OT: toner cartridge recommendations

I don't do quite five years, but enough years that I figure why risk a problem... I just plan ahead and wait for a discount coupon from Staples or OfficeMax/OfficeDepot. ...Jim Thompson

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| James E.Thompson                                 |    mens     | 
| Analog Innovations                               |     et      | 
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    | 
| San Tan Valley, AZ 85142     Skype: skypeanalog  |             | 
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  | 
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     | 
              
I love to cook with wine.     Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Try Craigslist or freecycle. I have gotten both a toner cartridge and laser printer off the freecycle website.

Dan

Don Y schreef op 06/29/2015 om 07:47 PM:

I always get the original and order them online. Looking around can land a good deal on toner. I don't know which printer you have but for my HP laser printer i can choose between large and small cartridges. Either way in my experience toner cartridges stay good for many years.

nongenuine or refilled are usually ok, an amazon seller with a very good rating can pretty much be relied on to replace any defective one

NT

The real HP C3903A is about $120 at various retail stores.

eBay has a bunch of "genuine HP" 03A carts for between $10 and $30. My guess(tm) is that they're really old carts. My luck with such old carts has been mixed. About half have the toner partly "caked" or are full of moisture. Some have a hardened rubber scrubber blade. If it looks like the box and sealed bag have been opened, expect problems. However, since they're about 1/10th the cost of a new cart, it might be worth the risk.

The clones on eBay are rather price, starting at $25. The problem is that the 03A cart goes with the HP 5P, 6P, 5MP, 6MP printers, which haven't been made by HP for at least 15 years. The market for new carts is rather limited for this old a printer. I don't really know what you'll get with a clone cartridge. My guess(tm) is old stock again.

I would go for the best looking genuine HP cart and be prepared to shake the toner around and to let it dry out by "baking" it in the printer.

--
Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com 
150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com 
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com 
Skype: JeffLiebermann     AE6KS    831-336-2558

I'll second that. With Amazon, if it is a bad product you send it back, free of charge, they issue a full refund. It's a simple process.

Last November I bought an aftermarket "EPS Replacement Canon 128 (3500B001) Black Toner Cartridge" for my new printer. $19 plus tax. Usually I order some Espresso or whatever else we need to get above the free shipping threshold. This cartridge was sold by Toner100 via Amazon and works like a champ. Way less expensive than the original.

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Regards, Joerg 

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

My only experience with refilled toner cartridges is a number of years ago when a lot of eBay vendors would charge as much for shipping as for the product. The one I bought had a flaw in the drum that puts a small starburst on the paper near the edge every six inches. It's not unusable by any means, but it makes me wary.

Buying on eBay now is very different than it was. Now if I receive anything dodgy, I can get a full refund and not even pay for return shipping. I would not hesitate to buy another refilled cartridge on eBay, even though that is very unlikely. I don't even use a printer anymore.

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Rick

Apparently there are a lot of new old stock genuine C3903A cartridges on the market. Check Amazon and look at the reviews.

"Is this an actual HP non-refurbished, original equipment cartridge from HP in the SEALED HP box?

A: Yes. This is an OEM, name-brand HP cartridge factory-sealed in box."

I'm still getting defective clone toner cartridges. They are NOT refills in the sense that they were formerly genuine HP cartridges that have had the scrubber, rollers, and other wear parts replaced. They are clones in that everything is new and copy of the HP design. The clone carts that I was buying on eBay about 5-10 years ago were awful. The big problem was that the copies of the plastic parts were well out of tolerance and often didn't even fit in the printer. Strange noises sometimes came from misaligned rollers. Many of them were overfilled with toner, and would dump the excess toner into the printer.

These days, I'm getting much better plastic and rubber parts. The carts are better built and I rarely get a defective cart. When that happens, I email the vendor and either get a refund or a replacement. Give them another few years and they might even fix the packaging and shipping boxes.

Agreed. However, please note that the chances of getting an ancient

03A toner cart is rather high, which MIGHT be a problem. Shake and bake usually clears up the sticky toner problem, but does nothing for crumbling rubber parts. Caveat emptor.

There's probably an equal volume of additional printers and toner carts scattered around the office.

Ah, you've found the holy grail... the paperless office. What's your secret and how do I achieve printerless nirvana?

--
Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com 
150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com 
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com 
Skype: JeffLiebermann     AE6KS    831-336-2558

I suspect mine are *longer* than 5 years! I just guessed at the time interval as an indication of how little printing we do. The two printers that see the "most" use are typically used for one-off printing. E.g., print a google map, copy of an email, directions to a friend's party, etc. Hence the extremely low usage.

