Brother HL-4050CN Color Laser Toner Printer Quick Review

Overview

The Brother HL-4050CN is a feature rich color laser printer that costs less under $400. It prints fast in color as well as black and white and has 64megs of onboard memory storage. It offers secured networking, through its integrated network card and has outstanding print quality. This is the ideal printer for any home to small office who requires the power that only a laser printer can provide.

Features and Functionality

The Brother HL-4050CN is network compatible laser printer that can print using a simple shared network connection. It allows multiple user connectivity and even secured storage. Nearly all of the printer's options can be configured and changed remotely requiring no direct computer connectivity.

The printer holds 250 sheets of letter, A4 and Legal size paper, but includes a pull down tray that is capable of storing an additional 50 sheets. No other additional storage trays can be installed, but 300 sheets capacity is plenty for any home to small office and adding additional sheets is extremely easy.

On of the most powerful features of this laser printer is the printing speed. The Brother HL-4050CN prints 21 pages per minute (PPM) in black and white and 21 PPM in color. The high speed printing makes this printer attractive to anyone in the market for a laser printer.

The printer comes with standard capacity Brother HL4050CN toner cartridges. The cartridges are the Cyan (TN110C), Magenta (TN110M), Yellow (TN110Y), Black (TN110BK). High capacity cartridges are available for use in this printer and offer over twice the toner. The high capacity toners are the TN115C, TN115M, TN115Y, and TN115BK.

Conclusion

The Brother HL-4050CN is the great laser printer with basic features that any home or small office would be seeking. Fast print speeds, great quality, and an affordable price make this printer worth considering.

brother hl-4050cn toner

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Article : http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anthony_Allen

The Hidden Cost of New Laser Toner Cartridges

Buying new laser toner cartridges can be expensive and costly to the environment. HP laser toner cartridges, as well as other brands, are made from new plastic.

The new plastic comes from petroleum. The petrochemical industry creates billions of dollars worth of polymers and plastics every day. The big focus has been on reducing oil and gasoline usage, in order to reduce petroleum usage.

But, by reducing the number of petrochemical products (plastics) that we use, we can reduce petroleum usage, too. Some estimates indicate that remanufactured cartridges can save over 200 million gallons of oil, every year.

If you want a cheap laser toner cartridge, there is nothing less expensive than the remanufactured varieties. They cost as much 60% less than the “all new” OEM products.

Supposedly, HP laser toner gives you more brilliant colors than other brands. But, if you did a side by side comparison between something printed with a new cartridge and one printed with a remanufactured cartridge, you would be hard pressed to tell the difference. Some people pick the remanufactured print, every time.

Although the remanufactured cartridges cost less, the highest quality inks and toners are used. The quality is much higher than what you get in the do-it-yourself refill kits.
The remanufacturers take the used cartridges and clean them thoroughly. They check for damage or imperfections. In most cases, they are guaranteed to satisfy.

Of course, some remanufacturers are better than others. A company might use cheap laser toner rather than a high quality selection to refill a cartridge.

It is always a good idea to shop around. If you are unhappy with the quality provided by one remanufacturer, try another. It is worth your time and effort to save fossil fuels, not to mention your hard-earned money.

Every laser toner cartridge should be tested by the company and then sealed before being shipped to your door. This is something that you should be able to learn about at the remanufacturer’s website.

The big companies like HP and Dell might disagree, but people that have used the remanufactured ink cartridges are happy with the quality and thrilled with the price. We also like to go “green” in every way possible.

If you are like us, you have recycling bins for plastic, aluminum, glass and other items. You spend a great deal of time sorting through these products, because you believe recycling is important.

Instead of buying a new cheap laser toner cartridge from some off-brand company, try a remanufactured one this time. You’ll be glad that you did.
Rene Wilson

Keeping much of a knowledge in computer industry specially in printer devices, Rene Wilson has contributed her part to educate people about Eco-Friendly Inkjet Cartridges. She has been a part of http://www.eco-inkjets.com for a while now that deals with remanufactured inkjet cartridges and also provides you with branded refilling inkjet cartridges for your printer. In this way she plays her part to make the world eco-friendly, will you play yours by helping her?

Differences / Similarities Between Ink Cartridges, Laser Toner Cartridges & Printer Ribbons

Ink cartridges, laser toner cartridges, or printer ribbons; are all an integral components of printers systems, without which all printers are practically useless. These are the components through which the end product of printing is visible to us. These components contain the ink, which spreads on the paper during the process of printing. The market is replete with a wide variety of cartridges manufactured by different manufacturers and that can be used in different types of printers.

The Concept of Similarities and Dissimilarities

When you talk about cartridge’s one must understand that there are quite a number of similarities between the composition, structure, and usage of the three cartridges. After all the basic concepts between the designs remains similar and only a few minor changes distinguish them from each other. However, one must also understand the fact that there similarities does not mean that they use can be interchanged. ink cartridges can only be used in ink jet printers.

The Similarities

Typically there are two separate cartridges that are inserted into the printers, one is a colored cartridge filled with the three primary colors while the other is a black cartridge. In laser toner cartridges there is no ink but there is a toner which is a material that facilitates laser printings. However, the coloring parameters remain the same.

