Toner Cartridge Terms, Definitions, And Differences

     As an Office Manager, I often find myself spending large quantities of time walking up and down office supply store aisles. I find it cathartic (and much cheaper than therapy). It's so great knowing that if you ever need a hot-pink-but-not-too-pink sticky note in the shape of a puppy, someone sells it! In my travels though, I'm constantly bewildered when I come across two types of paper clips side by side that look, feel, smell, taste (yes, I've done it), and clip exactly the same; but, one box costs two dollars more than the other. Apparently, all paper clips are not created equally. I, for one, always pick the less expensive box and then watch in amusement as the next person grabs the expensive box without a second thought. But...then again, maybe they know something I don't...
    Luckily for you, we're here with answers to your toner cartridge questions. Paper clips are one thing...purchasing hundred-dollar-plus toner cartridges is quite another. If you're like me, you want to be sure that you're getting your money's worth everytime you make a puchase (penny saved and all that). The following information has been condensed from over 25 inkjet and toner cartridge manufacturing websites, Wikipedia, and our own personal experiences. We hope this information will help you make an informed decision about your toner cartridge needs.

DEFINITIONS:
OEM - The term 'OEM' (sometimes simply referred to as, 'New.') stands for Original Equipment Manufacturer. As it applies to toner cartridges, the term refers to cartridges that are branded by the company selling them (such as HP, Lexmark, Xerox, etc.) and either manufacture the cartridge directly or have had the cartridges made specifically for their company. These cartridges are almost always the most expensive option for toner replacement. American Printer Service, Inc. sells some OEM cartridges for common laser printers.

AFTERMARKET - The term 'aftermarket' is a very broad term describing any cartridge not specifically built from the ground up by either an OEM or a cartridge remanufacturer.

NEW COMPATIBLE - A 'new compatible' toner cartridge usually refers to a cartridge that has been specifically designed and built (usually from scratch) to replace an OEM. New compatible toner cartridges are designed to be identical to their OEM counterparts, including any OEM computer chips, and other small but necessary parts. Generally speaking, a new compatible toner cartridge will have had the image drum replaced with a new image drum as opposed to just having it refurbished. We use the term 'usually' because some toner cartridge manufacturers use the term 'compatible' when they really should be using the term 'remanufactured' (more on this later a little further down). Compatible cartridges are less expensive than OEM's (sometimes even 1/2 the price) and thus can be very tempting to those office managing penny pinchers like myself. American Printer Service, Inc. sells a wide variety of new compatible toner cartridges for virtually all laser printers.

REMANUFACTURED - A 'remanufactured' toner cartridge is, to put it bluntly, a cartridge that has been saved from the trash or recycle bin, then looked over for defects, cleaned, and refilled. These cartridges used to be known as 'drill and fill' cartridges because early cartridge remanufactures used to simply drill a hole in the empty cartridge, pour toner into the hole, and then seal it. Voila...a 'new' (and probably leaky) toner cartridge is born! Remanufactured toner cartridges, while having a significant positive impact on the environment, can be the poorest quality option for toner. When purchasing remanufactured toner cartridges, it is very important to know who you're buying from and whether or not their warranty will cover any damage to your printer caused by a faulty or leaking remanufactured toner cartridge. In our experience, failure rates of remanufactured toner cartridges greatly exceed the failure rate of high quality compatible or OEM cartridges. Because little or no time is used in the actual making of the cartridge itself, remanufactured toner cartridges are usually the least expensive method of replacing toner but, they carry with them greater risks, which could end up causing you significantly more money in repairs or even force you to replace the printer altogether. Because of the inherent risks associated with remanufactured toner cartridges, American Printer Service, Inc. does not offer or recommend them to our customers.

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