Let’s get this common question out of the way: What is the difference between ink cartridges and printer toner cartridges? If you have an inkjet printer, you will use an ink cartridge containing ink. If you have a laser printer, you will use a toner cartridge containing powder. Out of the two types of printers, you should opt for a laser printer.
Even though laser printers may be expensive to own than inkjet printers, they are less costly to keep them running, as premium toners are inexpensive and long-lasting. Ink cartridges tend to get used up quickly, and even more quickly if you print several documents each day.
Laser printers can handle large volumes with powder drying as soon as the document emerges from it. Buying a laser printer will be a one-time cost, thus worth the investment. You will have to buy high- quality printer toner cartridges from time to time. Buying a quality toner cartridge requires prior knowledge, which this guide serves to do.
What Are Original Equipment Manufacturer Cartridges?
Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) cartridges are the toner cartridges sold by the company that designed the laser printer you are using. Laser printer manufacturers will tell you not to buy remanufactured printer toner cartridges because they want you to buy it from them. Don’t heed to their warnings, as buying remanufactured printer toner cartridges is perfectly safe.
What Are Remanufactured Printer Toner Cartridges?
Remanufactured printer toner cartridges provide you with tons of useful benefits, which is why they come highly recommended by most people. Here are a few advantages of why you should buy remanufactured printer toner cartridges over OEM cartridges:
1. Reduced Cost
If you switch to remanufactured printer toner cartridges, you can save between 50% to 80% per printing job. Companies that sell remanufactured toners can set their own prices. You also don’t need to buy them as frequently as you would the other OEM toners, as they are filled to capacity.
2. Quality Printing
Remanufactured cartridges offer the same print quality as OEM cartridges. Companies selling remanufactured cartridges dismantle them, substitute the moving and wearable components, and refill them with toner, usually with the same toner as the OEM.
3. Environmentally-Friendly
Remanufactured cartridges preserve your natural resources while ensuring metals and plastics don’t find their way into the landfills. Companies that sell remanufactured cartridges use a cartridge that does not land in a landfill. You can return or sell back your cartridge to companies as well, so they can reuse it.
On the other hand, ink cartridges are neither recycled nor remanufactured or are just thrown away into the landfill. It takes them around a millennium to decompose. When you buy remanufactured toner cartridges over OEM cartridges and ink cartridges, you are reducing your carbon footprint.
Are you onboard to buying remanufactured premium toners for your laser printer? If you are, you need to know what to look for before you buy one.
What Things Make a Printer Toner Cartridge Worth Buying
If you want to buy a printer toner cartridge for your laser printer, which you already have or are planning to get, here are the things you need to look for in a printer toner cartridge:
Compatible with Your Laser Printer
Ensure the printer toner cartridge works with the brand and model of your laser printer. It is important you buy a printer toner cartridge from a reputable and reliable company. Even though the printer toner cartridge may match with your laser printer, Using the correct toner composition is vitally important as it can cause a variety of problems when printing. For example, if it is refilled with incorrect toner it can cause a variety of problems, for example, you may experience smudging, streaking lines from top to bottom, light printing and worst is a leaky toner cartridge, if toner leaks in to your print DO NOT USE COMPRESSED AIR as this will damage your print. The only way to remove the toner from inside your print is too vacuum the spill. You can use any home vacuum cleaner but I recommend that you go to your local hardware store and buy an adapter to place on your vacuum to reduce the suction intake diameter from 1 ⅜ inch to the size of a AAA battery. By doing this it will increase your suction power by 10 times.
Cost per page
See the cost per page instead of the complete cost of the two toner cartridges you are considering buying. In doing so, it gives you an accurate comparison between the two and determines which is more affordable to buy from the two. How to calculate your cost per page on a specific Inkjet cartridge or Toner Cartridge. (Cost of Cartridge) ÷ (Cartridge Yield) = (Cost per page). If your printer has that option to purchase a high yield cartridge we recommend you go with the high yield cartridge.
Pages Print Per Toner Cartridge
On average, a single toner print cartridge can print more than 1,500 to 35,000 pages depending on your printer model. For this reason, it is important that you know beforehand what your options and printing needs are. If you plan to print a high volume of pages per month, it is recommended to find a faster and more expensive printer that also has an extra high yield cartridge and extremely fast printers 50 to70 pages per minute. Don’t let the price scare you the OEM cartridges for 35,000-page cartridge sells for $600 Canadian dollars cost per page for OEM is .0172 cents per page but a high-quality Premium Toners sells $180 Canadian dollars. Your cost per page for the remanufactured cartridge is .00515 of a cent. This will save a bundle of money and extremely valuable time.
Lifespan
Toner cartridge lifespan is much greater than in jet cartridges. Most laser printers have two options, standard yield of high yield. Yield is a way that OEM calculates page count. Yield is the total pages that you can expect from a specific toner cartridge. Yield is only an estimate based on 5% coverage. It is calculated this way because no one can really calculate how much toner is being used on each page that is being printed. So if your coverage on a page is less than 5% your cartridge will print more the recommended yield, however on the other hand if your coverage is greater than 5% don’t be surprised if you print fewer pages than the recommended yield. This is how all cartridge work, regardless if you buy Compatible, OEM or Remanufactured.
Conclusion
You can use this guide to make a good buying decision when looking at the various printer toner cartridges. You should opt for remanufactured or compatible Premium Toners over the OEM ones due to the vast number of benefits you will receive. You should also make sure the printer toner cartridge you buy meets the criteria of a high-quality laser cartridge.
