Print a lot? Get a cheap laser printer… refill the toner yourself!
I print a LOT of black & white documents for both my business and the computer classes I teach! I was going broke buying printer cartridges. So I bought myself a $90 Samsung ML2010 Laser Printer (I saw one recetly for $50!). The only problem was that the initial charge of toner in the full-size cartridge only contained enough toner to print a couple of hundred documents. I went through that in a couple of weeks or less! I went to Staples website to get a new toner cart and almost dropped dead at the price.
I thought there must be a cheaper option, so I headed over to eBay and typed in “toner refill Samsung ML2010″ in the “computers & networking” category. To my amazement I came back with several sellers that offered them. I actually found an eBay store here in Canada that sells them so I just used Buy-It-Now and got 3 toner refill kits for less than $30 (including S&H). This gave me enough toner to refill my cartridge 3 times. WOW!! (Click here or the title above to read full article)
This is really cheap compared to the retail cost of just one commercial Samsung printer toner cartridge that sells for almost $100!! It even comes with a special funnel, plastic gloves and detailed instructions (not that it was very hard). The only thing I added was a cheap dust mask from the hardware store.
The only tools I needed were a small Phillips screwdriver, a small flat-bladed screwdriver and a small pair of needle-nose pliers. I quickly took out the one screw on the left side of the laser cartridge, popped out the small plug and dumped out all the old toner into a garbage bag (very important). The instructions emphasized to be careful NOT to touch the toner drum. The next step was to shake the toner bottle thoroughly before opening it to refill the cart, and I thought this was really dumb but I followed the directions anyway. It was then a really quick job of gently pouring the new toner into the cartridge – almost like liquid. I put the small plug back in and cleaned off the little bit of toner that had spilled (because I was in too much of a hurry) with a couple of air bursts from my airgun. I popped the cart back in the printer and fired it up. Done.
I then started printing a batch of documents and was amazed by the great results. It was superb. I found myself wondering exactly how long the re-charge would last, and gave up counting after 6 months. I finally had to give it another charge a few weeks ago and realized that it had been over 18 months since I first refilled it. Absolutely remarkable.
One word of warning though. If you refill the cart while the printer is still under warranty, you’ll void the guarantee. I figured what the heck. If the printer malfunctions within the first year, it’s still cheaper to buy another one than it is to buy a new toner cart!
So, if you’re like me and need to print a LOT of documents, simply invest in a cheap Samsung laser printer and learn to refill it yourself. You’ll save yourself a bundle.
[...] Source:Print a lot? Get a cheap laser printer… refill the toner yourself! [...]
Pingback by Dell Printer Review » Blog Archive » Print a lot? Get a cheap laser printer… refill the toner yourself! | October 18, 2008