Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Do you buy a new printer when the inks are running out?
- Thread starter hajime
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
The toner will be partially full, usually half. The manual should say what the yield is for the starter cartridge compared to the full cartridge. So the buying of a new printer every time might not give the savings you are expecting.
You can also get 3rd party toner, gives great savings over the original toner and works quite well. I used a 3rd party one for my Samsung for a number of years and it worked fine.
You can also get 3rd party toner, gives great savings over the original toner and works quite well. I used a 3rd party one for my Samsung for a number of years and it worked fine.
Yes, the cartridges that came with the printer have half the yield. However, even so, it seems to cost less buying a new printer. Need to do a more detailed calculations.
OP is talking laserjet printer not laser printer there is no toner. At least that’s how I read the post.
And yes it seems cheaper to buy a new printer than the inks.
And yes it seems cheaper to buy a new printer than the inks.
Mine is a Color LaserJet laser printer. It is indeed cheaper to buy a new printer.
Is there issue with using 3rd party color toners? How is the print quality of 3rd party toners compared with the originals?
Last edited:
No experience with color, but black and white has been the same as the real thing. This one is pretty solidly rated and is $50.
It might appear to be cheaper to buy a new printer than get new toners, but printers normally come with starter toners that don't have full capacity and you could end up swapping them out within a month or so. A new toner will have full capacity and it's always worth while to get the high-capacity toners as they give you the best price per page. Unless your printer is ancient and not in warranty then I'd just replace the toner. I only replace the printer when it's getting on a bit an I can get 3 years warranty and free toners with a new printer.
I used to sometimes replace the printer if I found a crazy good deal even though the starter cartridges are low capacity.
Right now I am only buying printers that Arthur Imaging makes cartridges/toners for. As far as 3rd party cartridges/toners go, they are expensive - often about $1 a cartridge in bulk (and I think my black toner was like $20-ish). But that's still like 1/30th the price of OEM and the print quality is exceptional. I'm also happy with the their service life that meets or exceeds OEM.
Right now I am only buying printers that Arthur Imaging makes cartridges/toners for. As far as 3rd party cartridges/toners go, they are expensive - often about $1 a cartridge in bulk (and I think my black toner was like $20-ish). But that's still like 1/30th the price of OEM and the print quality is exceptional. I'm also happy with the their service life that meets or exceeds OEM.
When I used to print, back when I was a student, I would usually buy inks, but I would always make sure to buy a printer which is cheap to print.
Now...well I bought a laser printer (mono) few years ago and after not having it used for the duration of it, it stopped working. 6 months ago I bought a new printer, very cheap inkjet printer, with very low price for inks. It is still in the box.
I am beginning to think I have no need for print any more.
Now...well I bought a laser printer (mono) few years ago and after not having it used for the duration of it, it stopped working. 6 months ago I bought a new printer, very cheap inkjet printer, with very low price for inks. It is still in the box.
I am beginning to think I have no need for print any more.
An area I'm responsible for in the company I'm employed by is toner and maintenance for a fleet of several thousand HP Laserjet printers. My advice is to keep the printer and buy only HP toner, not 3rd party, and if you can get it in the X cartridge, do that.
3rd party toner has a much higher failure rate.
3rd party toner has a much higher failure rate.
I had a old Canon inkjet printer and got tired of buying the inks $$, now I have a Brother color MFC 9130, and have not replaced anything yet
http://www.brother-usa.com/MultiFun...w_wcB&ef_id=WiVLCQAABdWZZlOG:20171204131801:s
Last edited:
For inkjet printers, we have to replace not only the inks but also something else (print head?) as the printers get older.
In the case of HP Color LaserJet printers, are the four ink toners (black, CMY) the only ones that need to be replaced? As I recall, about 30 years ago we had to replace some kind of drum. Don't remember the details. Technology could have been changed since then.
In the case of HP Color LaserJet printers, are the four ink toners (black, CMY) the only ones that need to be replaced? As I recall, about 30 years ago we had to replace some kind of drum. Don't remember the details. Technology could have been changed since then.
Probably the fuser.
Your best bet would be to read the owner's manual for your printer. It will specify what user replaceable consumables the device requires.
Last edited:
While you may save a couple bucks buying a new printer (and I am all for saving money) its rather wasteful of natural resources to toss out a perfectly good printer. think about the environmental impact that will be felt by future generations.
Here's an online article I found that explains what a transfer kit is. I used a site called Google to find this article.
It is still advisable that you read the owner's manual for your device.
There you will learn the specific consumables that are user replaceable. Most likely the manual will list the part numbers to ensure compatibility.
It is still advisable that you read the owner's manual for your device.
There you will learn the specific consumables that are user replaceable. Most likely the manual will list the part numbers to ensure compatibility.
I also replaced a Canon inkjet with a Brother MFC when the printer function died and it refused to keep going as a scanner. I can say that the scan quality seemed better on the Canon when scanning pictures, but I like the document feed feature on the Brother and the quality of PDFs from document scans. I'm sad about the scan quality -- I only really use the scanner function anyway, since I still have the HP LaserJet 5P that I bought in grad school... in 1994. Only on the second (black and white only) toner cartridge on that. The first one must have lasted close to 15 years (I don't print that much). Old HP printers are tanks -- this one outlived the parallel printer port and now has a parallel to USB cable to connect to my computer and was recently upgraded to a PostScript LaserJet 5MP with a several hundred dollar upgrade SIMM (when new)... for like $20 on eBay. I could probably buy an old HP JetDirect on the cheap to upgrade it to a network print server.
I agree with originalAppleGuy. If you are gong to buy an HP printer, factor in the replacement toner cartridge cost as part of the absolute cost per page. My suggestion: buy the high capacity replacement toner cartridges at point of purchase. Then you calculate your per-page cost on the starter cartridges plus the high capacity cartridges. After you run out of the high capacity cartridges, see how long you have owned the printer and decide on more consumables versus capital cost of a new printer.
On principle I would not replace a printer unless I had owned it for at least three years.
I picked up an HP printer at Best Buy black friday for $30. I should have bought like 4 of them.