COMPATIBLE/GENUINE PRINTER CARTRIDGE - WHICH ONE PRINTS LONGER?

 Not long ago, I was asked the question, "Which Brother TN240BK lasts longer, the genuine or the compatible?"

It is understandable a purchaser desiring to get the maximum usage for their purchase. 

There could be the following answers such as it depends upon what you are printing, e.g. pictures use a lot more ink than text, or using more color than using black will lessen the usage of black. or even relating to the printer head, which in turn relates to the quality of the toner/ink used.

But the right answer  is none of the above!

It depends on the yields offered by the genuine and the compatible TN240BK toner cartridges.

And in each case the rated yield is 2,200 pages, meaning that the one type of TN240BK doesn't out perform the other. Be aware though that each cartridge type will  only print approximately 5% of stated yield as according to ISO9001 (International Standards).

If your question though, was "Which Brother TN2150 high yield cartridge runs the longest, the genuine or the compatible?" Then the answer would most definitely be the compatible one (TN2150X) as it has a yield of up to 4,500 pages, as compared to the genuine high yield TN2150 with a yield of 2,600 pages (both ISO ISO9001 Quality Standards).

So the answer is to look at the yield advertised with each printer, remembering that in most, but not all cases the yield for the genuine and the compatible will be the same.

We thank our sponsor, ABC Print Supplies, for their support

THE WRONG PRINTER CARTRIDGE FOR YOUR PRINTER

Do you make sure you’re getting the correct cartridge when you place your order.

It seems people ordering printer cartridges get it wrong more often than you’d think.

The main reason this occurs lies largely at the feet of the OEM (original equipment manufacturer). They often produce a cartridge with a model number that will be close to identical to a printer model number, but that is not designed to be used by that printer.

Brother is one manufacturer that does this. Many users of the Brother HL2130 (a popular printer from the Brother stable), especially when they are first ordering a replacement printer, see the TN2130 printer cartridge and understandably think that’s the cartridge to buy. But no, the TN2130 is used in the Brother HL2140 (not the HL2130).

The TN2130 is actually the cartridge supplied by Brother for the HL2140 and other printers which is included in the price. It is approx 40% volume yield to the TN2150 (standard-2,600 pages), and the TN2150X, the high yield cartridge. The latter two are the ones you should be ordering for the Brother HL2140.

Oh, the HL2130 in fact uses the Brother TN2030 printer cartridge.

Another example of confusing printer cartridges with different printers, is by Kyocera. Their printer the FS-C5100DN is only a single character different to the Kyocera FS-C5200DN. That alone can create confusion when ordering printer cartridges, but there’s more.

The FS-C5100DN uses the TK-544 black, cyan, magenta, & yellow cartridges, as opposed to the TK-554 black, cyan, magenta, & yellow cartridges used by the FS-C5200DN printer.

This creates problems; especially when the cartridges are so similar in shape that you don’t really notice the difference when you go to install them. But the printer certainly does!

Once you have opened the printer cartridge wrapping, your opportunity to claim a refund/replacement has flown out the window, and that can be expensive.

How do you eliminate the problem? When ordering your printer cartridge, ALWAYS carefully check that the ‘used with printers’ section contains the printer you use. Or order the cartridge by the printer model. If you see alternative cartridges, then it is for genuine, compatible or remanufactured cartridges; or  for different yield capacities or marketing e.g. twin packs. But at least you know one thing – they will all work for your printer.

We thank our sponsor, ABC Print Supplies, for their support

INKJET OR TONER, WHICH IS THE BEST PRINTER FOR YOU?

What are the pros and cons of either?

When you are in the market to buy a printer, the biggest decision is whether to purchase an inkjet or a toner laser. Both types of printers can offer you features such as wireless printing, colour, multi function capability, etc.

People will tell you that a toner printer has better quality, but that is an over generalisation. There are many inkjet printers that produce photo image quality second to none, and some toners that don’t focus completely on quality, with consideration for other factors such as keeping prices down considered more important.

Probably the most important consideration as to which printer is the best for you, is the quantity of printing you require.

The average inkjet cartridge stores a rated 200 – 300 pages of ink. But at a 5% yield, or approx. one to two paragraphs a page, that ‘ai’nt a real lot of grunt’. In reality , obviously depending upon your usage, that amounts to probably about 100 printed pages. And coloureds are less but they usually share the workload with the other colours and the black.

Toner cartridges, on the other hand, rarely have a capacity of less than 1,000 pages, and go on  up from there.

Lets take a comparison of the two different capacity & per page printing costs of an inkjet & a toner from the same supplier, Brother. Each printer is a popular model, and randomly selected

The Inkjet in this case is the Brother MFC-J430W/J432W/J625D/J825DWW. The cartridge ( the LC40B (genuine) has a cost of $24.73 (prices supplied by ABC Print Supplies) and is calculated at printing 300 pages. The cost per page is 8.24 cents.

The laser/toner printer is the Brother HL2140/HL2142/HL2150N, with a cartridge, the TN2150, at a cost of $75.50 (genuine), and a cartridge capacity of 2,600 pages (standard). The cost per page is therefore 2.9cents.

Without going into the overall cost of the printer + page usage, it s obvious that if you are printing higher volumes, then the toner printer is the one for you. However the inkjet printer in this case retails at less than $100.

We thank our sponsers at ABC Printsupplies along with other suppliers for providing this information.