Refilling Laser Printer Cartridges

Reliable? Easy? Cheap?

[MatthewHSE]

I'm looking into buying my first laser printer due to an increasing demand being placed on the ol' HP Inkjet. I've found one that I think will do the job for about $500, but the price of the replacement toner is staggering! Almost as much as the printer!

But, I've heard of buying refill kits for these lasers which supposedly deliver equal print quality and volume for about half the price. Is this true, and has anyone here tried it? What were the results?

Any experiences/advice/horror-stories welcome on this interesting topic! ;)

Thanks!

Matthew

[jdMorgan]

Your success will depend on a couple of things. First, the quality of the toner in the replacement package, and second, whether or not your toner cartridge includes the drum or not. If the drum is built-in, then you will have to replace the whole unit after a few refills, because the photoconductive surface of the drum will wear down and develop flaws which will eventually show on your prints.

However, this may not be so bad, considering the number of pages you can get from one cartridge. The big secret of inkjets is that the printers are cheap, while the per-copy ink costs are very high. So, you will get many many more times the number of copies from one laser cartridge than you will get from a set of inkjet cartridges.

I've gone through three inkjet printers in five years, and I've decided to go laser next time, simply because the per-copy cost works out to so much less.

Jim

[encyclo]

Reliable? Easy? Cheap?

Pick any two. ;)

[diamondgrl]

I do a lot of printing so I looked into this. I didn't go far before realizing that refilling cartridges was a terrible way to go. First, it's just such a pain and it can make an awful mess and ruin a lot of things and well, the list of problems goes on and on. It's a false saving.

Spend your time and effort on some other cost saving or revenue enhancement.

[garymacman1]

I once purchased the refill stuff for my laser and I regret it (be prepared for a mess), I now pay whatever I must to get the cartridge ready to go.

[dvduval]

I don't know your specific situation, but I rarely print anything if I can avoid it. I purchased a printer about 6 months ago, but I did fine without one for a long time, so now I am not in the habit of using it.

[MatthewHSE]

We have to do a lot of mail-merge printing for invoices, etc. So a good printer is a necessity for us. So far it looks like the "Don't do it" replies are winning the day; surely somebody has had a good experience refilling cartridges? ;)

[benevolent001]

I must accept
We use refilled cartridges in laser

[Broadway]

I don't remember what I paid for the refill toner I use but I think it was dirt cheap. I have zero complaints with refilling cartridges (HP Laserjet 4L).

I think it's unrealistic to think that you get the same quality of printing after refilling a cartridge multiple times as opposed to the printing it provided when new. But I can't belive that you would notice that much difference after refilling it once, and you almost 1/2 your costs.

Related to the neglible expense on buying a single refill kit, you owe it to yourself to try it once.

[benevolent001]

yea you may wear gloves if you feel bad while doing so,its so cheap and you will do it in 10 mniutes ...no need to go out for new toner

Thy savings you can use to give gift your mom or dad isnt it?

Else we can just donate to victims of recent tragedy....

Its all about how you feel...

[diamondgrl]

If you don't value your time very much and don't mind getting very dirty and don't mind the uncertainty of not knowing whether you will only get 50% of the pages printed and don't mind if a bunch of pages get smudged because of the mess you created, then you might indeed want to try it.

[kjs50]

We've been able to do it fine on our Samsung. Save about 20-40 a month doing so.