We have a neutral policy as to whether you should buy original products or not. It is your decision. We sell both sorts of product here provided there is a reasonable price advantage for you. (Non-original cartridges have a code starting with "Z") and everything we sell is guaranteed against faulty workmanship. If their printer is still under warranty, many customers prefer to use original products to avoid any potential dispute with the manufacturer should there be any problems. This is sensible but note that printers using our cartridges getting permanent damage is extremely rare and such an event would generally be covered by our own warranty.

These are very similar to Car Mileage rates seen on rightcar.govt.nz in that they provide a Standard test used by most manufacturers to provide a useful comparison between brands. If these new ISO standards are not available then we use the 5% coverage example.

Refilling inkjet cartridges (where available) offer significant price savings over original cartridges. Be warned however that the life of a used cartridge can vary considerably, and often there are problems getting the refilled cartridge to print (see Troubleshooting). However, for those on a budget, they can offer big price advantages. We do not recommend refilling Epson inkjet cartridges due to the way they are designed.

A drum is used in laser printers, which use a laser beam to produce an image on the drum. The light of the laser alters the electrical charge on the drum wherever it hits. The drum is then rolled through a reservoir of toner, which is picked up by the charged portions of the drum. Finally, the toner is transferred to the paper through a combination of heat and pressure.Drums typically last for between 10,000 and 20,000 pages but this can vary considerably depending on environmental conditions (paper quality, dust and so on) and the average number of pages printed per run. Short runs of 1 or 2 pages will mean your drum will not last as long. Note that drums are sold separately with some models (such as most Panasonic or Brother lasers) while others have them built into the toner cartridge (Hewlett-Packard / Canon).

Many printer manufacturers save money by sharing development costs. The result is some laser "engines" are shared between manufacturers or even on some occasions identical printers are marketed under a different name. The best known example of this is the agreement between Hewlett-Packard and Canon. They generally share the same engine and can therefore share the same toner cartridge. You can therefore buy a Canon cartridge and put it into the equivalent HP printer without affecting any warranty conditions.

Most printers have a Cost Per Page (CPP) figure in the top right. Cost per page is calculated using the cheapest available OEM (original) cartridge or bundle provided: a. It is supplied by the manufacturer (or by Computer Food as a replacement for a specific OEM bundle) and b. The cartridges in the bundle (if available) are used by the majority of customers. c. The bundle is a long term offer from the manufacturer and offers good savings. d. Combined Colour / Black bundles are excluded as they would require a cost allocation between black and colour. For example we eliminate the Canon CLI526 5 pack as the CLI526BK is only used for Photos and so not useful for many customers. Colour CPP assumes users print black and colour approx in line with standard ISO rules. Photo printers are generally excluded as no proper CPP details are available.