09.02.2014
Original or compatible laser cartridge. What's better?
Which cartridge is better to use, original or compatible, is a question to which there is no clear answer. The appropriateness of a particular choice depends on many factors: the cartridge model, the price of the original and compatible cartridges, the cost of refilling and repairs, the load on the cartridge, etc. For various models cartridges and even the purposes for which they are used, the situation may be completely opposite.
To understand the nuances of using certain laser cartridges, first, familiarize yourself with the main types of consumables that the modern market offers:
Original cartridges - cartridges produced by the same manufacturer as office equipment. Almost all office equipment manufacturing companies strongly recommend using only original cartridges, as this guarantees the functionality of the equipment and high quality prints. But the cost of original consumables is quite high. In the segment of printing devices for home use, it is often comparable to the cost of the device itself.
The cost of an original laser cartridge for a home series printer and MFP ranges from 2 to 3 thousand rubles, for printers and MFPs of a small office from 4 to 7 thousand rubles, for printers and MFPs of a medium and large office from 7- 8 thousand rubles and above.
Case parts original cartridges As a rule, they are made of high-quality and durable plastic, which makes them suitable not only for refilling, but also for restoration (replacing the photodrum and squeegee). The original photodrums and squeegees that are initially in the cartridge have a small margin of safety, so during the first or second refill you will most likely encounter the fact that the cartridge will begin to print faintly or with a defect. After replacing the drum and squeegee, print quality will be restored. The parts installed during the repair were manufactured by a third-party manufacturer interested in their durability, so they have a greater margin of safety than parts from the manufacturer of the original cartridges and, accordingly, will not soon require replacement and will allow the cartridge to undergo another 3-4 refills.
Compatible Cartridges - cartridges produced third party company using our own technologies and developments. Previously, compatible cartridges were mostly remanufactured originals. Currently, in most cases this is in-house production and assembly. The range of compatible cartridges is quite large. At the moment, we prefer manufacturers such as Revcol and 7Q. Cartridges of these brands are widely represented in our price list. The wear resistance of analogues is significantly lower than that of the originals, but the price is much more attractive. The cost of compatible cartridges is in the approximate range from 380 to 1500 rubles, depending on the model. Recently, prices for compatible cartridges have become so low that they are comparable to the cost of one refill. In this regard, using compatible products is much cheaper than using the original. The disadvantage of compatible cartridges is that during their production there is a certain percentage of defects, which is completely eliminated by the original manufacturers. Cartridges are inherently consumables and are not subject to warranty. But if you purchase a compatible cartridge from us and it prints with a defect or does not print at all, having not exhausted its factory refill, then upon presentation of the packaging and receipt, such a cartridge is subject to free repair or replacement with a similar working one.
Compatible cartridges are less wear-resistant and difficult to refill. It is not possible to predict how many refills such a cartridge will undergo. An analogue may not be refueled even once, or it may take more than 3-4 refuelings before a defect appears. It is not advisable to repair compatible cartridges, since it is cheaper and more reliable to buy a new one. Compatible consumables - good way reduce the cost of printing, but such cartridges cannot cope with heavy loads.
For different printer models, originals and analogues cost differently and behave differently when refilled. There is a fine balance between whether it is better to invest in an original cartridge or to take a risk by purchasing a cheap analogue. We propose to calculate the cost of a print using two illustrative examples - for the Hewlett Packard Q2612A cartridge and for Samsung cartridge MLT-D104S. These are fairly common laser cartridges for home series printers and MFPs. All prices quoted are current as of February 2014.
The usage cycle of the original Q2612A is approximately as follows:
Original refill, 1-2 refills with compatible toner, refill with replacement of the photoconductor and squeegee, 3-4 refills, refill with replacement of the photoconductor and squeegee, 3-4 refills. Also, when using the original, it may be necessary to change the rubber shaft and dosing blade.
All this is very average data. With careful use and moderate load, the originals last much longer. But there is also the opposite situation - damage to the photodrum due to a mechanical shock or the use of paper with a paper clip, unsuitable temperature and humidity conditions, excessive load, etc., which can lead to unnecessary repairs or complete loss of functionality of the cartridge. We will not use extreme cases in our calculations.
The Q2612A compatible cartridge is quite unpredictable when refilled. It may not refuel even once, it may take 2-3 refuelings. For calculations, we took a cartridge produced by 7Q.
As a result, it turns out that using a compatible cartridge is much cheaper. This will work in cases where the load on the cartridge is not very large and, accordingly, a compatible cartridge on average will actually be refilled 1-2 times before you have to purchase a new one.
Now consider the option with a Samsung cartridge.
