New & Remanufactured Toner Cartridges

Toner cartridges, also referred to as laser toners, are consumable elements of laser printers. They house a very fine powder, called toner powder, which is a very fine, dry mixture of plastic "dust", carbon, and black or coloured agents to produce an actual image on the paper. During printing, the toner is transferred to the paper via a drum unit, and then sealed as an image by the use of heated rollers.

There are three types of toner cartridges

1. New, original or OEM toner cartridges + more...
   These cartridges (which incidentally are the most expensive) are supplied by the manufacturer of the printer. All new printers are supplied with OEM toner cartridges, but you can switch to another type of cartridge as soon as these need replacing. In the UK it is illegal for manufacturers to invalidate warranty for not using OEM toner cartridges.
   
2. Compatible, own or alternative brand, or generic toner cartridges + more...
   These are copies of the OEM toner cartridges. They are manufactured by independent companies and sold as a cheaper alternative even though they may vary slightly in design (because of patents) and certainly may offer a lesser page yield than OEM toner cartridges. They are definitely less expensive but arguably less reliable than OEM toner cartridges.
   
3. Remanufactured toner cartridges + more...
   This is the most cost effective method of all for acquiring toner cartridges. This process strips the original part, replaces potentially worn parts and refills with toner powder. Remanufactured toner cartridges are as reliable as OEM but far less expensive. This method is favoured by environmentalists as a much more favourable option rather than discarding and replacing with new.