Discount ink cartridges are available online. All you have to do is type ink cartridges or printer cartridges into your search engine. Some sites offer amazing discounts. Again you are going to have to search for deal that is best for you. Pay attention to cartridge top when purchasing them. Check sides of box for a list of models cartridge will work in.

There is a time line below that has some really interesting facts. This would make a great list of answers for a trivia game. I cannot imagine hard work that created ink jet printer cartridge, as we know it. It is easy to understand why cartridges are expensive.

1452 - Gutenberg used oil-based ink, moveable type, and an old winepress to make first printing press. Martin Luther began Protestant reformation making extensive use of printing press. 1714 - The typewriter was born. Schematics that were done by Mills were discovered however, there is no proof that any typewriters were actually made. 1874 - Christopher Sholes, Samuel Soule, and Carlos Glidden made a keyboard that became known as “qwerty” because of first five keys on top row of keyboard. 1894 - Franz Wagner developed a typewriter that is very similar to ones made today. He created a design that let typists watch as they were typing. Previously, paper would go through a roller as you typed and you could not see what you typed until you were done. 1897 - Underwood (by John Underwood) was prototypical typewriter of its day. 1939 - Charles Carlson developed electrography, which is first dry writing technique developed in United States. 1949 - Haloid Company began to commercially developed electrography for first time. 1959 - Xerox 914 hit market and forced other businesses to update their communication systems. 1969 - Xerox first introduced dry printing (laser printing) by Gary Starkweather. 1078 - Xerox put out world's first business laser printer Xerox 9700. It copied documents at speed of 120 ppm (pages per minute) 1979 - The IBM 3800 could print out 20,000 lines per minute. 1980's - The use of toner cartridges became obsolete. 1984 - Hewlett-Packard released first home-based desktop laser printer.

What you must know:

Since it ensures smooth running of your system, more better. Make sure memory capacity is upgradeable. Games: http://www.hardwaresoftwarearticles.com/archive/index.php/f-6.html Make sure RAM is original and opt for DDR range of RAMs. Duplicate RAMs will not function on Windows XP operating systems. The RAM comes with a year's warranty. Hard Disk Drive

HDD capacity counts for a great deal.

A 40 GB hard disk is sufficient disk space but you may choose an 80 GB variant.

The brand SEAGATE is a very reliable brand for hard disks and is preferred by most computer manufacturers and assemblers.

What you must know:

The hard disk comes with a three-year warranty. Monitor

Monitors are computer screens available in varied sizes, most popular being 15" and 17". Windows Update: http://www.hardwaresoftwarearticles.com/archive/index.php/f-13.html

You can choose between a flat panel plasma screen and a regular desktop monitor.

The Dynaflat type monitor is preferred to conventional CRT type, which is technically referred to as Cathode Ray Tube.

The various brands for monitors are Samsung, Mercury and LG, to name a few. Samsung is preferred alternative for monitors and is also leading peripheral components dealer.

What you must know:

Monitors usually come with a three-year warranty.

Peripherals

These include keyboard, mouse, web cam, printer, scanner, joystick, etc.

Samsung and Microsoft are preferred brands.

Choose an optical mouse over usual one. The price difference is marginal. The same applies for Internet keyboard.

Don't opt for a wireless mouse or a keyboard as sensors get spoilt with time. Besides, you have to charge batteries every week.

For printers and scanners, Hewlett Packard is market leader.

What you must know:

Don't choose cheapest printer in sight. You will spend money you save in less than a year on cartridges. Don't go for ones cheap ones as they have poor resolution. Voltage stabilisers and Spike guards Photos: http://www.hardwaresoftwarearticles.com/archive/index.php/f-9.html

If your locality has frequent power failures or severe voltage fluctuations, opt for a voltage stabiliser. This will prevent any damage that could reduce life of your machine.

Regardless of locality and power supply, opt for a spike guard. It will provide four power plug points for your computer and peripherals.