Purchasing a Laser Printer? Read this first !

When considering which laser printer to purchase we often forget the obvious . Most people will the consider the printers cost , speed, printable paper size , color vs  monochrome , memory ,networking capabilities and resolution . As a Laser toner wholesaler the biggest complaint I hear is " the toner is so expensive". But these same users usually never consider the cost of the replacement toner when purchasing a laser printer. Here are a few things to consider in purchasing a laser printer.

I always tell my customers to first look at the cost of the toner cartridge before anything else. Over the life of the printer you will spend more on toner than the cost of the printer. If this is so shouldn't you consider this cost before anything else ? Most users do not realize that laser printer manufacturers use the razor blade approach to sales. They keep the cost low on the razor so that you will purchase the blades. The same strategy holds true for laser printer manufacturers.  If you were to examine the Hewlett Packard financial statement you would find the  biggest contributor to Hewlett Packards  bottom line is the sales of toner cartridges.

When you do check the cost of the toner cartridge don't forget to check the page yield as well. Manufacturers are very aware that laser printer users are angry at the high cost of toner cartridges . Some manufacturers try to hide the high cost of printing by offering cartridges with very low page yields at a lower price. The popular HP Laser P1102 has a toner cartridge that only offers a 1,600 page yield. To prevent this  always divide the cost of the toner cartridge by the expected page yield to determine the approximate cost per sheet. When checking out the cost of  toner cartridges compare the cost per sheet not the cost of the toner cartridge itself.

When looking at the cost of the replacement toner cartridge you should check to see if the laser printer allows you to use a High Yield cartridge. I often find business owners try to save money by purchasing a less expensive model not realizing they are making a mistake . For instance , Hewlett Packard offers the model  P4015 laser printer and the model P4014. Besides the small differences in the bells and whistles each printer offers, the P4015 allows you to purchase a standard yield and high yield toner cartridge. The standard  yield cartridge  will give you approximately 10,000 sheets of print ( 3% coverage) but the high yield will give you 24,000 sheets(3% coverage). More importantly the high yield cartridge gives you double the yield of a standard cartridge  but does not cost you double the price of a standard yield cartridge.  But , if you were to have purchased the P4014 you would not have the option and would be limited to the standard yield cartridge. Always purchase the laser printer model that offers a high yield cartridge.

Hewlett Packard offers an all in one cartridge. This means the cartridge contains the toner and drum. But there are some manufacturers that seperate these two . Brother laser printers sell toner and the drum seperately. What's the difference ? Some users would argue you get better print from a Helwett Packard cartridge because the drum is always being replaced when you buy the toner. On the flip side Brother laser printer users argue "why should we pay for a new drum every time we buy a toner when it's not needed ?" As a rule of thumb you will probably need a new drum after 4-5 toners have been replaced. So when you compare the cost of  a  Brother laser printer to Hewlett Packard remember the difference in the toner and drum and calculate the cost of each properly.

You can also save an additional 50% on the cost of toner by choosing a premium brand remanufactured toner cartridge. We at TRX offer only the highest quality toner cartridges which are both "STMC" certified and ISO9000 qualified.