Heck, depending on the kind of printer you have, the printer cartridges might even be more expensive than the printer itself!  A friend of mine, a writer, recently told me she spent 3 times more money on cartridges than her printer was worth on just one project she was working on.  Surely, there must be a cheaper, more efficient way to get your words on paper. 

And there is.

Recycle printer cartridges are just regular cartridges that have been refilled with new ink.  As for their quality, they work just as well as new cartridges.  In fact, you’ll probably not even be able to tell the difference.  Many people prefer recycle printer cartridges to new cartridges.  The biggest reason for this is price.

Recycle printer cartridges sometimes cost less than half of their new counterparts.  “Less than half!?” you say.  “Why would anybody not choose these kind of cartridges?”  Good question.

The downside?  Not many places carry recycle printer cartridges.  You’ll have to look hard to find them.  Once you do, however, you’re guaranteed to save a ton of money.

You can, however, find places where you can buy ink and refill your cartridges yourself.  This also will save you a lot of money, but most people don’t like doing it because it can be pretty messy.  Most would rather just buy new cartridges.

If you’re concerned about the environment, buying recycle printer cartridges makes a lot of sense also.  Printer cartridges are made out of some pretty environmentally unfriendly stuff, and take a long time to decompose.  Since most recycle printer cartridges can be refilled 3 to 4 times, it reduces the number of these cartridges that end up sitting in a landfill.

The best way to buy recycle printer cartridges is to do so online.  There are many online vendors that sell these kinds of cartridges.  These cartridges are made from just regular printer cartridges, so they fit your computer perfectly.  They just contain new ink, and are much, much less expensive than new cartridges.

If you do a lot of printing, and are on a tight budget, then recycle printer cartridges is definitely the way to go.  Then, if you don’t mind the mess, buy a refill kit and refill those yourself to save you even more money.  You won’t be sacrificing quality, but you will be saving a bunch.

Well, as magical as it certainly seems, the concept behind laser printers is certainly not magic. In fact, once you understand it, it’s downright simple. Ok, you got me. It’s not really that simple, but it is far from magic.

Static Electricity
Yes, it’s hard to believe, but the same principle that’s behind your socks sticking together (or to your leg) is the same thing that makes laser printers do their thing. You see, static electricity is cause by oppositely charged atoms sticking together. Who says opposites don’t attract?

Laser printers use this principle to temporarily hold things together. Let me explain.

The main component in laser printers is a photoreceptor, which is a fancy way of saying a revolving drum or cylinder that is made out of super photoconductive material and discharged by light photons.

All this really means is that this material only conducts electricity when it’s exposed to light.

The Drum
The drum, or drum assembly, is positively charged by something called the charge corona wire. The charge corona wire is simply a wire with an electrical charge running through it.

When the drum turns (remember, it only conducts electricity when exposed to light), a very tiny laser beam shines on the surface, discharging certain points, and “drawing” letters and images.

After the laser beam has finished doing its thing, the drum is coated with a fine, black powder known as toner. This toner is positively charged, so it “sticks” to the negatively charged images and letters that the laser beam has drawn on the drum.

Keep in mind that the background, thanks to the charge corona wire, is positively charged. It is for this reason that the toner does not stick to the background.

It’s kind of like making an “X” on your palm with glue, then putting your palm, face down, on some flour. When you lift it, only the glued part of your hand will contain the bulk of the flour.

While the toner is still on the drum, the drum rolls over a sheet of paper. Before this happens, the paper is given a negative charge, stronger than that of the images on the drum. This is so that when the paper comes into contact with the drum, it can pull the toner away from it.

But if the paper is negatively charged, and the drum is positively charged, why doesn’t the paper stick to the drum? Because after they connect, the paper is discharged by a little thing called the detac corona wire.

The Fuser
As the paper is released, it passes through the fuser, which is a pair of heated rollers. The fuser melts the toner and causes it to fuse with the fibers of the paper.

