Inkjet printers, driven by their printer ink cartridges, have made fast, quality printing work available for everyone both at home and in business. If you remember the old dot matrix printers which churned out text noisily, you'll especially appreciate the inkjet's quiet production of high resolution text and graphics.

Nowadays, we can print our own flyers, name cards, brochures and posters, in short every type of printing job we used to farm out to a professional printing house. We can print out digital images from our cameras at resolutions of 4800 x 1200 dpi for high impact photographs. And all of this is made possible through the development of printer ink cartridges.

Not only do these printers produce high quality printing, they also allow us to print on a whole range of surfaces other than paper. Examples are fabric and film which means we can print our own t-shirts or make films for use on overhead projectors, for instance. This is truly a versatile machine with a host of uses in businesses, schools and homes.

Especially popular nowadays are all-in-one units. These combine the function of printer, scanner and photocopier into one compact machine. The flat bed scanner allows the scanning and copying of text and images and the paper trays and feeders allow 100s of copies to be made easily. Some even have built-in fax functions All-in-one printer/copier/scanners are the perfect devices for home and small business use.

Modern printers are easy to use and maintain, too. Most use simple push button operations allowing even technophobes to operate them without problems. Maintenance is a breeze. Most have built in functions to clean the printer heads automatically at set times.

Most people love their inkjet printers and with good reason - they are very affordable and produce high quality printing. However, if there's one gripe that most users have, it's that of the cost of replacement printer ink cartridges.

Many users going to buy new ink cartridges for their inkjets are shocked to find that a pack containing one colour and one black cartridge can cost as much as they paid for the printer itself. The fact is that the printer companies sell the printers at cost and make up their real profits from the sale of replacement cartridges. Fortunately, there are ways to get new printer ink cartridges without breaking the bank.

First we need to understand that replacement ink comes in three main types - OEM (original equipment manufacturer), compatible and refurbished. OEMs are the ones made by the printer companies themselves and sell for premium prices. You do, of course, get an item of high quality and reliability for your money.

Compatible printer ink cartridges are made by third parties under license. These represent a fine option to the OEM as they're of a high standard yet at a fraction of the cost.

Refurbished units are used cartridges which have been cleaned up and refilled. These are the cheapest option but if quality and reliability are issues with you, you should avoid them.

If you really need the best printing available, you need to buy OEM printer ink cartridges. The good news is that by buying them online, you can make significant savings.

For general printing jobs compatibles are fine. These are also available from online dealers at prices considerably lower than those in the High Street.

These online vendors have massive turnovers which in a fierce competitive market means they offer rock bottom prices. What's more they don't need to operate large showrooms so their costs are minimal. Ordering on the websites is a snap and delivery is free and fast, usually within 24 hours.

Consider, for example, buying hp photosmart 2575 ink cartridges. On the web site of a leading online vendor you can pick up a pack containing 3 cartridges and a photo paper pack for just 23.95 pounds.

Or if you need hp deskjet f380 ink, you can get a pack of two compatible black ink printers for a mere 12.66 pounds. Try getting those deals in the High Street.

Smart shoppers for printer ink cartridges find the best deals online. Visit the web sites of reputable online dealers to find the best bargains in printer cartridges.