| Product: RhinoTek Inkjet Cartridges |
Company: Omni Computer Products |
| Web: www.rhinotek.com |
Phone: 800-695-7446 |
| Platform: Various |
SRP: varies
Street Price: same |
Cred Rating: | Special Award: |
Have you ever noticed that far more people like to talk about compassion and charity than do anything about it? Liberals talk about community and sharing of resources, but are frequently not involved in either. Conservatives and libertarians talk about the enlightened self-interest of corporate charity and community-involvement, but few seem to reach beyond photo ops and tax write-offs. One company that does go the distance is Omni Computer Products. They hire the "unhirable" -- ex-cons, recovering drug addicts and alcoholics, the homeless -- and also give part of their profits to environmental organizations. We tip the ol' Street Tech propeller beanie to these guys.
OK so they're do-gooders ... but are their products any good? We've been testing the RhinoTek Inkjet Cartridges on our Epson Stylus Color 740 for the last few months and are really pleased with them. At $40 for a black and color cartridge, they cost more than the cheapy brands (which can be had for as low as $25 for the combo) and less than Epson's replacement cartridges (at $50 for a set), but the real difference comes in the longevity. You'd likely go through two sets of el crapo carts in the same time period. We didn't do a very scientific test (e.g. our printer usage can vary radically from month to month), but we think we got about 30% more printing out of the Rhinos over Epson cartridges. And the quality? Much better than the deeply discounted brands, about the same as Epson's.
The only problem with the Rhino carts is getting them. They're not available at big cybershops like Outpost and MicroWarehouse, nor can you get them at Staples. If you can't find them locally or through your favorite e-tailer, you can buy them directly from Omni Computer by calling 800-748-6664.
Let's recap: The company hires the unhirable, they give a percentage of their profits to environmental causes, they make a great product at a reasonable price that lasts longer and performs as well as their competitor. You do the math.
- Gareth Branwyn [1/30/01]
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