You always want to feel that you are spending your money wisely, especially if your purchasing a product regularly that can be quite expensive. Settling on the right replacement ink cartridges for your printer can land you anywhere in the price spectrum, though most often at the extremes of dirt cheap and insultingly expensive.
Manufacturers that make both printers and the compatible ink for their machines tend to mark up replacement cartridge prices in an effort to monopolize the market. Big name providers frequently warn that using third party devices for your printer can invalidate the warranty and potentially cause a great deal of damage.
While it can certainly jeopardize your warranty coverage, shopping for cartridges made by other companies besides the printer manufacturer will not likely damage the unit. As long as you carefully install and remove ink, you will not need to worry about lower quality printer jobs or broken spools. Paper jams have little to do with the jets themselves, and any software issues can generally be resolved by downloading the proper drivers from the company website.
You may also end up saving considerable money by exploring alternatives to buying the manufacturer ink. A reliable third party can make the same quality product and sell it at a lower price, meaning you will not have to spend upwards of $40 every time you run out of black or color ink. College students curse the world when they have to print hundreds of pages every semester, largely because ink costs can be so prohibitive.