How to Compare Toners
The cost of printing can be very high, depending on the type of printer you use, how much you print and the yield of your ink or toner cartridges. Though toner costs more in the short term than an ink cartridge, in the long run money is saved. Compared to ink, toner is cheaper. But how do you determine the best toner for you? There are a few different things to keep in mind when comparing toners that will help you make the best decision when it comes time to open your wallet and buy.
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Instructions
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Find out if your printer uses liquid, powdered or laser toner. Only compare toners from the kind that your computer uses. Comparing liquid and laser toner will get you nowhere, because they are for completely different uses and different printers.
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Identify the cartridge yield, sometimes called the cartridge life. This number is sometimes printed on the toner packaging, but if not you can find it on the manufacturer's website. This will tell you how many pages you can expect to print from one toner cartridge. Compare this number across all the toners that you are thinking of buying.
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Divide the number of pages in the cartridge yield by the cost of the toner itself. This will give you a cost per page. This number should be compared across all toners before buying because that will determine the true cost of the toner. For example, one toner may be $10 more than another, but if the cost per page is lower, in the long run that toner is actually cheaper than the one that costs $10 less.
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Compare shelf life of the toners. Some toners are only good for 12 to 18 months before their printing power is compromised. If you generally order toner in bulk, this may mean that you won't be able to use all of the toner before it expires. Take a good look at how much you print and how fast you can reasonably expect to use up the toner before buying in order to avoid toner going past its expiration date.
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Tips & Warnings
In the rare case that a manufacturer does not give the cartridge yield information, there is no way to compare this number. You can always call and ask but if they refuse you may want to think twice about buying, since there is no way to judge its output or performance.
References
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