Both ink cartridges and the laser variety can be refilled and thus users can save money on the cost of buying a whole new cartridge. Even printer ribbons can be refilled; however, the process of refilling will differ.

Differences

Apart from the technical differences associated with the three cartridges, and the process of printing in general, there are differences related to the quality of the print, cost, and speed of printing. When it comes to printing speed printer ribbons are the slowest of the lot while cartridges using laser toners are the fastest. Moreover, with regards to cost, the cartridges for laser printers are more expensive than their ink based counterparts. This is because the cartridges for laser printers offer the best printing output and are faster than the other cartridges. One can take out a large number of print outs of the same superior quality unlike in ink cartridges wherein the results start getting blurry quite quickly on account of the ink running out.

None is better than the Other

If you look at the similarities and differences, you will see that you cannot judge the cartridges based on them. You cannot say that one is better than the other, as it’s completely your choice as to which printer you own and thus the cartridges that you are going to use. Experts will tell you that laser toner cartridges are the best amongst the three, but for that you must have laser printers, which in itself is expensive and so are its cartridges.
John C. Arkin

John C. Arkin, the contributor of Printer Ink Cartridges Articles. More information on the subject is at Differences / Similarities between Ink Cartridges, Laser Toner Cartridges & Printer Ribbons, and related resources can be found at Printer Ink Cartridges.

Laser Toner Companies and Tips

Laser printers are cheap but replacing the toner might be expensive. Get some tips here on where to buy cheap toners for your printer.

Laser Toner Companies

Discount Toner Company
This company is situated in the center of California. It is also close to the San Fernando Valley. It provides low prices on compatible remanufactured copier toners, toner refill kits and laser toner cartridges. The company sells a variety of laser printer toner cartridges with an easy interface and secure online ordering.

This company supplies the widest variety of Lexmark laser cartridges, HP laser toner cartridges, MICR toner cartridges and Canon copier cartridges. It also provides products for fax machines, laser printers and other photocopiers.

The companys complete address is 22817 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 325 Woodland Hills, California. For more information about their product prices and shipping, call them at (887) 866-3728 or fax them at (818) 337-7218.

Price-Less Inkjet Cartridge Company
They are a major wholesaler and exporter of quality imaging products and supply distributors as well as resellers in Europe and the United States of America. The company currently offers discounts to students, teachers and members of Computer User Groups. This is about 10 percent.


All their compatible imaging products are manufactured by state-of-the-art technology to ensure complete capability to OEM products. The company offers inkjet cartridge, laser toner cartridge, printer ribbons, solid inks and laser toner supplies.

Tech-Optics, Inc.
They are based in Florida, and they distribute, manufacture and sell toner cartridges for jet printers. The company offers remanufactured printer cartridges at a fraction of the cost of new cartridges. It recycles OEM or Original Equipment manufacturer toner cartridges by refilling toners to original levels and replacing old drums to new and factory-authorized toners.

It also offers printing supplies for HP, Brother, Canon, Epson, Compaq, Lexmark and Xerox. The company has many remanufactured products such as HP 5L and L6 toner cartridge, Tektronix Phaser 560toner cartridge, Canon LC8500 toner cartridge and Panasonic UF744 toner cartridge as well as Pitney Bowes 9700 toner cartridge, Lexmark Optra M toner cartridge and so much more.


The complete address of this company is #2829 Bird Avenue, Suite 122 Coconut Grove, Florida.

Laser Toner Tips
Make sure you follow a few tips on how to replace a toner cartridge. Buy a replacement for destroyed or old toner cartridge. A toner cartridge in your printer must have several identifying information including the part number which you could use to distinguish the type you need. As it starts to run low, several printers will launch a message to your computer which includes the part number for a replacement.

You can donate your old toner cartridge to an office supply store. Several office supply stores will give you a store coupon for every toner cartridge that you donate. Think of it as helping your environment.

Remove the destroyed toner cartridge. You may need to snap the toner out of position. Follow the instructions given to your printer if you have a hard time removing the destroyed one. Wear old cloth when replacing toner cartridges as the spills might stain your shirt.

Get the new toner cartridge out of the cover. Rock it back and forth several times. Remove the protective cover and snap the new toner into position.
Close your printer cover if you installed the cartridge correctly.

Your printer may need to be aligned after replacing the toner cartridge. Follow the instructions given by your printer for this type of task.

For more information on Laser Toner and Laser Toner Refill Kits please visit our website.
Source: http://www.a1articles.com/article_1260822_10.html

Laser Toner Cartridge Free Significant Knowledge Base

It's difficult to provide accurate laser toner cartridge information, but we have gone through the rigor of putting together as much laser toner cartridge related information as possible. Even if you are searching for other information somehow related to laser cartridges, 5110cn toner, toner and cartridges or p1505 toner this article should help a great deal.

