emerges from the printer.

When you next look at your laser printer cartridge consider also that the circumference of the drum is typically much smaller than the length of the paper receiving the image. This means that each time the drum rotates it is cleaned off and prepared to receive the next section of that particular page.

Generally, there are two configurations of drum units within printers. The smaller, lower volume, inexpensive laser printers usually have a combined toner and drum unit. This means that when you run out of toner ink you replace both the toner and the drum unit as one. The other configuration is where the printer has a separate toner unit to the main drum unit. This type of configuration is common with large scale, high volume and fast action laser printers. Only the toner unit needs replacing when you run out of printer ink. The drum unit is replaced less frequently – usually you will replace the toner cartridge 4 to 5 times before needing to replace the drum unit. When the drum unit needs replacing the printer / copier will send a warning message to the console.

Now you know all about laser printing. At least the black and white part of it! Doing it all in colour is a story we will save until another time!

Image Source:http://computer.howstuffworks.com

Bookmark this post:

Tags: canon toner, drum units, hp toner, ink cartridges, laser toner, lexmark toner, printer cartridges, printer ink

We are often asked if we sell ink to refill empty printer cartridges. The short answer is – NO we definitely don’t sell ink for refill purposes. This blog article briefly details why we have come to this decision:

Whilst many people are attracted to refilling cartridges, due to the perception of it being cheaper, we have found that it really is not worth the hassle. Yes it is possible to refill many of the cartridges in the marketplace but it is a messy, time consuming and tricky business. Of course many people have perfected the technique but even then we have had anxious calls from customers desperate to find ways to clean their expensive printers as a result of leaky refills.

Two of the main motivations for refilling your own ink cartridges are 1) to save money or 2) for recycling purchases to help protect the environment.

Our recommendation here at Ink Depot is to save money by finding a reliable on-line seller of ink cartridges. You will usually find on-line retailers can significantly reduce their prices as they do not have the high overheads of main street suppliers. Another way to save money is to buy compatible ink cartridges – these are just as good as genuine cartridges but at a much lower price. See our previous blog article What difference does it make? – buying Genuine or Compatible Ink Cartridges.

Saving the environment is something that we encourage. Organisations such as Planet Ark and Cartridge Rescue all have programs to recycle and reuse empty ink cartridges.

Bookmark this post:

Beware – often the cheapest printers have the most expensive replacement ink cartridges!

So it is false economy to buy on printer price only because over the life time of a printer the average consumer will spend a great deal on replacement cartridges.

The lesson we must learn, is in order to make a good buying decision, we need to be smart and think long term. Yes, you will find some great deals out there where it is cheaper to buy a new printer than buy replacement cartridges. This is not something we advocate due to the negative environmental impact of redundant printers ending up as landfill – not to mention the misplaced economics. In particular you should keep in mind that most printers only come with partially filled ink cartridges which means that you will need to buy refills relatively soon compared to a normal replacement cartridge.

A common strategy of some printer manufacturers is to offer their printers at a loss in the full knowledge that they will make significant profit on future cartridge sales. So when buying a printer make sure you check out the cost of cartridges; the availability of replacement cartridges and the suitability of the less expensive non branded compatible cartridges.
In terms of accessing affordable cartridges you will find traditional retailers have impressive store layouts and fancy marketing campaigns but often the same product can be bought more easily and less expensively from on line shops. Ink cartridges are usually quite compact and light making shipping affordable. Also, on line retailers often reward consumers with free shipping for buying in bulk.

You are welcome to browse our webpage at any time to check the cost of cartridges and/or use our free no obligation online quote facility. Or better still contact us and have a chat with us about your options.

Bookmark this post:

Tags: , ink cartridges, ink jet, on line shopping, printer, printer ink, replacement ink, toner ink

We are very excited to share with you details of an Australian company, Cartridge Rescue, who is committed to help saving the environment. We were recently introduced to Cartridge Rescue by Greg, one of our loyal customers.

