Lots of businesses want to save money using compatible toners but are unsure if they can trust them. So today I’m going to talk about compatible toner cartridges vs OEM (original) toners.

Compatible toners can be OK if you choose rightCompatible toners are made with all new parts including the cartridge case. But many of them are manufactured usually outside of the United States in countries that want to compete in the manufacturing world, using the lowest-cost materials available to meet those goals.

Because compatibles must differ from OEM toner cartridges to avoid copyright and patent law issues, there are slight variances that you may not even notice until you try to fit the compatible into your printer or copier.

Some may fit too snugly or too loosely, and either way this could compromise the quality of your printing jobs. Though some compatible toners perform very well, even matching the original toner in quality, others might be very poor or mediocre at best.

This is where the compatible manufacturer’s brand reputation will come into play. Getting to know which brands are reliable versus which are problem causers can save you much money and time in the long run. Another big difference between OEMs and compatible toners might be in the page yield.

When considering quality, let us start with the plastics used as this is the major part of the compatible. Thickness of the plastic might be a big difference, making the cartridge more fragile in use than it appears and causing the fit to be problematic. Other parts such as a seal could fail, causing the toner to leak into your printer or copier.

Some retailers and manufacturers take responsibility with a failed toner, but this doesn’t make up for time lost. So not only are brands important, but where you buy them also can make a big difference.

Now let’s consider the differences between a compatible toner cartridge and a remanufactured toner cartridge.

Remanufactured cartridges use original toner cases and sometimes have new parts replacing the original used parts. Environmentally, you can already see a big difference as they use far fewer natural resources. Compatibles have brand new cases and components, and manufacturing just one cartridge uses almost five pounds of natural resources.   

Because the internal parts of a compatible, depending on the brand, can be of lower quality than original toners, compatibles are generally not remanufactured and used a second or more times.

There are quite a few brands available in the market place so you may have to rely on your supplier or vendor to offer you the best available. If you check the reviews, you’ll see our own LINKYO toner brand has proven to be very reliable and cost effective.

In conclusion, whether you are buying compatible toners, OEMs or remanufactured toner cartridges to save money, make sure you are using a brand and vendor that you can trust. Compatible toners can save you considerable money.

+Scott Roy Smith

+LINKYO Corp

One thought on “Are Compatible Toners OK?

  1. Great! The article thought me a lot about choosing the right compatible cartridges. Hmm. I’ve also heard about toner refill kits. Says it is also necessary in to allow the printer in using compatible toners. Maybe it would be nice to write an article about that too.

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