Dell Printer Cartridges: Tips To Extend The Ink Cartridge’s Life

Any owner of a recently purchased Dell computer and printer has undoubtedly been haunted by the inkjet meter that pops up every time you try to print.  It’s like it’s mocking you from the very beginning, reminding you that your printer cartridges are only 99% full now - time to reorder!!  Annoying as it may be, all-in-all it is pretty convenient to have a computer remind you politely that it’s time for a replacement.

Sometimes you want to know before you purchase a printer cartridge how long it’s going to last and when you’re going to need to budget your next replacement.  Of course, this is something that will vary with each user depending upon how much you print, what you print and in what quality you print it.  A printer that is primarily used for printing of text documents and mostly in black will run out of black and still have three full color cartridges left.  You can purchase high capacity inkjets for certain printers to rectify this very situation.

Most printer cartridges can specify approximately how many pages that it will print in either color, black and white or a mix of the two.  Dell printer cartridges specified to print photographs will be much more expensive than those made for simple desk jets and they will probably empty faster.  A high capacity ink jet cartridge for a photo printer can print between 150-200 4×6 snapshot photos.  This might sound like a lot, but consider your last family vacation.  Over the course of a week, anyone with a digital camera and an index finger is capable of snapping hundreds of photos that will drain the life right out of a Dell photo printer cartridge when they get home.

One way to make your inkjet cartridges last a little longer is to stop your computer from automatically cleaning the jets at a certain time every day or week.  This uses quite a bit of ink and you may not use your printer very often but still find that over the course of a month or two your ink is slowly emptying for no reason.  This is a simple setting that can be changed on your printer so that it has to ask your permission before performing the function or not suggest it at all but leave it to you to decide when to do it.

You’ll never really be able to predict exactly when you will need to replace your Dell printer cartridges, but be certain that it will happen at the most inconvenient time.  Help yourself out in two ways by getting the value pack the next time you go shopping for ink cartridges.  You will save money because the more cartridges in a package the less expensive each one will be.  Additionally, the next time you’re printing your child’s report at midnight the day before it’s due, you won’t be making any last minute trips to the Wal-Mart to buy a cartridge.

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