Cartridge Rescue reuses old printer ink cartridges and reassembles them into new cartridges and printer refills. This way Cartridge Rescue saves the environment by using the cartridge again rather than disposing it. In addition, energy isn’t wasted on unnecessarily ‘melting’ the printer cartridge down and remaking it into something else. Most ink cartridges can be reused many times over.

A great benefit of using Cartridge Rescue is that can organise for them to come to you to pick up your empty cartridges – at no cost! In addition to the positive environmental impact of reusing ink cartridges, Cartridge Rescue donates to charities such as the Royal Flying Doctor Service. They are also currently sponsoring Dani Samuels who is training to represent Australia in the Women’s Discus at the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Ink Depot does not have any formal association with Cartridge Rescue but we thought they appear to be doing an admirable job in recycling printer ink cartridges. For more information about Cartridge Rescue please visit their website at www.cartridgerescue.com.au

Here are some interesting facts about printer cartridge recycling:

 

• Australians currently only recycle about 20% of printer cartridges – the rest go to landfill!

• Old printer cartridges do not readily degrade and have a devastating effect on our water ways.

• Most printer cartridges can be reused – the rest can be turned into something else – even the residual ink!

• It takes 20 times more energy to manufacture a new ink cartridge than to reuse one.

• A new cartridge uses up to 3 litres of oil in its production.

See our previous blog ‘Does recycling really help the environment’ for more information about your options for recycling.

Bookmark this post:

Tags: environment, fax, green, ink cartridges, Inkjet, landfill, multifunction, photocopiers, planet ark, printers, recycled, recycling, rubbish, toner

Here are some great ideas to keep you or the kids busy over this festive season. You can make your own gifts, decorations and select from a wide range of children activities.  There are some fantastic websites that offer a huge diversity of Christmas projects – just type ‘free Christmas craft’ or something similar into your search engine.

Why not make your own:

Gift certificates

Christmas Dot to Dot and puzzles

Books – for example, Christmas songs, memories, photos

Word puzzles and word searches

Advent calendar

Festive letterhead, envelopes and stationery

Decorations

Gift tags

Christmas cards

Colouring pages

Festive Clip art

Mazes

Plus many more ……..

Here are a few websites to start you off (please note: we have no affiliation with these websites and cannot vouch for their appropriateness).

 http://www.allthingschristmas.com/northpole/npprintables.html

 http://www.allcrafts.net/xmas.htm

 http://www.allfreecrafts.com/christmas

 http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/christmas_puzzles.htm

 http://www.bry-backmanor.org/actpag74.html

Have a happy and safe festive season
- from the Team at Inkdepot.com.au

Bookmark this post:

Tags: , cards, christmas printables, craft, ink cartridges, printer ink

It will come as no surprise that many technical printer problems seem beyond logic. But did you know that there are a lot of great tips and help available on the internet? Simply Googling a problem or going to the manufacturer’s web page can solve so many printing problems.

Recently one of our office printers was having trouble. It refused to print using the yellow cartridge. We tried many solutions including replacing the yellow cartridge several times! In addition, we ran the normal print nozzle cleaning program through the standard maintenance function on the actual printer. Nothing worked and we were considering replacing the printer.

However, one of our very cluey work colleagues Googled our problem and discovered an enormous number of handy hints to get the most out of your printer. She fixed our problem easily and quickly.

The printer was the Brother MFC 440CN. She Googled this model number with the words ‘won’t print yellow’. The solution gave instructions to access the ‘back office’ maintenance function usually only operated by printer technicians. All she had to do was run the following special cleaning mode:

Press ‘menu’ then ‘start/mono’, then ‘arrow-up’ four times. The printer then switched to maintenance mode (buttons flash). Then press ‘764′ (refresh ink tubes) ten press ‘763′ to run the power clean. After this all you need do is press ‘99′ to exit maintenance mode.

The printer is fixed and now prints perfectly using all colours.