The original MLT-D104S cartridge is very wear-resistant and can be refilled a large number of times. If used properly, it will go through many more refills than the original HP Q2612A and is cheaper. But the compatible MLT-D104S costs more than the compatible Q2612A, although it is refilled in the same way.
As a result, the cost per print when using a compatible cartridge is even higher than when using the original.
Thus it is clear that for different models profitable to use different types cartridges. We are always ready to advise you on the model of any printer/MFP, taking into account our prices for refills and consumables, as well as perform similar visual calculations.
Licensed cartridges - manufactured under license from the manufacturer of office equipment. They are not very common in the modern market, since their release requires additional costs for purchasing a license from the printing equipment manufacturer.
Fake original - cartridges manufactured by a third-party manufacturer, sold as original ones. Unfortunately, there are many such cartridges available for sale, beware of counterfeits. For the same price or slightly cheaper than the original, they can sell you a cartridge of significantly worse quality than that from the manufacturer. Carefully check the packaging for protective emblems, holograms and other signs of the original. And due to the fact that the quality of counterfeit packaging is currently high, try to contact trusted suppliers.
Laser printers today are not as expensive as their consumables. Of course we are talking about original toners. However, who doesn’t want to save money? Obviously, only the owner is wasteful or uninformed about the possibility of using compatible consumables. And of course, printer manufacturers scare potential buyers with all sorts of horror nightmares. Such, for example, as loss of warranty, damage to the device and, of course, low resource or poor print quality.
Let’s say right away that no service center will be able to prove the fact that you are using non-original toners, of course, unless you yourself inform them about it. So you can safely forget about the first horror story. Damaging a printer with compatible toner is only possible in the dream of a marketing manager of a printer manufacturing company. And nothing else. Well, unless you find somewhere in a distant province of China a magical killer toner made by the crooked hands of a drunken Uncle Liao. But to find such an artifact within the Russian Federation today you have to try hard. So the second horror story is dismissed just as quickly. Only the last two “horrors” remain, namely resource and quality. This is what our material today will be about. We will look at 5 X80 toners for HP printers, which we will compare with each other. Of course, this top five also includes the original toner from the manufacturer. If you want to know the truth about compatible consumables, read on...
Who is participating?
So, our review (testing) involves five cartridges from different manufacturers:
- NV Print
- Cactus
- Solution print
What do they look like?
From the point of view of logistics (that is, transportation of consignments of goods), the packaging of NV Print toners is the most profitable, since it is the smallest. The largest is Solution Print, it is slightly lower than T2, but longer.
The most convenient packaging for users is Cactus, T2 and NV Print, as they contain “inflatable” polyethylene inserts into which used toners can be placed (a number of organizations require employees to return used consumables). In addition, we noted the presence of paper instructions from HP, Cactus and Solution Print. Not all users know how to prepare toner for use, and therefore a hint will be very useful for them.
There are protective elements on the boxes of four manufacturers: HP, T2 and NV Print have a hologram, CACTUS has a raised logo
The toner bodies are almost identical except for minor details. The plastic on all of them is approximately the same, no unevenness, sharp corners or unnecessary sagging of plastic. It seems that both the compatible toners and the original one were made at the same factory. It is possible that factories producing plastic cases for HP fulfill orders from other manufacturers during the “night shift”...
All manufacturers have step-by-step instructions on plastic. True, we didn’t particularly like it, since everything is more visual and readable on paper.
Externally, the heroes of our review differ only in their labels. But this is only at first glance...
Other structural elements (photodrum drives, gears) are also the same for all toners except Cactus. This is the only product that does not replicate the HP drum drive. We were interested in this circumstance and found out that the owners of the Cactus brand changed the design of this element and patented it.
This is the same patented drum drive from Cactus. The technological element - the “assembly” - is not similar to the structure of the original HP cartridge, but this does not affect the print quality.
And here's how HP implemented it. Please note that the metal shaft of this toner "dangles", while the Cactus one is stationary. Other manufacturers stupidly copied HP's design...
That is, if all other manufacturers of compatible toners may have legal problems with HP, then Cactus products are completely legal, since they are different from the original ones and can provide relevant documentary evidence. This is very important point and for the consumer, of course not for the private user, but for the organization. Not a single audit will reveal the use of illegal products, which means minus one problem with the law, of which Russian companies already have enough.
And finally, the most “exciting” part of our dispelling of horror stories from official manufacturers of consumables. Namely, testing the powder supply and print quality.
What did we do?
