I am considering purchasing a laser printer, but have concerns about the cost of the toner cartridges.

I usually print out only 10 pages per month and worried that with very low use the ink toner may dry up in a short time.

Does anyone have any knowledge on how long (weeks, months, years etc) an open toner ink cartridge lasts if not printing for very long periods?

Toner for laser printers is not a liquid, it's a very fine black powder, the only problem I can imagine, is if it gets any moisture in it due to the high humidity in LOS. This could cause it to clump together and give poor print quality.

With such a low print run couldn't you get your stuff printed off in an internet cafe, or are your quality requirements too high?

Hi

I have only recently started using a couple of printers that weren't in use for well over a year when setting up a new office - one a Fuji-Xerox and the other a "Brother", both lasers.

And both printed just fine.

As already mentioned, "toner" is not liquid and hence can't dry - and if it really clumps for some reason, take out the toner cartridge and shake it from left to right a few times (this also solves the "toner empty" problem when in fact there is enough toner for another 250 pages in the darn thing).

If you print so little i would actually recommend you a laser - because i had problems with a number of inkjet printers that were little used, sometimes not at all for several weeks, those DO dry out, specially the print heads (if it's a printer where the heads are NOT part of the cartridges). Specially Epson! And replacing those print heads cost more than an equal new printer. And even if running the "cleaning" process a dozen times unclogs the heads, you'll find that you print maybe ten pages and the ink is empty - cleaning the heads uses a lot of ink. Lasers don't have that problem

But with a laser you need to replace the "drum" every once in a while - this is an expensive part, however the one i have standing here in my office has so far printed maybe 5.000 pages and has it's "drum" light flashing since over four months, still prints fine

Best regards......

Thanh

Thanh-BKK is right and wrong!!

Ok, Laser Toner Catridges are expensive (they are?) but if you count the prices of printed page, the Laser is much more cheap than any Inkjet evem if you use an Tank-System with the Inkjet Printer.

There even a lot third party Catridges around for lower cost than the original.

Low quantity peinting and not need of Color, a Laser Printer is the way to go. Cost for the Printer starts by THB 3,500 ++. The only thing you should looking for is an Printer with Toner Catridges ahich has a built in Drum. So a Brother isn't a way to go because the Toner Catridges has the Toner Powder only but NOT the Drum. And the Drum (Processing Unit) is the expensive part and cost nearly a much as the Printer itself.

Cheers.

Thanh-BKK is right and wrong!!

Ok, Laser Toner Catridges are expensive (they are?) but if you count the prices of printed page, the Laser is much more cheap than any Inkjet evem if you use an Tank-System with the Inkjet Printer.

There even a lot third party Catridges around for lower cost than the original.

Low quantity peinting and not need of Color, a Laser Printer is the way to go. Cost for the Printer starts by THB 3,500 ++. The only thing you should looking for is an Printer with Toner Catridges ahich has a built in Drum. So a Brother isn't a way to go because the Toner Catridges has the Toner Powder only but NOT the Drum. And the Drum (Processing Unit) is the expensive part and cost nearly a much as the Printer itself.

Cheers.

Sorry - but isn't it the other way round? Better to have drum and toner separate so that you only renew/replace whichever one you need? With the OP's proposed usage rate, the drum should last a (his/her) lifetime.......... but then so should a full-sized toner cartridge. Just be aware that nearly all laser printers are sold with reduced size toner cartridges that last maybe 25-40% of what a full-size cartridge will provide; that's when you'll be glad not to be paying for a new drum (as part of a toner/drum combo) that's still got plenty of life in it.

Thanh-BKK is right and wrong!!

Ok, Laser Toner Catridges are expensive (they are?) but if you count the prices of printed page, the Laser is much more cheap than any Inkjet evem if you use an Tank-System with the Inkjet Printer.

There even a lot third party Catridges around for lower cost than the original.

Low quantity peinting and not need of Color, a Laser Printer is the way to go. Cost for the Printer starts by THB 3,500 ++. The only thing you should looking for is an Printer with Toner Catridges ahich has a built in Drum. So a Brother isn't a way to go because the Toner Catridges has the Toner Powder only but NOT the Drum. And the Drum (Processing Unit) is the expensive part and cost nearly a much as the Printer itself.

Cheers.

Err.....

Where exactly was i "wrong", if i may ask? I did NOT say that the cartridges for lasers are expensive.... what i said is that the DRUM is expensive, which you verified.

A black toner cartridge (i have only a b/w laser here) costs about three times as much as a "black" cartridge for the inkjet - the huge difference is that with the inkjet i print 150 pages (in "fast draft" mode, i.e. super-eco) and it's empty. The laser does probably 1.000 pages on one cartridge (inclusive "shaking it up" a couple of times). So the laser is WAY cheaper than the inkjet.

Oh and did i mention that the laser spits out a page full of text in like three seconds? And that's a CHEAP laser - the machine cost less than 3.000 Baht

By the way the "Brother" and the "Fuji" seem to share the same inner workings - as the toner cartridges and drum units are 98% identical - the difference is one cut-out in the plastic frame of either unit, which is differently placed on each one. Cutting this out on the respective other brand unit makes either machine take either drum/toner, and both work fine with either one The "Brother" toners are some 300 Baht cheaper than the Fuji's so i use "Brother" only - in both machines.

Best regards.....

Thanh

Thanh-BKK is right and wrong!!

Ok, Laser Toner Catridges are expensive (they are?) but if you count the prices of printed page, the Laser is much more cheap than any Inkjet evem if you use an Tank-System with the Inkjet Printer.

There even a lot third party Catridges around for lower cost than the original.