So if you are having printing problems it might be wise to try trouble shooting it on the web. Just type in the model number and the problem to see what help is available. If that fails you can always try to look on the funny side and take the technical advice of the office cat:

Bookmark this post:

Here are some great tips to make printing more economical:

1. Make ‘Draft quality’ your default print mode. This will save you both time and money.
2. Use compatible ink cartridges. These ink cartridges are usually as good as genuine branded ones but at a fraction of the price. Reputable sellers will guarantee the quality of compatible cartridges.
3. Many printers accept high yield cartridges. High yield cartridges are more expensive than normal yield but the cost per printed page can be significantly cheaper.
4. Buy the right printer! Many people get seduced by a great deal when they buy a printer and are then shocked at the cost of replacement ink cartridges. Always, find out how much printer consumables are before you make your printer purchase.
5. Be selective with your printing. Much ink is wasted with printing nonessential details. Just print what you need by using the cut and paste function when printing from websites, emails and other documents.
6. Print 2 pages per sheet (providing, of course, you can clearly read the output).
7. Buy from a reputable seller or supplier. We have found that shopping on-line is often a lot cheaper as on-line shops do not have the expensive overheads of retail outlets. Many on-line sellers help save you on postage too.
8. Be loyal to your supplier. Look for a supplier that gives you loyalty points each time you purchase. It is amazing how quickly these points add up and contribute to your $ savings.
9. Subscribe to your suppliers newsletter if they have one. Professional printer ink suppliers value communicating with their customers and often reward them with special incentives through their newsletter.
10. Get your friends involved. Many ink cartridge sellers reward customers who refer new customers. Alternatively, you can often buy in bulk and save money on both cartridges and postage.

In addition, in these tough economic times we are always looking for ways to save money.   This video will give you more ideas on saving money on printer ink:
http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-save-money-on-printer-ink-6812/

Bookmark this post:

Are you one of those who has never bought a single item online and is hesitant to even try? If so, then I understand where you’re coming from because I’ve once been there too.

I’m no mind reader but, based on how I felt before making my first online purchase, one of the reasons may be: “It’s not secure enough. I’ve heard so many horror stories about people not receiving their orders or, worse, having their credit card information stolen”. Over a hundred payments for products and services after, my perception of online transactions has changed.

Sure, fears of expectations not being met or not getting the product at all are not unfounded. Things like that do happen. But if you know where to look and know what kind of transactions to avoid, you’ll come out not only unscathed but rather extremely satisfied. While I’ve been disappointed at times in the past, the frequency of feeling that way has largely diminished over time.

In its place is the satisfaction from being able to choose, pay, and receive products from the comfort of my home.

In this day and age, some sites have numerous pictures (and even videos) of their products. That way, you’ll be able to make a wise, well-informed decision. In this regard, you might want to focus on sites that provide detailed information of their items.

Now let’s not forget about security. The most common method of payment is through credit cards. Make sure the merchant site is a reputable one. If possible, find one that’s based in your locality. If you’re in the US, look for a US-based site. If you’re in Australia, then an Australian-based site, and so on. That way, you can easily verify if they do exist. Best of all, they’re of course much cheaper.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to email the site’s owner. Their email address and other contact information is usually found on the Contact Us page. There you’ll also most likely find the merchant’s PO Box or street address as well as their telephone number. They’ll be more than happy to answer your queries.

 As you can see, it will be easier for you to communicate with a local-based merchant.

 Although having a valid PO Box or street address and telephone numbers are indicative of a reputable organization, there are other ways of determining whether a website can be trusted or not. One is the Google Page Rank, another is the Alexa rating.

 When a site has a high Page Rank (PR), that means the site can be easily found in a Google search result. There are lots of online tools to determine a site’s page rank. Just enter “google page rank” into the search box. One such site is PRChecker.info. Just enter the site’s URL in the box provided and click the “Check PR” button.

Alexa ratings are opposite to PR’s. That is, the smaller the Alexa rating of a site, the higher its visitor traffic is. Head on to Alexa.com and enter the site’s URL in the box provided then click Get Info.

