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Fri 8 Nov, 2002 07:44 pm
This week I ordered a new toner cartridge from NEC the people who manufactured my printer.
It was very expensive.
The internet is full of ads offering to sell toner fluid so you can refill the cartridge and save money.
Is this a good idea? Or a too-good-to-be-true idea?
Noddy24- Personally, I don't like the idea of refilling cartridges. Most printers have a number of printing options. On mine they have the "econofast" option. For all material except pictures, I find that setting faster, and the printing perfectly adequate. By using that kind of option, you use up much less ink. I find that I don't change my cartridges more than a couple of times a year, and I do a fair amount of printing.
Have you checked the discount houses, such as Costco or
Sam's? There they sell them by the pair, but they are much cheaper.
You can almost always find "New" toner cartridges cheaper elsewhere. The makers of the printer are usually the worst place to buy.
I've never been a fan of buy the toner and refilling your own but there are several places that sell "remanufactured" cartridges at reasonable prices and those work pretty well. My office uses them all the time without any problems.
The cartridges for my Lexmark laser printer vary hugely in price. Anywhere from $300 to $370 for a cartridge that should print 14,000 pages. I've tried the remanufactured cartridges on three occasions, hoping for the best, but they leave black marks down the side of the page.
On the other hand, my business partner has an HP laser, and she is able to use the remanufactured cartridges with no problem.
I'm listening--and learning.
Phoenix, the trouble with the discount outlets in this neck of the woods is a very limited selection. On the other hand, when someone asks me what is my Heart's Desire from the Big City....
I think my Dad does the refilling thing. I'll ask him the next time we talk.
Jespah--
Thanks. My husband thinks it would be a marvelous idea, but he is a theoretical computer user rather than a guy with his hands on the keyboard.
The manufactures of either toner or ink cartridges would typically make the cartridge components only good enough to make sure it lasts for the life of the initial use. Anything beyond that, you might be taking your chances. :wink:
Datamill--
I'm not a risk taker--and I have a feeling that uncontained toner is an elegant and challenging bit of chaos.