Laser Printer Information
Toner: The fine black powdered ink used to print text and images.
Drum: The device used to transfer the toner to the paper (creates the image).
When Ordering:
- HP Laser printers usually have the Toner and Drum parts together.
- Brother printers have them separately.
The Drum is the more expensive part, so it is recommended to purchase a printer where the Toner and Drum are separate.
Printer Sizing (size of toner cartridge):
- Up to 50 pages per week, purchase a small printer cartridge.
- If printing 50 pages or more, a larger printer cartridge is preferred.
Bigger will always save money in the long run. Toner cartridges will have an estimated number of pages per cartridge for example:
$35 for 500 page cartridge: $35/500 = $0.07 per page$80 for 5000 page cartridge: $85/5000 = $0.016 per page
Eg: If you print 15,000 pages a year, the difference in cost between the two printers in consumables (toner) is
$1050 (30*$35) for the small printervs$255 (3*$85) for the large printer
Saving Money After Purchase:
Most printers will prompt you to change the drum/toner after certain number of printer pages. However, it is only necessary when the quality of text/image is going bad (see below).