We are all becoming more street-wise when it comes to the price of ink! The same is the case with Print Head.
Here at ThePrintero, we thought it was time we carried out an in-depth study to find the printer with the lowest running costs for sublimation transfers.
What is a Print Head?
The print head is a part of the printer that sprays ink onto paper. It is a mechanical device that moves back and forth on the paper to put ink on it. This is how they are able to create text, images, and other content for printing.
Top Printer Brands Print Heads Technology
We are going to concentrate on Inkjet technology for this study and look for a printer that is happy using high-yield compatible cartridges. As a general rule, when a new printer is released to the marketplace, bargain hunters have to wait a while before copy cartridges become available. Compatible manufacturers, usually from China, have to play catch up by producing their version to fit in the new machine. If the cartridge requires a smart chip, then the delay can be even longer while the technology is developed.
Ideally, if we can find a printer that uses cartridges without a smart chip, or a sensor to stop refilling, this will bring down our costs of printing.
Firstly in alphabetical order let’s examine which manufacturers use chip technology on their cartridges.
Advent Ink tank cartridges contain an information chip and cannot be refilled. There are no compatible cartridges currently available and genuine cartridges are too expensive for our needs.
Brother Print Heads
Brother Inkjet printer cartridges do not have microchips or sensors. The printer estimates ink to use. This is the weak point of the Brothers printers print heads.
Canon Print Head Technology
Canon offers two different types of printers. The cheaper ones usually use two cartridges with built-on print heads. These can generally be refilled but will read empty after doing so. A combination of key presses on the printer is sometimes required to continue to print. The best Canon printers for this study are the ones that have separate print heads and ink tanks.
Dell Printer Print head
Dell has recently moved to Ink tanks without a print head, however, they include a sensor that cannot be reset.
Epson Print Head
Epson uses ink tanks with smart chips. Compatible cartridges and refillable cartridges are available for most models. Unfortunately, recognition problems can be commonplace.
HP Print Head Technology
HP printers, similar to Canon use two types of methods for delivering Ink. The budget models use cartridges with a built-on print head that does not contain very much Ink. Other budget models use four or five Ink tank cartridges that contain microchips. Compatibles without microchips are available, however, you need to transfer the chip from the genuine cartridge and disable the ink monitor on the printer.
Lexmark cartridges Technology
Lexmark cartridges have traditionally featured a built-on print head and have been expensive, however, they could be refilled successfully. In recent years they have introduced cartridges called 然eturn Program Cartridges’ which are one use only. Lexmark usually sells an 羨’ version of the cartridge that can be refilled but these are more expensive.
Alongside the print head type cartridges, Lexmark has now introduced an Ink tank-type cartridge system which contains a smart chip with the print head inside the printer. Compatible versions with chips are now available for some models, however, Lexmark tried to stop the use of these by releasing an update for printer firmware.
