Printer Cartridge

[smurfchops]

Thanks to you all for your advice, I am now awaiting delivery of a new printer.  It is an HP Laserjet 1020.  Please could you tell me if it wise to buy 'cheap' cartridges or should I buy the proper HP ones? Will they make any difference to the performance of the print?  If anyone has the above printer, can they give me any tips (installation etc) as I am not technical at all - I can only spell and type !!!

[spangle111]

I would steer well clear of cheap cartridges they work ok but can leak into the machine itself and will render it useless. This might not happen in all cases but in my opinion its not worth the risk.

[dmsjps]

Not only will they render it useless, but they will void your warranty as well. If you use your printer a lot, it's probably worth paying the extra for HP products. HP have quite good customer service if you have a problem, but then again, so do Epson.

[Cockney_si]

Worry more about the type of paper you use, cheap thin paper and HP make lovely and interesting paper swans or as they are commonly known - paper jams.

[romko]

It depends. if the print head is built into the machine, then use only the recommended ink carts, as if that head gets clogged it can be a nightmare to  put right.

If however,  the head is part of the replacement cartridge, then you can use whatever carts you want, since you will be changing the head with every replacement  so there's nothing to damage. I have used generic replacements in my HP 930c for years with no problems.