Posts Tagged ‘Toner Cartridge’
One of the oldest debates in the printer industry has been the competition between brand name cartridges and remanufactured or compatible cartridges. This competition has lead to false advertising by certain manufacturers, so it is definitely a great topic for discussion. There are a plethora of printer models available on the market today at extremely low prices. These are high quality printing machines produced by some of the top companies in the industry. These top quality machines are advertised to require top quality toner. Companies heavily advertise that the LaserJet 5500 toner cartridge is the best and only option for LaserJet printers. While this makes sense on for the manufacturer, it is not the best situation for the consumer.
Testing and studies performed by experts and by the everyday consumer have shown that high quality compatible or remanufactured cartridges can be found in the market. These cartridges can be purchased for at least half the price of the brand name toner cartridge. This makes purchasing a compatible cartridge the most economical decision available. Brand name toner cartridges are created by the manufacturer or by a licensed manufacturer of your printer. These cartridges are always the most expensive option for your printer, but they do come with some advantages that compatible products cannot provide. Your brand name cartridge comes with a warranty from the manufacturer. This warranty usually lasts for a year, and for most cartridges, this is plenty of coverage. The average cartridge lasts for six months in a daily use setting.
Brand name cartridges also offer you the guarantee that any defects that damage your printer will be covered. This eliminates any risk from using a brand name toner cartridge. Brand name cartridges also offer another advantage. With a brand name cartridge, you know that your product is one hundred percent new. This is an advantage that remanufactured cartridges, by definition, cannot match. Finally, a brand name cartridge offers the backing of the manufacturer. With each toner cartridge, you get to see the brand name sticker that comes with your toner cartridge. While this does not improve performance, it is a great reminder that you purchased a brand name toner cartridge.
Remanufactured cartridges do not offer many of these items that a brand name cartridge provides, but there are additional perks that make a remanufactured cartridge a worthy purchase. The most obvious factor is cost. A remanufactured cartridge can be purchased at an extreme discount when compared to the brand name product. For example, from certain suppliers you can purchase the CMYK OEM Xerox 6180 toner for $428.00. These four cartridges each have a page yield of two thousand pages. In comparison, the remanufactured cartridges, with a page yield of six thousand pages, or three times the brand name, is available for $369.00. While this is still a high amount, you must factor in the increased page yield. In this instance, you would have to spend $1,284.00 for the same output from brand name toner. The numbers show that a remanufactured cartridge is obviously the better deal.
Another noteworthy difference between compatible and brand name products is that most remanufactured cartridges do not come with a warranty. In this instance, some companies will offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee. This guarantee will protect you from any defective cartridges that you may receive. Most companies offer a sixty day guarantee, so you should have ample time to determine if your toner cartridge meets your specifications. If you find that the cartridge has a leaking issue or simply does not allow for proper printing, then you will be able to either receive a refund or completely replace your toner cartridge. The presence of these guarantees eliminates one of the biggest advantages brand name cartridges have.
