How long laser printer toner last

There are many factors that affect how many pages one cartridge can print. A simple way of looking at things is if you imagine you and a friend both have a drink of water. How long will that drink last? It would be different for each of you because your friend is likely to drink much faster than you, because they are thirsty.

If you take 2 exact same printer models but one printer is old, and another is brand new. The new one will be much more efficient and so ink will last longer. Also what is being printed can change the result. Photos use more ink and take longer to print than text so we need to take these factors into consideration. Then divide the stated manufacturer prints number eg. TN toner is pages , by the result of the last calculation. This will give you a more accurate value compared to the manufacturer stated amount.

In short, page yield or duty cycle is the maximum number of pages your cartridge should be able to print before it runs out of ink or toner. For years each major manufacturer had their own internal methods for calculating page yield and duty cycle. This caused problems. This, as you can imagine, made things incredibly confusing for consumers.

There needed to be a standardised way of calculating this for all manufacturers. Ink and toner page coverage examples. The brochure your car came with might state that it can achieve 60 MPG, for example, but factors such as the distance you drive, how safely or erratically you drive, tire pressures etc.

As mentioned, it is determined by page coverage. Things such as the amount of text on page, colour, images etc. We covered this in a post in May about how the humidity in your office can affect the performance of your printer. It might cause ink and toner to not print onto the page properly, meaning that you could be wasting a significant amount each time you print.

Older printers are generally less efficient. Advancements in printing technology mean that modern printers will need to use less ink and toner per job than older machines. If you leave your printer idle for long periods, it may have to use small amounts of ink to clean and clear print heads. Are you printing in draft mode or best quality? Draft mode will use roughly around half the amount of ink and toner compared to best quality.

Changing mode depending on the type of printing your doing can help you to save a bit more ink and toner. Also, it is worth remembering that many printers have calibration devices in place that will use small amounts of ink and toner for routine maintenance, often whilst in sleep mode. Giving the cartridge a shake will help spread the toner more evenly inside. It means that you can maximise the amount of toner you use before you throw the cartridge away. Your printer manual should outline the shake process for you.

As the printer is preparing for a print, some ink is used in the process. Laser printers have been reigning champions of the former category for a long, long time.

Matt The quality of laserjet color image printing has actually improved surprisingly alot over the past few years - depending on printer. I am rather disappointed in toner consumption by this printer though!

Show 12 more comments. David David 2 2 silver badges 5 5 bronze badges. Add a comment. I have had an HP colour laser an Mnw since May , it came with " page" starter cartridges, the black lasted 3 years, and had done pages when I changed it, it started giving warnings about the cyan about pages ago, the page count says pages, but still printing fine.

I'll buy some colour toners when the output starts looking strange. My Epson AcuLaser C has never printed a photo with acceptable colors although it's in good condition, and is not low on toner. In particular, its cyan toner is too dark, closer to blue than to cyan. Ruslan Something must be wrong with your driver's colour settings settings. And, I was talking about the overall print quality - not the colour quality, which is a separate issue.

Windows drivers apparently did try to fix this colors, but the results were still very off. It sounds as if there may be too much magenta in the blue, but I'm guessing. Do you want to start a new question about this? Attach some screendumps and scans, and someone may have the answer. This is backed up by the fact that HP has a warranty on laser cartridges that lasts until the printer reports the toner is consumed, and states There is no expiration date for the use of HP toner cartridges.

That's impressive. My 4L was purchased new in and I think might be on its third cartridge. Your choices Other answers point out cost advantages for lasers, and attest to the longevity of toner. Inkjets can't An inkjet will be problematic if it sits even a few weeks without use because the ink dries out in the print head and clogs it.

Lasers can Which brings us to your question of whether laser printers can't do it, either, based on Brother's "best if used by" date. Community Bot 1. The toner cartridge was last changed around a decade ago, and that was a remanufactured one which was dated "refilled and tested Aug " As long as your printer isn't underwater, or in a humid space, or exposed to direct sunlight or high temperatures, then it should be fine for a very very long time. Criggie Criggie 1, 9 9 silver badges 20 20 bronze badges.

Mine is not quite that old, but my laser printers drivers support also ended with XP and with the original toner still in use. Hennes - non-windows systems print to them just fine I guess I could use a vm, but all my physical non-windows running servers are elsewhere. As a general rule, inkjets, even with normal usage, tend to cost far more per page than lasers. Todd Wilcox Todd Wilcox 1 1 gold badge 7 7 silver badges 15 15 bronze badges.

Criggie Actually it looks like those are two separate things, but they are usually both part of the cartridge and the drum is the one more exposed to light. Light exposure can cause problems with even drum ionization and of course any exposure of the drum risks scratches or dust or finger oils getting on it. Which is why Brother and Okidata have historically made drums separate from toner. And now HP has started doing it too on some of their low end machines - i.

I've written about this issue too — manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact. I need 50 rep to comment but I feel the need to add: Inkjet is the only smart option when running off line-interactive UPS power. Source: 7 years of IT sales. Agree re: line-interactive UPS. Just can't print if the power is out, but for most people that is not a big deal.

Most entry level Ink Tank System Inkjets will pass your challenge. It claims to be able to print "up to pages" per 60ml bottle.

The specs I find show 4, pages black, 7, pages color. But that is still quite impressive for an inkjet compared tot he typical HP machines. Thank you! Jason Goemaat Jason Goemaat 2 2 silver badges 12 12 bronze badges. Marcel Marcel 3 3 silver badges 20 20 bronze badges. I don't use it much: dozens of pages a year. I have never had the slightest hit of a problem with the toner.

You should be good to go. Jones O. For example, once an ink cartridge expires the integrity of the ink goes downhill rather fast. On the other hand, after a toner cartridge expires you may get a few more years of use if it was stored properly. Assembled is a look of the inner workings of toner and ink cartridge expiration and what you need to expect with each.

Like the consumer chatter of buying ink, the inner workings of how ink cartridges work has also evolved. For example, Hewlett Packard has recently developed cartridges that are microchipped. It may cause harm to your printer if the cartridge is faulty. Since cartridges can often cost more than the actual printer, a lot of companies take advantage of sales and stock up on toner and ink while the price is right, but buyer beware.

The toner may last longer than expected and like a child whose eyes are bigger than their stomach, you have too much food and toner on your plate. On the OEM Original Equipment Manufacturer box, there will be a date that expresses when the warranty ends generally a year. That lets you know how long the manufacturer will cover the item.

The second date is the expiration. The answer is simple yet mind-boggling. With proper storage, your toner cartridge will last forever. But a better question is: What kind of life will you give your toner cartridge? Your Printer, Your Lifestyle Everybody uses their printer differently. Once a month? Once a year? Is your laser printer a buzzing hive of activity, or a dust-covered plastic paperweight?

Keep It Clean Keeping your laser printer clean and well maintained will not only extend the life of your printer, it will extend the life of your toner cartridges as well. Get In The Mode Exploring the print mode on your printer software is another secret to getting toner cartridges to last longer.