Laser toner cartridges are not cheap. In fact, within the duration of the expected four year livlihood expectancy of your laser printer, you'll pay much more and more for toner than you might for your laser printer. Now, if your laser printer lasts longer as opposed to five years, which many do, you'll pay that much more. The good news is you don't have to pay so much.

There is no question the toner is the most expensive portion of having a laser printer. Statistics prove that the ordinary laser printer life length is close to five years. Over that five-year period, you will pay seven times as much for toner and toner cartridges as you paid for your laser printer. If your printer lasts funny things as opposed to uni years, you am able to pay even more.


Always find based on what i read in a reliable toner company. Last, but positively not least, always purchase your toner and toner cartridges from reputable online companies. You can avoid a lot of hassles on that "great toner deal" by approaching a few simple guidelines.

Unlike many people out there, don't forget that even if this article related to laser toner cartridge doesn't cover all the basics you wanted, you can always take a look at any of the search engines like Google.com or Search.Yahoo.com for more laser toner cartridge related information.

Some suppliers try to save income by paying for one toner per printer model, i.e. one toner for all HP cartridges. This may not effect print quality, but it should effect yield. Each perfect of printer has different characteristics, which spells different toners. An example of differing characteristics is the fusing temperature of the printers.


The decreased toner hopper on the HP 4200 holds only 690 grams of toner and yields approximately 12,000 webpages @ 5% coverage. Another notable change is in the waste section. The waste hopper of the HP 4300 is perfect to hold the extra waste produced by the higher fill weight.

Manufactured to the original manufacturer's specification by other manufacturers. Most resellers guarantee to be free from defect in material and workmanship during its warranty or lifetime. OEM-Compatible cartridges are manufactured to meet or exceed OEM performance. All drums and working facets are new. Guaranteed to be cost free from defect in material and workmanship during its lifetime.

It might interest you to know that lots of folks searching for laser toner cartridge also got information related to other canon ir2018 toner, xerox ink cartridge, and even p3005 toner here with ease.

So here is chance to get your free tips on fax toner and in addition to that get basic information on saving money visit recycling toner cartridges

Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_956671_10.html

Laser Toners

Laser Toners

Most of us are aware of the significance of the laser toners in a printer. More or less a laser toner is the key part in any laser printer. With invent of the laser printer, we can get high quality prints in a blink of an eye and that too in a very cost effective manner. The quality of the prints depends on the quality of the laser toner, as a laser toner is actually the ink for laser printers. The laser toner is an extremely fine synthetic powder packed into a cartridge. This cartridge is then inserted into your laser printer according to the manufacturer’s instructions. And this is where the role of a laser toner comes into picture.

Let us understand in short the role of a laser toner as soon as a page is inserted in the printer. There are a few steps in printing a page with the help of a laser toner:

• In the first step, printer receives an image to be printed from your computer.
• The lasers project the image onto an electromagnetic drum inside the laser printer.
• According to the image, the drum is charged positively and negatively, and at varying levels of charge.
• The drum in turn attracts ink from the toner in the cartridge according to the charges the colors are attracted to.
• The drum rolls the image onto a page of paper, the page goes through a heating device to melt or burn the color onto the page, and the page is ejected.

This is when laser toner is used in the laser printer. Most of the toners are designed to print a few thousand pages before needing to be replaced. Similarly, the drum also wears out from all the positive and negative charges it gives off, and needs to be replaced every 10,000 – 30,000 pages. Some printers are made with cartridge-and-drum replacement units in mind, while other printers are designed to separate the cartridge and drum. This way, when the cartridge runs out of toner, you don’t have to replace the longer lasting drum with it. This saves you money.

There is a huge ongoing debate on the use of compatible laser toners. They are widely used besides the printer companies regular warnings on the illegal aspects and the harms they can cause to the printer. However, besides such warnings, the compatible laser toners are now a days common forcing the companies to change their stance and to launch economically priced laser toners. Most manufacturers, and some third-party distributors, will give you money or discounts in exchange for your old laser toner cartridges
. They in turn replace the guts of the cartridge, refill it with toner, and resell it at a big discount.

Looking for more information on Laser Toners check out www.Laser-Toner.org" target="_blank">www.Laser-Toner.org”">www.Laser-Toner.org your guide to Laser Toners.

Bulk Laser Toner

Companies are always in search for ways to cut down on expenses so that they can increase their savings and their efficiency. Some of the more popular ways that companies cut costs is by recycling paper and using energy efficient office appliances. Another way that companies can save money is by using more cost efficient ways of getting printing jobs done. Using laser printers instead of inkjet printers makes printing documents cheaper. However, companies can go a step further in reducing printing costs by buying bulk laser toner for their printing needs.

What is bulk laser toner?

Bulk laser toner consists of the usual toner refills that are available. However, companies can buy a bulk supply if they can estimate how much toner they will use in a given period of time. One advantage of bulk laser toner is that companies can buy it at a wholesale price, which means lower prices for buyers.

Things to consider when buying bulk toner

When buying these refills, companies should consider a number of factors, such as the print quality of the toners, which should match the print of the original toner as much as possible. The compatibility of the refills with the printer should also be checked so that the refills do not cause any trouble for the laser printer. Companies should also be wary of the very low prices that some companies offer for bulk toners because very low pries usually mean very low quality. Companies should also invest in quality refills since the prices of these are still lower than the original toners.

The availability of bulk toner provides another way for companies to save on printing needs. However, companies should also consider the print quality and the compatibility of the toners to their printers to make bulk toner work better for the company.

Laser Toner provides detailed information on Laser Toner, Laser Toner Cartridges, Laser Toner Refill, HP Laser Toner and more. Laser Toner is affiliated with Laser Printer Toners.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Max_Bellamy

A Review of HP Laser Toners

Hewlett-Packard is, along with Brother and Samsung, one of the most readily available brands of laser toner. This is due, in part, to the fact that HP was first to release a laser toner inexpensive enough to catch the attention of the average consumer, in 1984.

Prices on laser printers were much higher back then, sometimes costing $500. But the price on laser toner refill was a lot lower – about $30 a cartridge. Today, you can buy an HP laser printer for less than $200, but the toner replacements can cost as much as $80 if bought new from the manufacturer.

You can also buy remanufactured laser toner cartridges from HP. These are cartridges that were used up by the previous user and sent back to HP to be remade and refilled. These remanufactured cartridges cost about half as much as the new ones. These are almost exactly the same quality of new, and most people can’t even tell. You only really need to buy new cartridges if you are a professional businessperson who needs to create documents of completely reliable quality.

HP laser toner can range from 50 cents for an unrated third-party remanufactured cartridge, to several hundred thousand dollars for a bulk shipment of a few thousand new cartridges direct from the manufacturer. Your needs probably fall somewhere between these two extremes. One popular HP cartridge is the HP No. 56 Black Inkjet print cartridge. This well received toner refill starts at about $14 and can climb as high as $30 via PC World-approved third parties.

A popular color laser toner refill from HP is the HP 97 Tri-Color Inkjet Print cartridge, starting at $23.

You can also buy new from HP at their website.

Laser Toner Info provides detailed information about later toner cartridges and refills, as well as reviews of laser toner products. Laser Toner Info is the sister site of Brochure Printing Web.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Max_Bellamy

Cheap Laser Toner

Companies that produce a lot of documents for their operations can be expected to spend a small fortune on ink and toner for their printing needs. Fortunately, there are a number of ways businesses can save on ink and toner purchases because there is now a wide variety of alternatives. Below are some tips that can help business owners save on their printing costs.

Buying ink and toners

One of the first things considered in purchasing ink and toner is the price. However, one must be wary of falling into the trap of buying low-quality inks and toners just because of their very low prices. This is because there are colored ink cartridges that you need to replace even if only one color has run out. Purchase color cartridges that include the color black, since cartridges without black use up all the other colors to produce black.

When purchasing toner, which is usually used for laser printing, there are also ways companies can save money. This can be accomplished as early as when the laser printer is purchased by asking the seller about the laser printer?s average consumption of toner. Knowing the printer?s toner consumption helps businesses choose the most economical printer available. When buying toners, explore non-branded options, because apart from being cheaper by as much as 50%, these non-branded toners have been proven to work as well as some branded toners.

Printing documents is one of the most important aspects of the operation of a business, and as such, printing these documents has proven to be one of the most costly processes. To mitigate paying more than what is necessary on printing, businesses need to tap alternative options such as using non-branded toners and inks that work as well as those with brand names. Doing so can result in savings and efficiency for the business, which are very important considerations in today?s competitive business climate.

Laser Toner provides detailed information on Laser Toner, Laser Toner Cartridges, Laser Toner Refill, HP Laser Toner and more. Laser Toner is affiliated with Laser Printer Toners.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Max_Bellamy

What You Should Know About Laser Toner Cartridges

The people who make a laser toner cartridge products do lots of testing and design research, to come up with the most efficient products. Most of these companies also make the machines that they are used in, but some of the numerous new companies selling refills only make the ink and laser toner cartridge products themselves. For them to test their toner and ink products, they have to do like you and go out somewhere and buy a machine and test original cartridges and then test their product and compare to see if they both work the same way.

Text and image quality, print definition, adhesion, density and page life (how many pages can you print on one refill, for example are some of the things they test for. Because laser machines are so expensive, most people use ink jet instead. What is the advantage to buying such a machine, in that case? Well if you use a machine that employs laser toner cartridge technology, you will soon find that it is faster. A laser can move very quickly, so it can print text at lightening fast speed compared to other kinds of printers like ink jet. Because the laser beam has an unvarying diameter, the print it does can be super consistent, and not waste any extra ink. So the quality and speed are big factors. But one of the most economic factors is that toner is cheap and lasts a long time, while you can use up expensive liquid type ink jet ink cartridges very quickly.

Big companies have all sorts of printers, but if they are doing a huge print job they will use their laser printer because the ink cost is cheaper with laser toner cartridge inks. And they are used to doing big jobs, so that a laser printer will do all the work needed by a busy medium sized or smaller office.

For lots of information on laser toner cartridges and related topics, visit About Printer Ink at http://www.aboutprinterink.com
By Ken Wilssens
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ken_Wilssens

Discount Ink Cartridge, Toner Cartridge

Economical and environmental concerns change consumers’ buying pattern. Discount ink cartridges and toner cartridges invade the market of OEM cartridges.

Discount ink cartridges and toner cartridges are in great demand these days. Due to the drop in price, many families and small business owners can buy an inkjet / photo printer for under $100 and a discount laser printer for under $200. Increased number of printer ownership means that there is a larger aftermarket for printing supplies.

Nevertheless, consumers who bought a cheap printer would soon find out that their spending did not end there, but rather have just begun. For examples, many OEM laser toners are selling at $100 a piece, the same price of an inkjet printer or one-half of that for a discount laser printer. A family who print a lot of color photos with their photo printer can easily spend more than $100 on OEM ink cartridges in several months. Think about this, it is absurd that one would spend more on replacement cartridges than on the printer itself in such a short period of time. As a result, many consumers are looking for economical alternatives to expensive OEM cartridges.

There are two main groups of discount ink cartridges and toner cartridges in the market these days: compatible cartridges and remanufactured cartridges. Compatible cartridges are also called generic cartridges. They are manufactured with the same specification of name brand cartridges but without the brand name. These cartridges are offered at one-half or one-third of the price of OEM cartridges.

On the other hand, remanufactured cartridges are name brand cartridges which have been through one cycle of service. They are usually disassembled, cleaned, repaired and refilled before releasing to the market again. Consumers who buy remanufactured cartridges are not only concerned about the price, but their benefit to the environment as well. One consumer was quoted saying “I buy the remanufactured cartridges because it is good for the environment. The lower price is just a bonus”.

It is a well known fact that printer manufacturers cut price in printers but maintain a very high profit margin from cartridge sales. Instead of lowering the price of OEM cartridges to make them more competitive, they use different tactics to ban the use of compatible and remanufactured cartridges from third-party manufacturers. For examples, printer manufacturers may install software in your computer that warns you of the use of compatible cartridges as if they could damage your printers. Some manufacturers incorporate smart chips into their cartridges so that consumers cannot refill or recycle their cartridges. Others have sued the third-party manufacturers of printer cartridges or smart chips claiming that they have violated patent technology.

Consumer advocates have pointed that that these tactics only serve to protect the profits of printer manufacturers but provide no benefits to the consumers at all. In fact, consumers should have the freedom to choose the replacement cartridges they use.

There are many compatible and remanufactured cartridges in the market today. Be a smart consumer, you should always compare an apple with an apple. For example, some manufacturers produce compatible cartridges without the smart chips. These cartridges are usually cheaper than 100% compatible cartridges with new replacement chips. However, compatible cartridge without new replacement chip may have problem communicating with the computer as the latter would think that the cartridge is always low in ink. It is also wise to shop only with vendors who can provide a good refund policy and extended warranty.

To learn more about different types of printer cartridges and to see if they are available for your printer model, please visit http://inkjets.4reviews.net/.

By: Kwan H Lo
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
Kwan H Lo is the owner of an online review site, which promotes discount ink cartridge / toner cartridge for all major brands, including hard to find Sharp Toner and Samsung Toner Cartridge.

Inkjet Cartridges, Laser Toner Cartridges: How to start an Online Business from Home Part 2

So now you've got your business and domain name registered what's next?

1. What are you going to sell ? - There are suppliers in Australia you can buy ink cartridges, toner cartridges, fax rolls, speciality papers, stationery etc from. Some of these suppliers sell original, some sell non original and some sell both so the first thing you need to decide on is 'am I going to sell both original and non original products ?'. Then get in touch with your prospective suppliers and if possible go out and see their premises so you see for yourself their quality control processes etc.

To give you an idea of what one person can handle in terms of choosing your product range, I currently have approx 3000 products in total and that's about maxed out for me time wise. This figure includes both original and non original items. Keep in mind that every time you add more products from a new supplier or from an existing supplier that means another pricelist you have to update monthly or however often they send their updates.

I would suggest you start with one or two suppliers and fairly small product range until you get the feel for your new business and are able to see whether you can handle more suppliers and the larger product range they will bring. There's another good reason for this, you're going to need to spend a LOT of your time promoting your business online so bottom line is you're better off spending 80% of your time working ON your business with a modest number of products than spending 80% of your time working IN your business because you have thousands of items on your site.

2. Direct shipping & Tracking orders - This is pretty important so pay attention :), all my suppliers have a facility available to directly ship goods to my customers for me meaning I don't actually hold any stock whatsoever. Running my business this way means I hold no stock and therefore don't have to employ anyone to run a warehouse.
There is a downside though, the big one is that if you do direct shipment this means your supplier immediately has access to your customers details so be careful which suppliers you pick as some of them also retail as well as wholesale so if you need to decide whether you trust them to not try and steal your customers from you. To be honest I haven't found any suppliers yet who do wholesale and retail that I've had any cause to be concerned about but you do need to be aware of this.

When it comes to tracking orders you need to make sure that your supplier has an efficient system in place for tracking the inevitable orders that go missing in action from time to time. Id also suggest that you actually find out which courier companies they use as you will find ,as I have, that they are very definitely not all the same. Some suppliers use more than one and will allow you to choose the one you'd prefer if you don't like the others they have on their books.

3. Supplier pricelists - You will need to ask them to send you their regular pricelist so you can keep your database up to date, if their pricelist isn't in a spreadsheet its going to be much harder for you to do your updates so push them a little and they may just arrange to send you as a spreadsheet so that you can manipulate the data more easily.
If you can you want to use suppliers who send out their pricelist with the items that have changed since the last update somehow marked so that you can quickly see what has changed without having to go through the whole list. If you are starting out chances are you're a one man band like me or perhaps two man band and this saves a lot of time.

4. Supplier Codes & OEM Codes - I'm going to discuss this more fully at a later stage in this series but I will briefly discuss something you should be aware of now. Basically every cartridge, fax roll etc you sell whether its an original or non-original will have two codes associated to it being an OEM code and a supplier code and usually they wont be the same. The OEM code is the original manufacturers code recognised and used in the industry by everyone. So for example if you're selling a Canon BCI-24 ink cartridge the OEM code 'BCI-24' will be used by all everyone so we have a universal standard. Usually a supplier will have a different code (the supplier code) they use to track the item in their warehouse.

Now that you know basically how the codes work I've got some bad news for you. You will find that many of the non original suppliers don't have very good compatibility lists of which OEM codes are compatible with the thousands of different printers out there so be careful ! Of course they have to abide by what their pricelist tells you but I prefer to get it right in the first place so I don't have returns from my customer when they find that their cartridge doesn't fit into their printer.

My best advice for you here is to find one suppliers compatibility charts you trust and use that as a foundation to build on. This is what I do and from there the only other sources I trust are the actual manufacturers themselves such as HP, Canon etc etc. After all if these guys don't know which machines their cartridges fit into we're in real trouble. Unfortunately not all the manufacturers websites have compatibility lists available and when you ring them seem to want to keep it all a big secret.

When you setup your website later on you can do as Ive done and allow customers to find their cartridges by code or the machine model or you can always just play it safe and get the machine model of the client and match that to the correct consumables.

Well that's about it for now, good luck on finding your supplies and stay tuned for the next part in the series when we tackle setting up your pricelists and/or databases.

What have we done so far ?
1. Part 1
- Register a business name ($100.00)
- Register a domain name ($10.00)

2. Part 2
- Find your suppliers

by: Andrew James
Mr James has owned The Cartridge Specialists (Melbourne) since 2004 selling ink, toner, fax rolls etc & regularly writes articles about his industry

Buying Laser Toner Cartridges

Compatible Laser Toner Cartridges

Recently, there has been a huge legal and investigative battle with people selling “compatible” laser toner cartridges. Often, a distributor will sell their defective, ineffective, or even damaging laser toner cartridges to unsuspecting resellers. These cartridges will make weak prints, cause messy ink spray, and may cause serious damage to your printer. So be sure to buy cartridges from an authorized reseller that the manufacturer audits. Check the manufacturer’s website to obtain a list of authorized resellers.

Beware of laser toner cartridges that are priced way below market standard. Bad or old packaging should also send up a red flag for phony laser toner cartridges.

Finally, if your cartridge runs out of ink too quickly, gives messy prints, or damages your printer, don’t buy from the same retailer again.

This is not to say that all compatible toner cartridges are bunk. But if you’re going to spend tens of dollars on a cartridge, why risk it?

Remanufactured Laser Toner Cartridges

Most manufacturers, and some third-party distributors, will give you money or discounts in exchange for your old laser toner cartridges. They in turn replace the guts of the cartridge, refill it with toner, and resell it at a big discount. In many cases, the quality is almost exactly the same as new. For example, a black-ink cartridge for an Epson Stylus Color 880 costs $27 from Epson, but only $12 from Rhinotek.

By Max Bellamy
source: http://EzineArticles.com

Laser Toner Cartridges

Many people believe that buying a recycled toner cartridge is a gamble, but this does not take into account the big picture, as a recycled toner cartridge is a win-win for you and the environment. Factories that remanufacture your laser toner cartridge often have up to 15 steps in their process that includes cleaning and replacement of parts. Only a small percentage of waste is generated as a by-product from the manufacturing process which leaves over 80% to be recycled. The name of the process for recycling a toner cartridge for resale in this way is called REMANUFACTURING. A recycled toner cartridge can be fully remanufactured, by replacing key components and the resulting remanufactured or recycled toner cartridge is then sold, generally at a discount compared to a new oem cartridges.

Getting yourself the cheapest laser toner replacement cartridge that suits your needs is often difficult if you don’t have access to the internet. Ideal for business or home users who need professional-quality laser output, at a low price the recycled laser toner is an optimum choice as today’s remanufacturing process is of a very high standard. The key to Tristar Supports Ltd phenomenal success is an effective delivery service and high-quality recycled laser toner products. We provide a full range of laser toner cartridges that are high quality which successfully aligns with our business objectives of fast and effective delivery along with high quality environmentally friendly remanufactured Laser Toner Cartridges.

Can I really save money by using Recycled Laser Toner Cartridges, of course; recycling toner cartridges not only helps save money, but you will often have more ink put in the toner, as not all original cartridges are fully filled, and also you will help in reducing garbage and save the Earths resources. Don’t forget that SAVING THE ENVIRONMENT is one of today’s key issues and is in the long run going to save a lot more than just money, the global impact is truly immense.

Author - R. Brettle of Tristar Toner Cartridges
www.TristarToner.com

7 Steps to Cleaning the Laser Toner From Your Laser Printer

Cleaning a laser printer, fax, or copier of laser toner can be easy, provided you know what you're doing and use the right tools. This article will share with you some simple tips to help you clean your laser printers of laser toner like a pro.

A word to the wise: Before I begin, I'd like to stress that this article is intended only to assist you with basic cleaning of the laser toner from your laser printer. If you're unsure of your ability to perform any sort of printer maintenance, or if performing such maintenance will void the printer's warranty, you should contact a qualified service professional.

Some safety issues: Though laser printers come in various shapes and sizes, they all use laser toner (that messy black powder). While cleaning your laser printer, the last thing you want is to have laser toner in your lungs or on your skin. The tips provided in this article should help reduce the chance of you being bathed in laser toner while cleaning your printer.

Laser toner particles are so fine that they can take more than fifteen minutes to settle if they become airborne make that hours if you have fans or air- conditioners circulating them through an office. To avoid inhaling laser toner particles, try to keep the air in the cleaning area stable and leave the printer area for several minutes after cleaning. When you return, move slowly, open all windows, and begin vacuuming any laser toner from the floor, tabletops, and so forth.

Another dangerous area common to all laser printers is the fuser-roller compartment. The fuser roller gets extremely hot during the printing process and is usually covered for safety. Burns can occur, however, if you accidentally uncover and touch the roller. I recommend that you leave your printer off for at least one hour before cleaning it of laser toner.

As with all electrical equipment, make sure that the power cable is unplugged before you begin any work.

Here are the basic tools you need to clean the laser toner from the laser printer:
-Vacuum
-Compressed can of air
-Wash cloth
-Mask
-Cotton Swabs
-Isopropyl Alcohol (99 percent pure)
-Paint Brush (soft bristle, about a half-inch wide)
-Latex gloves (optional)

Compressed air:
You can buy this in any department store or office supply store. Ranges in price from $3.00 to $10.00 per 10 oz. bottle. Use adequate ventilation please.

Mask:
You'll want to prevent laser toner particles from entering your throat and lungs. While laser toner inhalation has not been proven to cause serious health problems, respiratory tract irritation can occur with exposure to large amounts of laser toner dust. Laser toner can also contain potentially hazardous compounds, such as styrene, ethyl benzene, and xylene isomers. Use a mask that filters both odors and fine particles, such as the ones used for painting and sanding. You can usually find these at local hardware stores.

Cotton swabs:
You can use the regular cotton swabs found in your local drugstore or those made especially for cleaning printers. The printer swabs come with six-inch-long sticks.

Isopropyl alcohol:
Do not use regular rubbing alcohol. Either use chemicals that are specifically designed to clean the heads of VCRs, cassette tapes, tape drives, and the like or use 99 percent pure isopropyl alcohol, which evaporates without leaving any residue.

Paint brush (soft bristle, about a half-inch wide): This is used to brush out toner from tight crevices. Since bristles may fall out during the cleaning process, pull out any loose ones before you use the brush. I don't recommend using toothbrushes.

Latex gloves (optional):
These must fit tightly on your hands since you want to maintain skin sensitivity. Drugstores usually sell them in boxes of 100. This is to keep your hands clean but if you don't have them you can just wash up with soap and water afterwards.

Okay, let's begin cleaning that laser printer of the laser toner. Now that you have the tools, it's time to unplug the laser printer, let it sit for one hour, and then follow the steps below:

1. Put on your mask and latex gloves if you have them.

2. Open the printer and gently remove the laser toner cartridge or laser toner bottle.

3. Use your wash cloth and wipe the laser toner cartridge. Place the laser toner cartridge aside.

4. Use your vacuum to remove spilled laser toner from within the printer's internal compartment. Try to prevent the vacuum's nozzle from actually touching any of the printer's internal surfaces.

5. Use your paintbrush to remove laser toner from any crevices. Use gentle motions and vacuum as necessary.

6. Many laser printers use very fine wires (called 'corona wires') that are often exposed. If your printer has such wires, take care to avoid vacuuming or brushing them. Breaking a corona wire can be a costly mistake. Dip a cotton swab into isopropyl alcohol and gently run it along the length of the wire. Also be sure to clean the underside of the wires. Never apply pressure.

7.Reinsert the laser toner cartridge, close the printer, reconnect the power cord, and you are done.

Avoid using the wash cloth inside the printer. Though you can use the wash cloth to clean the inside, I do not recommend it. There are many sharp points that can tear the cloth's fiber and leave loose strands inside the printer.

