Naturally, printer brands strongly urge their customers to choose OEM or genuine ink cartridges when printing. That is to ensure optimal quality and to protect the print head from corrosion and clogging. Yet, most consumers prefer to buy printer cartridges from third-party manufacturers because of the huge price difference. These compatible inks also produce prints as good as the ones that the original inks produce. What are Refilled Ink Cartridges? However, many more consumers turn to refilling their empty cartridges. Refill kits can be bought from any computer store online or offline. The kit consists of a plastic injector and three bottles of colored ink (red, yellow, and blue) with easy-to-follow instructions for inexperienced users. If you're already experienced in handling printer toners and cartridges, then you'd save more money when you buy generic ink in bulk. A pint of generic ink can fill up at least 15 cartridges or refill the same tanks 15 times. As long as the cartridges remain clog-free, they'll function well through those fifteen refills. Because the manufacturers of major printer brands want their users to choose branded inks, they've redesigned their printers to function better with their genuine ink cartridges. Epson and Lexmark have embedded a microchip at the bottom of each cartridge. This chip stores data, such as the level of ink inside the tank, which the printer reads. Whenever the ink level reaches a certain level, the printer's software informs the user of the need to change ink cartridges soon. Refilling those inkjet cartridges with microchips is an arduous process because you don't want to mess with the chip, which could prevent you from using the ink cartridge again. Some printers won't print at all when they can't sense the chip anymore. However, because of re-manufactured printer cartridges, inexperienced users now have a choice to buy these over the option of refilling the ink tanks themselves. What are Re-manufactured Ink Cartridges? Truthfully, re-manufactured cartridges are simply refilled cartridges. The companies who 're-manufacture' them recycle the empty shells of branded ink cartridges and refill them with ink. But, their process takes more care not to harm the cartridge's chip and adds an extra step of cleaning the cartridges to rid of dirt and other particles that may clog the tiny hole that connects with the print head's nozzle. Unlike the task of refilling ink on your own, buying a re-manufactured inkjet cartridge ensures you're getting a better quality of refilled cartridge. Nevertheless, the choice of using either refilled or re-manufactured printer cartridges presents a risk for you. The ink may not have the viscosity that allows it to flow smoothly through the ink tubes. Also, the quality of prints you'll get may not be at the same optimal quality as when an original ink is used because of differences in formulation. Therefore, the best option for printer users is to buy compatible inkjet cartridges instead. They are as inexpensive as refilled or re-manufactured printer cartridges. For example, Thrifty's ink cartridges that are compatible with branded printers cost at least two dollars a pop, depending on its type and model. These compatible ink cartridges print more pages of either colored or black-and-white than the genuine brands.