Knowing the Alexa rating and the PR of websites selling the same product will give you an idea which one is more popular and trusted by other buyers. Remember, HIGHER PR and LOWER Alexa rated sites generally have a higher number of visitors. This can usually mean buyers flock to these sites because their experience there was fulfilling.

When a website offers newsletters and there’s a possibility for you to transact with the site again in the future, get a subscription. Sometimes, these newsletters announce discounted deals and tidbits. It always pays to be informed.

Find time to participate in merchant-initiated surveys. They’ve been made specifically to let the merchant know how he can best serve you. So that the next time you get back for another transaction, you can enjoy a better buying experience.

So go ahead, all it takes is just one purchase to get the ball rolling.

Bookmark this post:

Australians throw away more than 18 million printer cartridges every year! This means over 5,000 tonnes of  discarded rubbish ends up as unhealthy landfill. How can we stop this? I guess it requires us all to have a recycling mindset. You might find this easier if  you consider the insight environmental campaigner Anita Roddick brought to the issue of rubbish – to paraphrase her she said ‘we never throw things away we just put them somewhere else’. The unfortunate result of throwing away old ink cartridges is that they have the potential to contaminate waterways and the environment in general. We would like to encourage you to embrace the many Green Policies that responsible businesses embrace. For example at inkdepot.com.au we encourage our customers to place their old empty cartridges in Planet Ark cartridge recycling  bins found at many participating outlets http://www.recyclingnearyou.com.au/ . All types and brands of printer cartridges used in printers, photocopiers, multi-function centres and fax machines can be placed in the bin. All of the printer cartridges recycled by Planet Ark’s partner , Close the Loop^®, are done so with zero waste to landfill. To date the industry-funded Planet Ark program has recycled more than 4 million cartridges via 15,000 businesses and over 2,300 retail outlets.Watch this interesting video on how recycling ink cartridges can achieve great things.

So, yes recycling can help the environment in a very positive and long term way.

Bookmark this post:

Tags: environment, fax, green, ink cartridges, Inkjet, landfill, multifunction, photocopiers, planet ark, printers, recycled, recycling, rubbish, toner

The versatility and accessibility of printers means that more and more people are enjoying the benefits of easy, effective and efficient printing. Whether you are printing for business purposes, happy snaps, craft, school work and so on it is important that you get a reliable and quality print outcome. There are two choices when it comes to selecting the type of printer cartridge – genuine or compatible.

Genuine, brand name, cartridges are what are provided by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and usually placed at a premium price. Whilst, compatible cartridges are usually much cheaper but are generic or a ‘no name’ brand. Both types of cartridges are useful and have their benefits. The lower price of compatible cartridges makes printing more accessible to many users. Compatible cartridges are of high quality and are designed to work as well as original brand manufacturer cartridges.

Unfortunately there are compatibles produced in some countries where the quality may not be up to standard. To safeguard ourselves against selling these types of products to our customers, we at Ink Depot only supply compatibles from the largest importers of compatibles in Australia. The brands we supply, (mainly Printrite and Q-Image), are probably the dominant compatible brands in Australia.

Having said that, even quality compatibles are not fault free. Very occasionally, a compatible will not work with a specific printer because of a micro chip incompatibility. Even more rarely, a quality compatible cartridge can give less than satisfactory printing results. To ensure our customers are protected in these instances, we offer a full warranty against defective cartridges, where you can elect to have your money refunded, or we replace your cartridge free of charge.

Genuine cartridges are also popular with many customers. These cartridges have all of the benefits of normal branded products but do often cost a lot more. However, we are Ink Depot realise that some people do prefer the peace of mind in using a known brand. We sell all of the major ink cartridge brands including HP, Epson, Canon, Brother etc. To help create value to our customers we strive to offer ‘Higher Standards at Lower Prices’. Being an on-line store our everyday prices are very competitive however from time to time we have some great price specials. Check out our current great specials for yourself.

Bookmark this post: