Any colored liquid used for writing, drawing, or marking is called an ink. Ink cartridges are a component used in inkjet printers which contain this colored liquid. Printer ink usually comes in any one of the four basic colors: black, cyan, magenta, or yellow. The most commonly used cartridges - like HP ink cartridges - usually have small metal resistors inside apart from the traditional smaller ink reservoirs. These resistors conduct heat when it receives a current from the printer. In turn, the heat triggers displacement inside the cartridge so that drops of ink are squirted out of the cartridge nozzle and onto the paper. Types of Ink There are a lot of brands and stores selling ink. Some of these companies also manufacture their own line of printers, while others are simply in the business of selling or refilling ink cartridges. Regardless, there are two basic types of ink cartridges: original equipment manufacturer (OEM) cartridges, and third-party or compatible ink cartridges. Explaining and differentiating between these two types is easier done with an example. HP ink cartridges, which usually come bundled with HP printers, are an example of OEM cartridges. From this, you can easily gather that OEM cartridges are those made by printer manufacturers specifically for their own line of products. On the other hand, third-party or compatible ink cartridges are products made by companies other than the printer manufacturers. OEM Cartridges like HP are Still Better The dominant trend nowadays is to look for cheaper alternatives for everything. The trend holds true even for printers and printer cartridges. This is why compatible cartridges have gained popularity over the years. For example, the lower price of HP-compatible ink when compared against original HP ink seems very attractive for users. What most consumers do not know is that 72% of compatible inks usually fail. Ink failure here can refer to one of many things, an instance of which could be buying a brand new box of compatible ink, popping it into the printer, and then getting alerted that your ink is running low or has run out completely after printing only five pages. Another instance of compatible ink failure would be seeing print-outs that are smudged because the ink did not dry up fast enough or seeing print-outs that have random ink spots because below standard compatible ink cartridge caused the print head to get too dirty on your HP printer (for example) which was recommended to be used with OEM HP cartridges. As such, failures related to 72% of all compatible ink often lead to additional ink cartridge purchases that double or even triple the costs that consumers would have spent had they just used an OEM cartridge. Original cartridges would never result in such failures particularly because they have been tested and re-tested on their partner printers. As an example, HP ink cartridges would have been tested and re-tested with HP printers to ensure clear, sharp outputs that do not sacrifice the health of the printer. This is why OEM cartridges are still better for your printers.