Non-Dell Toner vs. Original Dell Cartridges
The Dell printer we provide our customers is one of the lowest cost-per-page printers on the market, if not THE lowest. Despite this fact, many customers bristle at the cost of replacement toner, and will try to cut costs by purchasing seemingly “cheaper” third-party refurbished toner cartridges. Here are a few reasons why it’s so important to only use Dell-original cartridges, and stay away from non-Dell toner:
• Dell cartridges have higher capacities than most third-party non-Dell cartridges. The up-front cost of third-party toner is misleadingly lower, but the cost-per-page will likely be higher due to the lower amount of toner actually included with the cartridge. Dell cartridges are rated for 18,000 pages black and 12,000 pages for each “color” cartridge. (These ratings are based on an industry standard of 5% page coverage; actual page yield will vary based on the color density of the documents being printed.) You will be hard-pressed to find third-party toner with such high capacities, which means you may be replacing your toner more often, which costs more in the long-run!
• Using non-Dell toner can also void your warranty. Although MPi Support will continue to support your printer, access to Dell Support will become limited and replacement parts may be offered at cost instead of under warranty. Dell’s position is that non-Dell toner can damage the printer or limit performance and therefore will not honor warranty in most cases where non-Dell toner has been used. Again, this can drastically increase your long term maintenance costs.
• Dell cartridges are chipped to communicate their status and toner levels with the printer. This helps the users keep track of when they need to order more toner, particularly since the printer may stop working when one cartridge runs out. Non-Dell cartridges do not have this ability. This is important to continue printing quality KYVs for your customers!
• The quality of Dell toner is very high and very little is wasted. Third-party toner is of a much lower grade, which can result in toner “leaking” into the printer. Not only does this result in premature failure of the Transfer Roller and Imaging Drum (also considered “consumables” like toner, and cost money to replace), but the loose toner powder can clog other parts, causing damage to the printer, which may not be covered by Dell’s extended warranty.
• Using bulk toner bottles to refill the existing cartridges has the same detrimental effect as any other form of third-party cartridge, due to the lower quality of the toner itself. Also, breathing in toner particulates while using such refill bottles may be a health hazard.
In the end, cheaper up-front costs in exchange for higher long-term costs does not make good business sense when it comes to using third-party, non-Dell toner. We always stress the importance of using only Dell cartridges. We generally provide them at a discount compared to Dell’s own pricing, and we ship free of charge for 3-day, or only $20 for overnight shipping.