OEM vs. Remanufactured Laser Toner Cartridges Although many people buy OEM Name Brand laser toner cartridges, little do they know, they really are remanufactured! Can you believe it? Seriously folks, why spend many more dollars on OEM's when you can get THE SAME quality laser toner cartridges for half or less than half the price? When you buy an OEM laser toner cartridge, just look at the box! It says "Made of new and recycled materials". The OEM companies want you to send your laser toner cartridge back to them , so they can remanufacture it , and sell it back to you as new! Buying remanufactured laser toner cartridges saves the environment. Millions of laser toner cartridges get dumped in landfills every year. So, please, save the environment,and save your money!
Happy Cleaning!

by Rafael Nunez, is responsible for all product quality at Alchemy Toners, Inc.

Comparing laser toner cartridges

Years ago, the copier market discovered the benefits of selling cost per copy. Today, the printer market is making the same discovery. Cost per page is a better measure of laser toner cartridge expense than cost per cartridge. Cost per page applies cost accounting concepts to the cartridge purchase decision. This measure correctly allocates cost to a unit of output.

Page yield is required in addition to cartridge cost to determine cost per page. Cartridge costs are readily available. Tests from independent testing laboratories are necessary to verify manufacturers claims about page yield per cartridge.

New cartridge designs, like PageMax from Clarity Imaging, deliver twice the yield per cartridge that OEM cartridges do. Clarity's "high efficiency toner transfer technology" results in a 20-30 percent savings for the end user. Significantly, the dealer can make double the gross margin dollars in high volume accounts. Cost per Page - The typical cartridge user is concerned with what it costs to run laser printers to produce his product. If his is churning out mortgage forms, his ultimate concern is how much each form costs.

The problem with cost per cartridge is that it does not associate cost with a measurable unit of benefit. Cost per cartridge is one input for determining cost per page. The other is page yield.

Page yield per cartridge measures the number of pages a cartridge will produce under normal conditions. Different cartridges for different printers can produce anywhere from 3,000 to 30,000 pages. More importantly, cartridges produced by different manufacturers for the same printer can produce widely different page outputs. Page yield for cartridges compatible with the HP 98A can vary from less than 6,000 to more than 13,000 pages. Obviously, with such a dramatic variation, page yield can have a profound impact on the end user's cost.

Cost per page is a mathematical relationship: cost per cartridge divided by page yield per cartridge. The industry has focused on cost per cartridge because sticker prices are easy to see. With the results of independent testing laboratories, dealers can reliably compare costs per cartridge from different manufacturers.

Independent Testing Labs - The Standard Test Method for Comparing Printer or Copier Cartridges, ASTM Standard F-1531, is a comprehensive test of laser toner cartridges and the print they produce. ASTM is the American Society of Testing Engineers, a standards setting organization.

According to ASTM F-1531, page yield must be determined by a full life test of cartridges under laboratory conditions. The tests are run in five stages, each being one fifth of the manufacturer's estimated yield, and the tests are run until the cartridge is exhausted. The tests are performed using 5 percent print coverage per page. Random copies from each stage are examined for quality defects. Copies from successive stages are compared for evidence of deterioration of image quality.

Shorter versions of laser toner cartridge tests save time, but may not provide accurate and reliable results. These abbreviated tests infer the life of a cartridge based on printing only 1,000 pages. The performance of a cartridge over the first 1,000 pages does not necessarily indicate what the performance will be over the life of the cartridge. This test assumes a constant toner usage factor, which does not account for progressive wear. Components within the cartridge can wear or fail before the cartridge runs out of toner.

There are several independent laboratories used by the manufacturers of toner cartridges. Leading laboratories like Buyer's Laboratory and Industry Analysts provide testing in a variety of areas: product reliability, cartridge and materials compatibility, energy consumption, life-cycle cost, and productivity.

Saving the Customer Money Cartridges are a major office supply cost, second only to paper, and there is great pressure on purchasing personnel to reduce cartridge expenses. You can save your customer money by focusing him on cartridge cost per page.

You can use independent laboratory tests like the one above from Industry Analysts to build a cost benefit analysis for a prospective customer. An analysis uses competitive cartridge costs and competitive cartridge yields to determine savings per page. If you know the customer's annual cartridge usage, you can also determine his annual savings.

Value Added: Margin Added - The technologies employed by the new generation of cartridges, such as PageMax, result in greater profitability for the dealer. The value added from the technology not only saves the customer money, but also provides the dealer with more profit. Higher gross margins are possible because dealers selling OEM cartridges are all selling the same product. This forces dealers to compete on price alone, and margins are pushed down.

Value added products, because they deliver a clear advantage to the consumer, can be very profitable for the dealer.

A Good Deal for Dealers - Focusing the customer on his cost per page can save him money. Dealers can also make more money. Steve Silver, President of Clarity Imaging observes: "By using our patented technology we can give the customer and the dealer a better deal than the OEMs can. The business of selling quality cartridges can become profitable again."

Copyright B U S Publishing Group, Inc. Aug 1999
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved