Printer Ink vs. Traditional Cartridge: Which is Better?

One of the crucial factors in a business that not many business owners immediately think about is the importance of owning a good printer. After all, on paperwork alone, having a ready printer can speed things up. And of course, alongside investing in a reliable printer is having a good printing supp l ies service in the Philippines.

Whether you need a document for a presentation, a copy of a contract, or even just to print birthday cards for your co-workers, every office space needs a trusted printer.

However, before purchasing printers for your business, you must identify your specific needs. Knowing the difference of a printer ink subscription and traditional cartridge purchasing will pin down which plan will work best for your printing jobs.

But Before We Get to Subscriptions, Let’s Find Out the Difference Between Ink Tanks and Cartridges

Deciding between printer ink vs. traditional cartridges is the first important distinction since both types have different advantages and disadvantages. Learning more about them will give you an insight into which option will be more efficient for you in terms of cost and usage.

Cartridge Printers

Commonly, printers have traditional ink cartridges in their printer heads with two cartridge options: Black and Colored––which holds a combination of Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow. These cartridges have a designated compartment in the printer where you can easily store them.

The advantage of using cartridge printers is that they have a standardized printing quality. Their output is smooth and detailed, and they’re compatible with most types of paper. Whether you’re using it to print documents or high-quality photos, cartridge printers have proven to be an effective choice.

The drawback to cartridge printers is the cost of replenishing the ink supply. While the printer itself is more affordable than ink tank printers, the accumulated cost of purchasing traditional cartridges can be costly.

The average price of a traditional cartridge printer can range from ₱3,000.00 to ₱5,000.00. For Hewlett Packard (HP) printers, the most affordable printer in their official Lazada shop starts at ₱4,345.00, while their refill cartridges go for at least ₱505.00.

You can yield around 300-400 pages per cartridge replacement, and this is not ideal if you’re printing in high volumes. If your printing habits are infrequent, there’s a chance that the cartridges will dry up and you might have to replace them altogether just to be able to use the printer again.

Ink Tank Printers

With innovations in technology, ink tanks were invented as bulk ink systems. This printer works by supplying ink to the printer from a built-in tank rather than from compartments in the printer head. Like cartridges, the colors are still a combination of Black, Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow with separate containers for each.

The benefit of using ink tank printers is that it’s capable of holding more toner per refill. So long as you fill the tank based on your printing requirements, you will be able to print in high volume without worrying if you’ll run out of toner.

Restocking the toner tanks is more cost-effective and inexpensive, especially since there is less wastage of ink. You can yield at least 1000 prints to 7000 at the most per tank refill, depending on the capacity that your printer can hold.

Ink printers perform best for multipurpose tasks, meaning they can print quality documents and could even print photos well. The disadvantage of using liquid ink printers is that they might not catch some of the details of photo prints. Therefore, using them for purely photo printing jobs is not ideal.

In terms of cost, the common prices of ink printers themselves are less budget-friendly compared to cartridge printers. The average printer price usually starts at ₱8,000.00 to ₱20,000.00. In Hewlett Packard’s (HP) official Lazada store, their ink tank printers start at ₱9,680.00 while their ink bottles are at ₱290.00.

So, if you’re looking for quick purchases on a budget, ink printers might not be the best choice for you.

What’s the Best Choice?

At the end of the day, choosing between ink printers or cartridge printers is dependent on your printing needs. If you’re a casual printer, you might get the most bang for your buck with cartridge printers. If you print in high volumes, then you might want to invest in ink tank printers.

Depending on usage and quality, you will just have to account for which is more efficient for you and your business.

Choosing Between a Printer Ink Subscription vs Traditional Cartridge Purchasing

Now that you have an idea of the printer type suited for your business needs, you can identify what kind of service you will need.

As its name suggests, traditional cartridge purchasing simply means that you buy refills for printer toner cartridges as you consume them.

On the other hand, a subscription service enables you to follow a plan that delivers ink according to the package frequency you availed. Regardless of which printer you have, you can avail of subscription services for your perusal.

What are the Types of Printer Ink Subscription Services?

After pinning down what kind of printer works best for your printing jobs, you can decide which kind of subscription plan gets you the most return on investment (ROI). Each plan will save you printing expenses, as long as you choose according to your business or individual needs.

The two types of printer ink subscription services are auto-replenishment and print plans.

Auto-replenishment will charge you per toner you receive, while print plans require a monthly fee for a set number of pages.

Typically, the auto-replenishment plan is the easiest one to avail of, as you won’t need to keep track of your page count, and you won’t have to pay a monthly fee. But, if you have a consistent number of pages being printed monthly, then the print plan will be the more affordable service.

With a print plan subscription, you have a consistent number of pages that you can print in a month. It could be as low as 1 to 2000 pages, depending on the package that you avail.

The good thing about this plan is if you don’t print the ceiling number of pages that are in your package, the leftover pages roll over to the next month. Unfortunately, if you do go over the number of pages in your monthly subscription, you will have to pay extra. Usually, you pay around $1 for 10 extra pages that you use.

Working with IFL Pro for Your Printing Needs

With Ink For Less Pro you get the best service for your printing needs with our low prices and our top-notch customer support. Malfunctioning printers can be a stressful predicament for any business, but we are here to take those worries off your hands.

Here at IFL Pro, you can enjoy the convenience of not having to worry about your printer ink needs, as we oversee your printer and ink maintenance, making sure that you have enough for your business’ needs. Save more time on menial tasks, like checking for your ink levels or planning to do an office supply run just to purchase ink.

Our printer and ink subscription services give you the best value for your money as our packages will reduce your overall printing costs.

Aside from our budget-friendly ink prices, we also cover shipping, repair, and maintenance as part of our packages. Regardless of cartridge or ink tank printers, our services allow you to save as much as 40% on printing costs.

With free printer use, installation, and delivery with our subscriptions, you won’t have to purchase pricey printers for your business. We provide efficient printers with professional quality outputs that deliver at fast speeds.

So, in case you’re still wondering if subscription services are worth it, then the answer is YES.

If you and your company regularly require print documents for your day-to-day business operations, our subscription services are worth a try. It’s all a matter of deciding which printer and subscription package will best fit your needs.