Recycled Toner?

[Craiglc1]

Anyone have any thoughts on this? I have people claiming they can save me a good percentage off the box stores where my Toner costs a little over $100.00 US for each of the ones in the printer ( there are four). Anyone know if the refilled / remanufactured type of cartridges will have the same life span and wont cause my expensive printer to fart and die? I haven't seen anything yay or nay on this subject before.

 

[timwhit]

I think it depends on the kind of printer and what components are in the toner cartridge.

What make/model printer do you have?

 

[Mercutio]

If you're talking about a real laser printer, not a crappy personal model, I'd stick with the manufacturer's toner, because having a valid warranty and/or service contract is a good thing.

If it's out of warranty or a crappy printer to begin with, all I'm going to say is that all printer consumables are a total scam anyway.

 

[timwhit]

Don't some cartridges include a drum or some other component in them, which wears out faster and needs to be replaced more often?

 

[Craiglc1]

more info.

My color Laser is an HP 3550

Huge amounts of software aside I love this machine. During my research when I bought it it came through as easily the best machine on the market in my opinion. It bridges tha gap from home office machine to massive juggarnaught quite nicely

When I asked the company about their toner cartridges they said that indeed they did have drums and such that are replaced. According to them it is no different then bying one from a big box store since those are all remanufactured as well. My concern I guess would mostly be on the quality and consumption rate of the ink. I dont want to save twenty bucks just to have to spend hundreds to get a new print head etc.

 

[Bozo]

Buying 'rebuilt' ink cartriges is no different than buying parts for you car. You can go back to the manufacturer or you can go to the parts store. The parts store has excellant replacement parts at considerable savings, but they also have cheap s**t that should be avoided.
Buying Staples or Office Max ink is usually a good deal. Buying from a guy standing on a street corner in a trench coat, going "pssst, hey buddy, wanna buy some ink cartriges cheap?" might not be a good idea.

Bozo :joker:

 

[Sol]

I'm not a huge fan of the recycled cartridges. If the drum has been damaged at all, even slightly, you can get a serious hit in print quality (big lines of light or dark).

HP do recycle the cartridges as well though so I guess it comes down to weather the other companies quality control is up to the same level... Probably can't know without trying but that's no good if you void your warranty... (Although I would suggest that HP would have a hard time demonstrating that the warranty was void)...

 

[sechs]

I wouldn't use third party recycled toner cartridges for Cannon engine laser printers, such as those from HP.

Several years ago, I worked for a group with a large number of HP lasers. They tried going with third-party stuff, and it was pretty bad. Prints were poor, toner ran out quicker, and, for reasons that were never clear, the jam rate went way up. They went back to HP toners and everything was fine.

 

[time]

I'd be much more reluctant to experiment with aftermarket alternatives where the printer has a more environment-friendly long-life drum (i.e., not HP). Supposedly, the toner acts as a kind of lubricant, so you may shorten the life of your printer or even ruin it.

Fortunately, that sort of printer tends to be much cheaper to run anyway, given that you're only buying toner rather than an "imaging cartridge". :roll:

 

[Mercutio]

I cannot wait for the day that we all have bluetooth-enabled e-paper displays attached to ~8GB of flash memory so that we never have to deal with a fucking printer again.

On that day, we will have moved one step closer to achieving our Buddha nature.

 

[LunarMist]

Paper is much more reliable and can last hundreds of years. Every time someone in IT screws up or the latest patch of the week borks the systems, people will be sitting around twiddling thumbs. And the hassle of making electronic systems compliant is just crazy for small projects. Don't even get me started about electronic signatures. Give me a hard copy and sign off with a good old Mount Blanc.

 

[LiamC]

On that day, we will have moved one step closer to achieving our Buddha nature.

Do you prefer Mahasamatman, Tathagatha or Kalkin, Oh Binder?



I wish they would turn that book into a movie