Low quantity peinting and not need of Color, a Laser Printer is the way to go. Cost for the Printer starts by THB 3,500 ++. The only thing you should looking for is an Printer with Toner Catridges ahich has a built in Drum. So a Brother isn't a way to go because the Toner Catridges has the Toner Powder only but NOT the Drum. And the Drum (Processing Unit) is the expensive part and cost nearly a much as the Printer itself.

Cheers.

Err.....

Where exactly was i "wrong", if i may ask? I did NOT say that the cartridges for lasers are expensive.... what i said is that the DRUM is expensive, which you verified.

A black toner cartridge (i have only a b/w laser here) costs about three times as much as a "black" cartridge for the inkjet - the huge difference is that with the inkjet i print 150 pages (in "fast draft" mode, i.e. super-eco) and it's empty. The laser does probably 1.000 pages on one cartridge (inclusive "shaking it up" a couple of times). So the laser is WAY cheaper than the inkjet.

Oh and did i mention that the laser spits out a page full of text in like three seconds? And that's a CHEAP laser - the machine cost less than 3.000 Baht

By the way the "Brother" and the "Fuji" seem to share the same inner workings - as the toner cartridges and drum units are 98% identical - the difference is one cut-out in the plastic frame of either unit, which is differently placed on each one. Cutting this out on the respective other brand unit makes either machine take either drum/toner, and both work fine with either one The "Brother" toners are some 300 Baht cheaper than the Fuji's so i use "Brother" only - in both machines.

Best regards.....

Thanh

HP 6 P, cost of Catridge incl. new Drum: THB 2,400 good for up to 3,700 pages on my own experiences, that's for 1 page below 1 Baht;

Lexmark E230, cost of Catridge ex Drum: THB 2,500 good for up to 2,500 pages on my own experiences that's for 1 page 1 Baht

Lexmark Optra, Cost of Catridge incl. new Drum: THB 3,700 up to 7,000 pages on my own experiences that's for 1 page app. 0.50 Baht

Brother, in an office of customer: Catridge cost 2,500 good for max 2,000 pages and Processing Unit THB 4,000 as much as the cost of a new Printer!

If using a printer with Combi Catridge (Toner and Drum in one unit) you can refill the most of them 3-4 times for between 500-800 Baht which reduce the printing cost dramatically. Third Party Catridges also available for up to 40% cheaper than the original one!

The operating cost of an Laser printer with seperated Toner and Processing unit is in the final more expensive than the one with Combi-Catridges! One other disadvantage of the seperated Processing unit ist that the printout quality get worse the more "old" the Drum gets! Even you get much higher printout if use the Combi Catridge. This is an result of using both Laser printers in my own office in the past and still to day with the Lexmark E230.

The Lexmark E230 has a seperate Processing Unit but has the lowest printout comparing with the 3 other Laser's I use in my office. Even the Catridge is much mor expensive because I normal using refills and the Lexmark isn't possible to refill!

If I take the HP6P as example, that printer has printed within 9 years (!) as little as 173,265 pages (just checked) and I use refilling the catridges 3 times without to loosing quality, get an printout of more than 15,000 pages for one cycle (1 original catridge, refilled 3 times: cost 1 x 2,400 and 3 x 700 which is a total of THB 5,500) which give me an average of THB 0.35 per page.

That's real experiences over a long period of time!

Cheers.

With thanks and appreciation to all the posters here for the advice.

Very helpful indeed for me a novice of lazer printers and now at least thanks to you, I have some idea what to look for when I buy my printer.

With thanks and appreciation to all the posters here for the advice.

Very helpful indeed for me a novice of lazer printers and now at least thanks to you, I have some idea what to look for when I buy my printer.

WOW, do not like the look of your dog! see below..

3-4 year ago i bought a HP laser, i am using perhaps once a week, but when i need it is urgent as i need to fax or copy to overseas.

I do not said HP is the best, but the last one keep faithful and working for over 20 years by now, but in overseas.

i bought the laser because my two Epson before keep drying and the time to clean , plus the cost / time / procedure to get new colour tank got me on !

i have not change the toner yet for the laser, as i see, it is 4-5 years life for me, i will take the Printer to the shop, for them to do it in front of me the day i need it.

If toner will not regularly,then obviously it will dry after sometime.That's why you have to use it at regular period of time.

Just jumping in this thread not to create a new post which might be a repeat of one I still cannot find..

I have found the information in this thread very helpful.

I need to buy my first little laser jet printer/scanner for occasional printing/scanning. Mainly I'll be using it as I can't read long texts straight from the screen. No amazingly superior quality needed. Also, I'm excluding the idea of external cartridges given the fact that I might have to move somewhere where the refill facility is not present. It seems that brands like Canon or Epson could be the thing. What would you recommend in terms of reliability, cartridges and general maintenance costs?

Toner is a powder, and you want it to stay dry. As others have said, for those who do a low amount of printing and don't particularly need color, a laser is the way to go.

I bought a new low-end laser printer 2 years ago for about 2,100 baht. It came with a half-full cartridge. Sometimes I wouldn't print anything for weeks or even a couple of months, yet every page came out perfectly. (That would certainly not be the case for a ink based printing system.)

As my cartridge eventually began to run out of toner, I would take it out, give it a shake and continue to print a few more pages. But lately it finally got to the point where I had to replace the cartridge or get it refilled, so I checked my options and decided to get it refilled for 600 baht. I'm happy to say that the refill worked fine and I'm printing again. I expect that this refilled cartridge will give me a few years of trouble free printing. As I was putting the cartridge back in, it occurred to me that when I had an Epson ink crap printer, I was paying about 600 baht just for the black ink cartridge, and it wouldn't last very long, at all.