Mandylubug Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 I once upon a time tried non name brand inkjet printer ink and killed our printer. It clogged the printer heads and it was cheaper to buy a new printer than repair it. Now, I have a new brother laser. I can't afford to replace it so I am skeptical about trying non-brother brand toner. Do you buy non named brand toner and like it just the same? Any brands to recommend or avoid? I would love to save some money here but really nervous about it :p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 I have always used this cartridge for my Brother printer. It is $15. The Brother equivalent is $75-80. Does the off-brand print exactly as many pages as the Brother? I have no idea, but if it prints fewer, it is not so many that I have ever noticed. I've done this for years, and I have only ever gotten one bad cartridge from the off-brand sellers on Amazon. I also can keep a spare in my closet at all times, which I wouldn't do if they were $80 each. I've bought from this and other sellers on Amazon and have not noticed a difference. I suspect they're all coming from the same place anyway. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 We use off brand for our Brother laser printer. No problems whatsoever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 I buy compatible ones from amazon. I had ghosting with one cartridge, but I haven't had issues with the Cool Toner seller for the TN450 cartridges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitten18 Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 I buy generic for all our Brother laser printers. We have have a few brother printers at our office. The printer dh uses the most was new in October. I have ordered at least 5 sets of toner for it. We have saved at least $1,000 by buying genreric toner (color, not just b/w), that is far, far more than cost of the printer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 I buy the name brand ones from Amazon. I've had too many lousy experiences with the generics. I once was in a pickle and had to run to a local Staples to get one and it was 2x the price as Amazon. Ouch... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 It depends on the brand, most do better with brand name toner, but I think the Brother is an exception. Our Xerox couldn't handle anything but the exact cartridge for it. Canons and HPs are notoriously picky, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extendedforecast Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 I just put in a third party toner cartidge the other day. So far I haven't noticed any difference. My laser printer is a brother. ETA that I bought it at the ink refill store. They gave me a discount for recycling the empty cartidge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
go_go_gadget Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 I've used several of these off-brand ones from Amazon in our Brother, with perfect results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThisIsTheDay Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 I use an offbrand for my Brother too. Whatever I chose had greatly detailed reviews, so when one connection was a bit faulty, I told dh how to fix it. It was simple, and the other cartridges have all been fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmrich Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 off brand too. No problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wabi Sabi Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 I bought the off-brand from Amazon for a couple of years with no problem, but then I got one that leaked toner all inside of the printer and ruined it. I had to buy a brand new printer. Since then I've stuck with the name brand ones since I can't continue to replace $300 printers. Sam's Club sells the toner cartridges for $50 and I can easily get at least 6-9 month's worth of heavy printing out of each, so now I just stick with the real deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamaraby Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 I bought an off brand one for my Brother that was supposed to be equivalent to the name brand high yield cartridge, but it lasted nowhere near as long as the name brand one and had serious print quality issues. I've stuck with the name brand ones since then. I always buy them on Amazon and even with all of the printing that I do (duplexed, lots of ebook based curriculum, etc), I only use one cartridge a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 I buy the brand name cartridges. I've heard too many horror stories about the generics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs. B Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 We use the off brand compatible for our brother laser b/w from Amazon. No issues through 3 cartidriges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 I buy the Linkyo (?) ones that are the SuperMediaStore house brand and have never had a problem. I get the extended copy ones (4,000 vs 2,000 pages) and they last forever. I have no idea how many actual pages I get out of one but I probably only order once a year and we do a pretty good amount of printing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 Dp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 We use the name brands. I know several who have ruined their printers with off brand. I love my printer too much to risk it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamajag Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 Name brand. If your generic ever decides to spew toner all over the inside of your printer, you will never think the savings are worth it again. I keep an eye on prices and buy on sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitten18 Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 This all really depends on how much toner you use and how expensive your printer is. For many printers if you buy two rounds of generic toner and then the third round ruins your printer you can still break even on the cost of replacing the printer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 Name brand. If your generic ever decides to spew toner all over the inside of your printer, you will never think the savings are worth it again. I keep an eye on prices and buy on sale. If I save $55/cartridge, and I do save at least that, and my printer costs $225, which it did, I actually come out better buying cheaper toner even if one of every five is bad enough to ruin my printer. I had one bad cartridge out of a dozen, and it only made blotches on the page--no spewing. The math does not always come out in favor of name brand toners. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 I buy generic cartridges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Btervet Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 I buy generic toner off amazon for my b/w brother. It's usually $9-15 and has always worked perfectly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs. B Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 Our laser printer was less than $100 on sale, so yes, it is worth it for us to buy the off brand that does just as well as the small sample name brand cartridge That came with the printer. I would guess the name brands would have a risk of messing up the printer as well, just not sure of the stats on that vs generic. My DH read the reviews on the one we buy and it has pretty good reviews. Not sure of the exact one we buy because my dh orders it off his Amazon account when I tell him we need a new one. I think he does something like shake the cartridge back and forth to distribute the ink evenly before putting a new cartridge in the printer, which should prevent the ink from clumping and spilling from one spot. I vaguely recall off brand cartridges that don't have good reviews on Amazon from researching when we replaced the 1st cartridge. Maybe there are off brand ones more likely to spill out into the printer? Maybe not all generics are equated equal? IDK, we've only had our laser printer 4 years and have only replaced the ink cartridge 3 times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bethben Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 I have tried generic for my Brother laser printer off and on and I'm ALWAYS disappointed. They don't last as long and usually when I take it out to shake the remaining ink left in the generic cartridge, I have ink all over the place. I just buy the original. $50 for a year's worth of printing is not that bad. I get mine off of Amazon. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamajag Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 If I save $55/cartridge, and I do save at least that, and my printer costs $225, which it did, I actually come out better buying cheaper toner even if one of every five is bad enough to ruin my printer. I had one bad cartridge out of a dozen, and it only made blotches on the page--no spewing. The math does not always come out in favor of name brand toners. Mine is a $600 behemoth color laser with all the bells and whistles (prints and scans duplex and has a number of cool wireless features) that is no longer made. I big puffy heart love that thing. I abuse the devil out of it and it comes back for more. It is frequently sold used for nearly $1000 because of its reputation for being rock solid. So yeah, when the toner cartridge exploded, I cleaned her out...with 4 bottles of alcohol, countless microfiber rags, and a box and a half of Q tips. When I find Brother toner on sale, it's usually only $5 or $10 more than generic. I buy it and put it in the closet. I never just wait until I need it. Right now I have 2 black and a full set of color replacements in the closet. It doesn't go bad the way inkjet ink will. You just shake it really well before installing. There are also hacks for some of the older Brother lasers to use more of the toner than the printer is programmed to that just don't work on most generics. I usually get an extra 2500 pages out of a cartridge using those hacks, so in the end buying the real thing pays dividends for me using my specific model. I am also conscious of the damage all the "just buy new" attitude in tech has done to the environment. Disposable printers are a big problem in that regard. Throwing out a printer that just needs to be cleaned is wasteful and environmentally irresponsible, imo. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 Mine is a $600 behemoth color laser with all the bells and whistles (prints and scans duplex and has a number of cool wireless features) that is no longer made. I big puffy heart love that thing. I abuse the devil out of it and it comes back for more. It is frequently sold used for nearly $1000 because of its reputation for being rock solid. So yeah, when the toner cartridge exploded, I cleaned her out...with 4 bottles of alcohol, countless microfiber rags, and a box and a half of Q tips. When I find Brother toner on sale, it's usually only $5 or $10 more than generic. I buy it and put it in the closet. I never just wait until I need it. Right now I have 2 black and a full set of color replacements in the closet. It doesn't go bad the way inkjet ink will. You just shake it really well before installing. There are also hacks for some of the older Brother lasers to use more of the toner than the printer is programmed to that just don't work on most generics. I usually get an extra 2500 pages out of a cartridge using those hacks, so in the end buying the real thing pays dividends for me using my specific model. I am also conscious of the damage all the "just buy new" attitude in tech has done to the environment. Disposable printers are a big problem in that regard. Throwing out a printer that just needs to be cleaned is wasteful and environmentally irresponsible, imo. Care to share those hacks with me? :) Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandylubug Posted July 1, 2015 Author Share Posted July 1, 2015 I ended up getting a brother toner cartridge on sale, high yield, for $38 this past week. I needed the toner immediately. I plan on trying an off brand cartridge next time :D thank you everyone for your advice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess in the Burbs Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 I bought non name brand once. It was awful. But I will tell you, I bought name brand ink from Target last year that was crap! You could see the product wasn't as good as previous. And it died before emptying. I won't even try cheap stuff for my new laser printer. I try to get it from the office stores now to avoid the bad brand name stuff....hoping they send the bad stuff to Target lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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