Updated: 2021-06-14
After waging a continuous war against your trusted office printer and having decided to call in the maintenance service crew, you start to wonder whether the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) compatible toner you recently installed in it may be the reason for this particular breakdown yet again.
Though, indeed, getting a genuine printer toner or cartridge version is always a better idea if not a safer option, OEM compatible printer toners and cartridges similarly offer the user no less in functionality.
Are OEM Compatible Printer Toners Any Better Than Their OEM Branded Counterparts?
Original printer toner cartridges and toners, like genuine printer toner, guarantee the same quality, clarity, and richness of any printed document, which means they are just as good as their branded counterparts.
Many times when you suddenly find yourself short on cash, you’re likely to go in search of the most cost-effective solution for toner for your printer that’s still viable. And to be honest, a compatible OEM toner is a GOD’s gift to a wheezing printer!
Are OEM compatible printer toners/cartridges as good as the branded version?
Anyone who has ever used good OEM compatible toners can attest that they are as good as their genuine counterparts, if sometimes not even better.
A good original manufacturer compatible printer cartridge, for example, will provide the same duty cycle of around a thousand pages at five percent coverage in yellow/magenta/cyan ink and approximately two thousand pages at five percent in black ink. Furthermore, the quality of the printouts is the same or almost the same as those produced by printing using genuine toners.
When you use OEM compatible printer toners, may it be for personal or office purposes, you will have saved yourself some purchasing costs. In contrast, at it – you will save almost half the purchasing price of the branded version by opting for this sort of toner.
How is the genuine version of OEM compatible toner different from the compatible version?
In the mind of the user, there is a huge difference between using an original toner and using an OEM compatible. It has been proven over and over again that whether a customer purchases a brand-name high-priced printer toner cartridge or a much lower-priced compatible version of the same product, almost if not entirely the same level of quality is produced. In the end, it all boils down to whether a customer is willing to shell out the big bucks that come with being able to rely on a branded product.
Regardless of that, if you are looking for a compatible printer product, such as a toner cartridge or a toner, it is always advisable to check well in advance on the supplier you are purchasing it from. There is an old saying that says, “It’s better to be safe than sorry,” especially when the printout at stake is that lovely photo of the year-end gathering of your family.
In the end, the kind of toner you choose to use in your printer is a matter entirely up to you. It is good to know that the use of good OEM compatible toners on original printers does not in any way constitute a breach of the warranty offered. If you want to buy a printer toner for a lower price, then you need to perform some research on what is available, before parting with your hard-earned money.
Common problems with the non-OEM replacement ink cartridges
There are three printing ink cartridge forms – liquid, wax stick, and powder. The liquid form is normally found in inkjet printer cartridges and is used by inkjet sorts of printers. Expertly placed ink heads are necessary to regulate the flow of the printing ink onto the paper. The ink heads force the ink onto the printing paper, which instantly dries after being exposed to the air.
On the other hand, also referred to as toners, the powder form is used by laser printers and photocopiers. This powder or toner is heated by a printer’s or photocopier’s fuser and then applied to a printing paper through an optical drum. The cooled toner is adhered to the printing paper by rollers set on the machine.
Last by not least, there is wax ink (also called a solid ink) which is mainly used by Xerox printers. The wax ink or toner is melted and placed onto a printing page for the required image or text.
What sorts of printing cartridges should you go for?
All of the above printing supplies are available either as new build (OEM or compatible) or recycled varieties (commonly referred to as refilled, reconditioned or remanufactured cartridges).
Whichever choice you opt for, many offline and online companies deal in all sorts of printing supplies for your selection. However, when you are out there shopping for wanted printing supplies, may they be ink or toner cartridges, settle for those that come from trusted and reputable dealers and are ready to offer you cheap, genuine, and quality products.
There has been a lot of damaging propaganda regarding non-OEM printing supplies. Conversely, some non-genuine printing cartridges may be poorly manufactured, giving out low-quality results. However, not all are bad.
Millions of good compatible and recycled varieties are sold offline and online all through the year. Nevertheless, you may want to buy cheap printing cartridges from reputable offline and online sources to be on the safe side. This way, you will encounter very fewer issues from the purchased printing supplies, if any.
All the same, here are two common issues you might encounter when using non-genuine printing cartridges, particularly those which are sourced from unknown sources.
Incorrect colors
Some non-genuine printing cartridges produce incorrect results when it comes to the desired colors. Furthermore, when a wrong non-genuine cartridge is used in a printer, it may end up clogging the print heads, leading to ink leaking and color pollution and thus getting incorrect final colored results.
Using cheap and quite poor-quality printing inks bought from unknown sources, this clogging problem is quite common with Epson printers. You don’t want this to happen to your printer and hence, purchase your compatible ink cartridges from reputed resellers.
Printer failing to recognize the installed ink cartridge
Your printer might indicate it is empty after installing a new cartridge. This normally comes as a result of the printer software failing to recognize the installed non-genuine cartridge. The majority of branded printers can only recognize OEM cartridges that are manufactured by reputable manufacturers and often reject non-genuine varieties when installed.
