It is said that printer ink is among the most expensive liquids available in the market! Printer ink appears to cost more than human blood!! Every time the ink dries out a user has only a few choices - refill the cartridge at an exorbitant rate, buying a brand new printer or filling up the cartridge with a ‘syringe'. Many people prefer to use compatible ink cartridges (those made by a company other than the printer manufacturer) that can sometimes match the quality, but with possible savings of a few bucks. Another alternative is various modifications that allow the use of continuous ink systems. This makes use of external ink tanks. Some choose to use aftermarket inks. What you can do is either refill your own ink cartridge, buy aftermarket remanufactured brands, or take them to a local refiller.

Refilling a cartridge costs more than buying a new printer. Many printer manufacturers actually make up for the lose while selling a printer through the sale of ink cartridges over the life span of the printer. So they take various steps to stop aftermarket cartridges from being sold.

Kodak, after Epson (in some selected countries), is attempting to change this business model. They have announced the pending launch of Kodak EasyShare inkjet printers. This will provide individual ink cartridges at a low price. Along with Epson, Kodak's new strategy and the very low ink pricing in some countries are hopefully the first sign of a collapse in ink prices that will spread worldwide gradually.

What you can do to save some money meanwhile is get your cartridges refilled from third parties. Luckily a whole industry has grown out of it.

But then again there are certain refill qualities that might ruin the printers altogether or atleast give bad quality prints. Brother, Canon, Dell, HP, and Lexmark cartridges are not difficult to refill. But Epson cartridges usually require the additional purchase of a chip resetter to reset the counter chip inherent in the Epson cartridges. The process can be inherently messy until you become highly experienced as the process involves handling ink!

Laser cartridges sold as "compatible" are usually re-filled cartridges. Many third-party newly manufactured cartridges exist as well. Inkjet cartridges sold as "compatible" are newly manufactured cartridges. Inkjet cartridges sold as "Remanufactured" are cartridges that have been used at least once by a consumer and then refilled by a third party. All of these serve as good options for you if you are looking for something cheaper.

In the meantime, as we wait for Kodak EasyShare, a company named Inké claims to offer users with HP 15, 40 and 45 ink-jet printer cartridges which is an inexpensive and efficient alternative. The Inké HS-45 refill system is a compact, attractively designed device. It easily fits next to your printer. Four normal AA batteries or the included power supply runs the fully automatic refill pump. It's a very simple device. After inserting the empty ink cartridge all it takes is for a button to be pressed and the refill process starts off.