HL1210W printer toner - OEM or a compatible toner?

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OllieF

85 posts

Master Geek

#280620 29-Dec-2020 16:32

Our toner for the HL1210W printer will shortly need replacing, and wanted opinions on OEM toners or compatible ones. Are compatible toners generally fine or are they risky. The OEM toner is around $80.00 at harvey norman opposed to around $25 for a compatible one which is far more appealing price wise, but don't want to ruin the actual printer.

Dynamic

3867 posts

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#2627835 29-Dec-2020 16:37

I use Brother printers extensively for ourselves and clients.

Point 1: 4 Year Warranty when genuine toners are used - https://www.brother.co.nz/customer-help/warranty-printer

Point 2: Roughly every second recycled/compatible cartridge I have used has let me down. Two gave poor quality results. One resulted in me having to replace a drum. YMMV, but I'd recommend sticking with original.

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richms

28187 posts

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#2627891 29-Dec-2020 17:12

My experiance with generic ones in my brother colour one is that for text, fine. No problems at all, black text on white page and it looks as good as any other printer.

Photos - hell no. Everything is wrong. Things that should be light are darker than they should be, except the yellows which are the opposite so people look like sunburned ompaloompas in photos.

That printer is dirt cheap to replace if it dies sooner, so if you just do text printouts with no gradients or trying to do black and white photos, then go for the generic one.

Also they are not OEM toners, they are made by someone that has nothing to do with the supply of them to brother, particle size and other things will be just whatever they got around to putting into them that day, which is where all the varience comes from as the brother printer will be tuned to use the opacity etc of the toner that they supply.

Richard rich.ms

Delphinus

611 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2627899 29-Dec-2020 17:25

Small sample size, but I've seen at least one brother laser all gummed up and unusable due to using 3rd party toners. Would stick to originals myself.

Grumpsalot

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2627925 29-Dec-2020 18:53

I have the same printer and I have used both Cartridge World brand and a generic brand toner without any problems. For a printer costing less than $90 I don't believe you need the OEM guarantee which would definitely be a consideration for an expensive printer.

rhy7s

624 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2627979 29-Dec-2020 22:43

I have a friend with one that needs a lot of drum cleaning with the generics which is a bit annoying, but the starter toner left it pretty flecky as well.

SirHumphreyAppleby

2847 posts

Uber Geek

#2628017 30-Dec-2020 07:29

OllieF:

Our toner for the HL1210W printer will shortly need replacing, and wanted opinions on OEM toners or compatible ones. Are compatible toners generally fine or are they risky. The OEM toner is around $80.00 at harvey norman opposed to around $25 for a compatible one which is far more appealing price wise, but don't want to ruin the actual printer.

I use Brother toners for the first couple of replacements, then I buy the cheapest I can get. By the time you've gone through two full toners, you've already used a good portion of the drums life, and by four or five, reached the limit. A new drum is more than a new printer, so I just buy a new one and the old one gets put aside until the next e-waste collection.

Grumpsalot

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2628065 30-Dec-2020 11:45

I have been using a generic drum as well as the generic toner on my HL 1210W for the past few months without any problems - it cost less than $40.

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turtleattacks

918 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#2628090 30-Dec-2020 14:05

We have a similar Brother printer and bought an aftermarket toner off a highly rated seller on Trademe.

First of all, the IC chip on the toner didn't work so it didn't recognise the toner and secondly, it didn't last long at all.

Lastly, the print outs weren't as even as an OEM one.

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CokemonZ

1051 posts

Uber Geek

#2628095 30-Dec-2020 14:07

I have the same printer and buy third party - cheapest i can find online. Never had an issue, YMMV of course.

OllieF

85 posts

Master Geek

#2628131 30-Dec-2020 16:36

Thanks everyone. Great range of responses. Printing mostly text, some process diagrams, screenshots, but no photos. I think I'll go with the brother toner to avoid any hassles.