Do you buy generic toner cartridges?

[pinkytoe]

I hate to waste money if they're not going to work but need to make sure I get a fresh toner cartridge (online) before I do taxes. The name brand costs half of the price of the printer.

[JaneV2.0]

I have. No problems so far. I have a Brother 61* series. Sophia Global brand from Amazon.

[catherine]

I've done the refill thing at Costco, and I don't like the fact that the printer doesn't register how much is left, but other than that, it works. I've never tried generic toners, though.

[nswef]

I tried one refurbished and it was awful- ran out very quickly.

[Rogar]

I've had problems, some serious, with clogged ink jets in Epson printers using Epson inks, so I've afraid to try anything that might not be up to the manufacturers quality. I've had a Canon for a few years now and it has been mostly trouble free, but I still buy Canon inks. The 3rd party inks are probably fine, but I like to play it safe and avoid printer problems.

[Tammy]

I stopped printing a few years ago and haven't owned a printer for about 5 years. I am gradually changing everything to digital.

When I need to print which is rare, I use my son's printer. Then I babysit their kids to pay for the ink. 😄

[ToomuchStuff]

I've had problems, some serious, with clogged ink jets in Epson printers using Epson inks, so I've afraid to try anything that might not be up to the manufacturers quality. I've had a Canon for a few years now and it has been mostly trouble free, but I still buy Canon inks. The 3rd party inks are probably fine, but I like to play it safe and avoid printer problems.


Inkjets are a whole different game. Don't use them for a long time, the ink can dry up, or clog the jets so they won't work initially. Cannon has its own issues, as they have separate ink cartridge, from the print head. (years back I was asked to have Geek squad look at someones printer. Due to them using the wrong terminology, the customer ended up with the wrong parts and multiple bills.

Refurbished toner, unless I know who is doing it, I avoid. I've seen it done, I know how to do it, and I know it can be a mess, especially if you don't get it properly plugged. (where I have seen the most problems)
Generic toner, I don't have an issue with. I have bought, and what I look for is the page count it is "approximated" for, as my Brother printers over the years (on my second laser printer), have both standard duty toner and heavy duty toner with a much higher page count. The higher page count has been more cost effective.

[SteveinMN]

I don't. We print so little that buying the manufacturer's product is not that much more expensive per page and we therefore avoid the risk of a cut-rate company's product causing a mess or ruining printer components.

[jp1]

I've had the same HP laserjet 1020 printer for probably 10 years now. (I know I bought it when we lived in NJ and we moved here exactly 9 years ago.) I think I replaced the toner once with an HP cartridge. Given the printer's age and the huge difference in generic vs. HP cartridges I'd probably go generic next time. But like others I print stuff so infrequently that this isn't a significant portion of my budget.