Lexmark ink cartridge

www.lexmark.com

Lexmark are the number two printer manufacturer in the United States and Lexmark ink cartridges are among the fastest sellers in the country. Lexmark also produce printers under the Dell brand name as well as ink cartridges for Compaq and IBM printers.

The Lexmark printer range includes inkjet printers, all-in-one printers, mono and color laser printers, multifunction printers and dot matrix printers. Technological advances in both ink quality and printer capabilities and features have seen Lexmark win praise from consumers, industry watchdogs and independent testers alike.

However, Lexmark has been castigated for its aggressive attempts to prevent consumers from using any third party inks or remanufactured ink cartridges in their printers. The company has developed a micro chip that prevents their printers working with any other manufacturers' cartridges installed. This micro chip technology has been patented and when a third party manufacturer managed to produce a compatible cartridge able to trick Lexmark printers into accepting it, Lexmark decided to file a lawsuit.

Lexmark used the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to try and stop the sale of these rival cartridges and chips. Initially Lexmark won an injunction against companies that refill or remanufacture Lexmark ink cartridges and undercut Lexmark's sale price. This was later overturned however, and the courts found in favour of the third party manufacturer.

Despite the availability of cloned Lexmark ink cartridges, if you expect the same print quality delivered from an Original Equipment Manufacture (OEM) Lexmark ink cartridge you really need to buy the genuine article. Lexmark have committed thousands of dollars to research into their ink technology and this shows in the incredibly vivid colors, excellent tonal variation and little or no discernable ink pattern in their prints.

With each new printer or ink cartridge developed Lexmark adds new features. The latest technology features a six-color system that combines dye-based inks and pigmented inks, ensuring both a wide color gamut and fade-resistant prints. In general, Lexmark uses dye-based inks designed for vibrant, fade resistant color. The cartridges have the printer heads built-in guaranteeing high quality prints regardless of the age of your printer, and have small ink-drop size to ensure increased smear resistance and optimum clarity and detail.

Lexmark ink cartridges cost between $10 and $35, laser cartridges can cost between $80 and $150.

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