Toners...to use genuine or not

[Little-Miss]

I've got 6 Epson C1100N. A HC colour toner at the moment is over £100.

 

I definately dont want to use refilled, but how about compatibles?......

 

This isnt me asking suppliers!! Want peoples opinions.

[OutToLunch]

If it's out of warranty or just a mono one, I usually go for compatibles - usually use OEM while the machine's still shiny and new just out of paranoia. Haven't had to test anyone's printer swap out warranty and don't want to find out it's not as good as it claims to be!

[elsiegee40]

I have had mixed results with compatibles and generally avoid them like the plague.

 

That said, we have a couple of near-antique mono lasers that we use compatibles in

Edited September 25, 2009 by elsiegee40

[ozzy]

I only use compatibles after the printers are out of warranty, I've had very few problems with the compatible tones but you do get the odd one that does'nt play ball ie. printer won't recognize it but the suppiers alway replace them

[ssiruuk2]

I have never bought a geniune toner for our 50 + network printers, new or old.

 

£100+ for a genuine HP max capacity toner for a big printer such as the one we have in Admin, or £29 for a compatible that will do the same page count. I have never had a problem with them, but then the company we get them from are very good.

[BrianG]

We've used compatibles for some Dell 5110cn printers and they always worked fine

[Tcsltd]

We recently started selling Compatibles for the C1100 and have sold quite a few.... had no complaints so far!!!

[kearton]

We use compatibles in all our printers. Whilst on the subject of the Epson C1100, I find them a large pain in the rear end. Constantly having problems with them. You name it, it goes wrong with them.

I'd go so far as to say I have the same loathing for them that AngryTechnician has for all things HP...

[User3204]

We use the compatibles all over, the only trouble we have had once or twice is when they are remanufactured Brother, and the company haven't reset a switch in the cartridge, or something, but basically the printer becomes convinced the toner is empty despite it being new/full. To solve it we had to buy an original (£64 for the original £29 for the compatible, no contest).

[powdarrmonkey]

I've had mixed results with compatibles - some absolutely fine, others were a disaster. It's pot luck really, but liquid ink seems to be easier to get right than toner (don't even go near solid ink compatibles ).

[DrCheese]

If it's out of warranty, or an el cheapo printer I use compatibles. For anything in warranty I keep to official as the hassle should you ever need to use that warranty is just a pain. Certain companies will use it as an excuse to deny you coverage.

[sparkeh]

Compatibles all the way. The company we get them from have a warranty covering the printer; have used them for years now without a single problem and so much cheaper.

 

edit: just realised its 01:12AM and I'm talking about compatible toner...

Edited September 26, 2009 by sparkeh

[PEO]

Departents in my school pay for there own toners, so it all depends on there budget. some refuse to by compatibles... mostly due to experience and my nudge, and the odd department that have a very very low budget will buy compatibles.

 

that said, I too have had mixed results in the past, I think its pot luck most of the time.

 

There seems to be alot of companys phoning me these days offering compatibles.

 

I usually go to this company for refills, they do both mono and colour

 

Refill toner UK | Toner refill your empty laser printer cartridge | U Refill Toner Ltd.

 

Alot of brother printers have a cap on the side of the cartridges, so its alot easier to refill with out the mess and use of a circular heat iron to make the hole.

[Michael]

Well the first rule (before buying any printer) is to look at the price of toner and any other accessories associated with it. You can save a fortune doing a little research this way.

 

Seeing as the printers are new (as others have stated) I would buy the official toner, but feel free to shop around. It's an extremely competitive market and I insist you should play one supplier off another; but at the same time buy toner in batches, not one here or there. After the warranty is up it's your choice, however I have seen many perfectly good printers ruined by third party replacements. You could get it cleaned but that's not going to be cheap either

[Little-Miss]

Thanks guys.

 

Well the Epsons weren't my choice, they'd be in a bin if i had my way (an enviroment friendly bin of course ) but unfortunately they were here before me. We have a couple of newer ones but the rest are probably way out of warranty. Have spent a little time researching toner prices but they're all pretty much the same .

[laserblazer]

We use compats on most of the printers. The exception being HP2600s where virtually every compat we have tried leaks more toner than it uses for printing! However, they are so expensive to run with HP toner that we now only use them for reports and the like.

 

I've just bought an HP1022n off Ebay so that we don't have yet another toner variant to keep in stock.

[maniac]

We've recently started using compatibles, but I've so far had quite varied experiences. All the B/W cartridges for HP2015, 3005 printers and the like seem absolutely fine. However all the colour ones we've had problems with in the HP2700 and 3505 printers we have, so I may be going back to origenal cartridges for these.

 

We've recently introduced a print quota system in the academy, which just 3 weeks into term has dramatically reduced wastage, so hopefully we will be able to return to using origenal cartridges without hitting the budget too hard.

 

Mike.

[mattx]

Thanks guys.

 

Well the Epsons weren't my choice, they'd be in a bin if i had my way (an enviroment friendly bin of course ) but unfortunately they were here before me. We have a couple of newer ones but the rest are probably way out of warranty. Have spent a little time researching toner prices but they're all pretty much the same .

 

What don't you like about the 1100Ns then ?

I quite like them - have installed about 10 on our site. Had one go belly up and that's about it.

[Little-Miss]

Well, if im honest....i have secretly grown more fond of them over the last few months. Ive had a couple go belly up on me and Epson weren't exactly helpful. But at the moment they are behaving themselves so i'll let them off. I just think i would've chosen different if it was me buying them.

 

I get annoyed at the price of the toners and the photoconductor (but maybe thats my lack of experience with Laser Printers and they're probably all just as expensive).

 

Have you found that no one wants to recycle your toners? Where do you get you toners and from and which type to you use?

 

I have 7, but the one in the staff room isnt talking to me at the moment and i have yet to investigate...

[mattx]

Well, if im honest....i have secretly grown more fond of them over the last few months. Ive had a couple go belly up on me and Epson weren't exactly helpful. But at the moment they are behaving themselves so i'll let them off. I just think i would've chosen different if it was me buying them.

 

I get annoyed at the price of the toners and the photoconductor (but maybe thats my lack of experience with Laser Printers and they're probably all just as expensive).

 

Have you found that no one wants to recycle your toners? Where do you get you toners and from and which type to you use?

 

I have 7, but the one in the staff room isnt talking to me at the moment and i have yet to investigate...

 

Well I agree that Epson are not helpful, their support is seriously lacking and when you do have something in warrenty thats clearly faulty they will do their hardest to avoid aiding.

As for the Toners - we order ours from RM and get the larger ones - I agree they are expensive but they do last quite a while I find.

[Tcsltd]

Thanks guys.

 

Well the Epsons weren't my choice, they'd be in a bin if i had my way (an enviroment friendly bin of course ) but unfortunately they were here before me. We have a couple of newer ones but the rest are probably way out of warranty. Have spent a little time researching toner prices but they're all pretty much the same .

 

Little Miss...is it OK if I send you prices on our compatibles??

[Little-Miss]

tut, go on then

[Tcsltd]

PM sent

[CraigM]

Almost all our printers bar 1 or 2 are HP printers. It seems that this was settled on as a "standard" long before I got here. We buy all our toner from 1 company, as it seems they've offered the best service and lowest costs over the years. We only use originals, as I think generic cartridges have given the school grief in the past.

 

I do think we need to investigate using generics again though, as I would like to save the school money if possible.