After the toner is put on the paper, the drum is exposed to a very bright light which discharges all the imagery from the previous printing. The charge corona wire then applies a positive charge.

So what are we really talking about when we say “inkjet printer?” An inkjet printer is actually comprised of several components working together almost seamlessly. Let’s look closer at some of these components.

Print head assembly
The print head assembly usually includes the print head and the cartridges. If you’ve had to change one, you know what a cartridge is. But what about the print head?

The print head is the core of the inkjet printer. It contains a series of nozzles which spray very tiny droplets of ink. How tiny? Well, the human hair measures about 70 microns in diameter. These droplets are as tiny as 50 microns. Some inkjet printers have resolution of up to 1440 X 720 dots per inch (dpi).

Stepper Motor
If you’ve watched your inkjet printer at work (and who hasn’t), then you’ve noticed its back and forth motion. This is the print head assembly being powered by the stepper motor. Some inkjet printers have a separate stepper motor to “park” the print head assembly, just to make sure there’s no unwanted motion.

Stabilizer Bar
So how does the stepper motor move the print head assembly so smoothly back and forth? You guessed it. The stabilizer bar. It literally keeps the print head assembly on track in a very precisely controlled manner.

Paper Tray/Feeder
This is one of the more obvious parts of the inkjet printer. Typically, paper is placed in the tray and, when the computer assigns a job to the printer, the printer pulls the paper inside. How does it do that, you ask?

Rollers
Sorry to disappoint you, but there are no tiny hands inside your printer that grab the paper when the printer is ready to do its job. Rollers perform this task. The rollers are powered by a paper feed stepper motor. This powers the rollers to move the paper in the exact increment it is needed.

Control Circuitry
You might be thinking, “This is all great, but how does the printer know what to do?” Good question. If your printer is anything like mine, sometimes it seems to have a mind all its own. And you know what? It does. Well, sort of.

The control circuitry in your printer controls all mechanical operations. It also allows the computer to communicate with the printer.

In the past, most inkjet printers used parallel interface ports. Today, almost all inkjet printers use USB ports.

Well, the first thing you’ve got to do is to ask yourself what you’re going to be using it for.  Are you going to be primarily printing documents or pictures?  Do you need it to also serve as a scanner and a fax machine?  Is speed an issue?  In short, how specific are your needs?

 Working At Home?

If you operate a small business from home and you use your printer for everything from printing up invoices to family pictures taken at Disney World, you need something versatile.  A good color ink jet printer will suit you just fine, and you can pick up a decent one for around $100.  For a more reliable and durable model, however, plan on spending about twice that much.

 Are You The Next Stephen King?

If you’re working on your next novel then you’re probably not too concerned with color and graphics when it comes to your printing.  You’re more concerned with speed and quality.  A printer that could quickly print on both sides and collate would be ideal.

You want a laser printer.  Yes, they’re more expensive than most, beginning around $200.00, but their speed and quality make them well worth it.  You can buy color laser printers, but monochrome would suit you just fine.

Your Printer Rules Your Home Office

Maybe you need your printer to do more than just print.  You’ve got faxes to send and receive, copies that need to be run, and documents that need to be scanned and digitized.  Nothing will do the job for you but a multifunction printer, also known as an all-in-one.

Multifunction printers are mostly color inkjet printers with a whole lot of extras.  Not only do they save you tons of space, recently they’ve dropped considerably in price.  These days you can get an awesome one for just around $200.00. 

Oh, and by the way, they do print documents and pictures also.

Pictures, Pictures, Gimme More Pictures . . .

If you feel naked on the weekends without a camera close at hand, then just any old inkjet or laser printer will certainly not do for you.  You definitely don’t care about faxing or copying.  You want one thing from your printer.  Quality pictures.

What you’re looking for is—surprise!—a photo printer. 

With many photo printers, you can plug your camera directly into the printer itself.  Plan on spending about $100, but for about twice that you can add a CD drive and save your pictures directly to disc.