Any "bulk" printing goes through one of the other lasers (with duplexers to save paper) or the Phaser (for "production quality").

[We print very few photos so the photo printers aren't worth mentioning; we'll probably dump those in the next "purge" and stick to using the Kinkos up the block... Why *maintain* photo printers??]

What problem are you avoiding: the clone, the damage in shipping, or the "dubious vendor"?

I think Staples is in Sierra Vista (?) -- way too far to drive. Office Depot bought Office Max (?). Coupons are online? Or in postal junk mail?

So, you don't encounter any problems with the "abuse" they get during shipping? Presumably, you are ordering from a "reputable" vendor... not one that tries to masquerade as "genuine HP" but who is truly selling "genuine HP"?

I have no desire to play ping-pong with shipping toner carts back and forth because of a sleazy vendor or damage in shipping.

[OTOH, the carts that come to the local office supply stores are "shipped" to them as well! But, perhaps, palletized on a truck instead of "onesie-twosie" by UPS gorilla?]

Agreed. I have a lifetime of toner for the other lasers -- because they see even less use and because the carts are larger. The C3903A is a relatively small cart and is used in the "highest" usage of our low volume printers. I'll imagine the need for a second in the other such printer RSN...

Yes. But ~$20/year for toner is no big deal, in my book. OTOH, if I can pick up the same cart for $50 from a wider range of suppliers, why pay $120?

Time/hassle is important. I.e., if I received a bad cart in the mail, I'd probably just discard it and make a note: "never again!" If you're using lots of toner, then you may be willing to put up with a bit more hassle for a better "deal". Here, we probably only print a page or two each week (lately, higher as we've been downloading/printing brochures for new vehicles)

Correct. We've seen no reason to buy a *new* printer -- the older workhorses are truly that: workhorses. No idea how old my LJ4m+ is!

That suggests going "in person" and seeing the stock -- rather than trusting with that selection.

Do you really think these cartridges are so fragile? They have a pull tab that keeps the toner confined so that they can be jostled and turned any way in shipping without damage.

Look at the reality. If they couldn't be shipped easily, there would be no after market which ships them because of the frequent problems.

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Rick

Mostly I print customer's schematics... I find paper easier to read than off the screen. For visitors I just E-mail them a PDF map, or just provide GPS cross-streets, since we're still "imaginary" on many maps _and_ GPS updates.

The cruddy caked toner. Time and annoyance is money.

You're more in the "boonies" than me???

E-mail _and_ postal. ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson                                 |    mens     | 
| Analog Innovations                               |     et      | 
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    | 
| San Tan Valley, AZ 85142     Skype: skypeanalog  |             | 
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  | 
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     | 
              
I love to cook with wine.     Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Uh, my secret is I don't print stuff. It's not 100% foolproof. IRS and the state business offices still require paper for many things. The best of them is a form you have to fill out to say you are filing some application paperlessly. lol

When I have to use paper, I use OPP (Other People's Printers) including Fedex when shipping and Staples otherwise. Fedex is often free when shipping. I think I have spent around $1.00 on printing over the last two or three years.

What holds you back from being paperless? What do you need to print?

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Rick

The webshop I buy my toner from has been in business for years and they are the cheapest. They also have several (country specific) certifications for conducting online business properly (adhering to laws and regulations) which cost money and involve regular audits to keep.

Shipping something is alway risky but I guess that will vary from country to country. Over here packages don't get damaged very often. But then again, there is enough room inside the box around the toner cartridge to survive a beating.

We will print a map "off the screen" or directions provided in an email if we are headed to someone's home (e.g., "use the back entrance; the gate code is 1264; call us at 555-1212 if you have any problems", etc.). It's just a lot easier than having to copy notes onto a scrap of paper to take with.

I don't use paper for any parts of my designs -- except for proofing final copies of specifications, manuals, etc. Certainly can't use it for software listings -- not enough sheets in a *case* for that! :-/

Agreed. I'd prefer *knowing* that what I get is going to work... instead of *hoping*.

Web site claimed Sierra Vista was closest location. I didn't bother to verify this.

I don't "subscribe" to any sites with email (abhor junk mail). I can't recall seeing any flyers in the USPS -- but, they must exist as I know we used a coupon for something last year...

(We don't buy many office supplies -- mainly 2" packing tape -- so no real interest in those ads, typically)

I'll keep my eyes open.

Thanks!

--don

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The existing cart claims 95F (storage?) temperature. It's easily 10 degrees warmer than that, here. And probably even warmer in the truck that would deliver it to the doorstop! I'm just wondering if I'm better off walking into a brick-n-mortal with *real* people...