Find the right toner

Imagine that you’ve bought a new laser printer and it’s just run out of toner. You need to get printing again as soon as possible, but what kind of laser toner do you buy? The printer manufacturer’s own brand, remanufactured or compatible?
In case you’re not familiar with the last two types, let me explain. ‘Remanufactured’ stands for cartridges that have been rebuilt and refilled, but without compromising print quality. ‘Compatible’ cartridges are brand new cartridges, made by third-party companies, that match the original printer cartridges in quality and spec and also come with a 12 month guarantee, but are normally available at lower prices.
Naturally, most printer manufacturers claim that their cartridges are more reliable and of higher quality. Presumably to prove this, HP did some research testing ‘the color fidelity of remanufactured color toner cartridges compared to colors printed by original HP Color LaserJet cartridges’. (Yes, I know, they’re using American spelling.)
According to HP, remanufactured cartridges print colours differently. For example, the average HP red is unlikely to be the same as the average red you’ll get from a remanufactured cartridge. (Or compatible, presumably.)
But is that necessarily a bad thing? It’s possible that one might like the colour reproduction in these third-party cartridges. So, it makes sense to experiment with different types of toner cartridge to see which one best suits you and your tastes. You could think of it like adjusting the colour balance on a new TV; it comes with all colour settings at default, but perhaps you like a slightly warmer or cooler picture.
Of course if you’re pressed for time and this kind of tweaking doesn’t interest you, buy the HP cartridges. You’ll know the colours will be as HP intended and, like all the printer products we sell, you can rest assured you’re getting something that we consider high quality enough to stock.
Whichever you choose, now you know how to keep your printer happy.