HP's stated toner yield is approximately 6,900 pages. At the same time, cunning marketers refer to international standard ISO/IEC 19752, which was developed in 2004 to evaluate the life of monochrome laser printers. It is clear that the consumer will not be able to reproduce the conditions under which the toner produces the volume declared according to the standard. Why? It is enough to quote the description of the test “The ISO/IEC 19752 standard requires testing to be carried out in rooms with strictly defined environmental conditions, since any changes in humidity and air temperature can in one direction or another affect the life of the cartridge. To obtain reliable results during testing, you should maintain air temperature at 21-25°C (optimally 23°C), and relative humidity at 40-60% (optimally 50%)." And that's half the trouble! Next we read: “Without a reflective densitometer, the difference between the filling density from 1.45 to 1.5 cannot be determined.” Translated into human language, this means that any claims regarding toner life or print quality cannot be considered objective without examination using special instruments under special conditions.
And for us this means that printing 6900 copies of this page in the hope of exposing unscrupulous toner manufacturers is simply useless.
Therefore, we took the path of least resistance and took another reference copy, with which we can evaluate the print quality and roughly estimate the toner resources in comparison with the original HP product.
As you can see, this image requires more powder to fill and means we don't need to waste almost 35 thousand sheets to empty all the toners. In addition, the page contains charts and shade scales for assessing clarity and saturation. Of course, all this is done by eye, but what is important to us is the user’s assessment of the print.
So, we printed the image until the first symptoms of running out of toner, then took it out, shook it so that the stuck powder got into the work (as is usually done when using laser printers) and continued printing. When shaking did not help and the next sheet came out with gaps, the toner was declared empty.
Yes, we almost forgot to mention the printer. To evaluate the resource and quality of the tested toners, we used the HP LaserJet Pro 400 M401dn. Print settings are default for this model.
What happened?
Record 1280 pages before the first shake I installed toner from Solution Print. Stirring the powder extended its life by 23 pages, and the second iteration - by another 4. However, he failed to get a “gold medal”, since when shaking, this toner revealed a “leak” of powder, which spilled out through some cracks in the area of the photodrum . The Solution Print product also had another unpleasant defect in the form of gluing of freshly printed sheets. When trying to separate them, the paint partially remained on the opposite page, and in some places even completely moved away from the surface of the sheet. After this turn of events, we were forced to “disqualify” the participant in our competition.
By the way... Toner powder is very harmful to the lungs, since it is not eliminated from the body with sputum, like dust, but settles on the surface of the internal organs, covering them with a dense black film. Therefore, we categorically do not recommend using toners from Solution Print.
Second “Place of honor” (in terms of resource!) was taken by the original HP toner, which printed us the same 1280 pages, plus 18 and 3 after shaking. However, no problems with powder spilling out or pages gluing were found. The toner honestly printed the required sheets.
Third The toner from Cactus has the longest lifespan. It was enough for 1170 pages before shaking and as much as 40 after! The secondary "churning" allowed the Cactus toner to print only 3 sheets, the same as the original HP product.
Fourth The place was honestly earned by the toner from T2 with 900+9+2. Very average performance was partly compensated by the absence of problems with the powder.
Fifth The resource turned out to be a product from NV Print. It only printed 780 pages before the first shake, but lasted 23 pages afterwards. However, the “patient” clung to life so stubbornly that after the second shaking he was able to give out as many as 18! But this did not save him from a crushing defeat in the “battle of toners”.
We will return to our “marathon run” later, but now we will say a few words about the quality of printing. And just a few words, because apart from the “crapped” and sticky Solution Print, none of the toners showed any visible differences from the original HP product. Let’s say once again that we assessed the quality of printing “by eye” without using special equipment and instruments, that is, as the consumer sees it. After all, it is he who, ultimately, must judge the properties of the product.
Question price?
Now we have come to the main point, that is, to the reason for which, in fact, users purchase compatible consumables. We compiled our data into a table, calculating the cost of a print based on prices received from Yandex Market.
Now we will name a terrible figure - 5,500 rubles. This is exactly how much the original CF 280X toner for the HP LaserJet Pro 400 M401dn printer costs, which can be bought for....12 thousand rubles! That is, such a large, complex electronic box, and one that prints over a network, costs only 2 times more than toner and powder for it! Where is this world going?!
Manufacturer | Full resource | Page cost, rub. |
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There is not much to comment on this sign.
If we assume by default that the HP resource is a reference, then it turns out that 6900 declared pages at 5% coverage are 1300 pages of our test page. Thus, we can say that T2 and NV Print fall short of HP by more than 35 percent. Moreover, of course, each of them claims the opposite, and the NV Print packaging proudly displays the ROSTEST sign. However, we can guess how this “symbol of quality” is obtained...
What's the result?
Based on the results of testing compatible toners in comparison with the original HP, we came to the conclusion that the most acceptable option is the CS-CF280X product under the Cactus brand. Firstly, this toner is not particularly inferior to the original in terms of print resource. The quality of HP and Cactus is quite comparable. Secondly, unlike other manufacturers, Cactus has its own proprietary drum drive, which saves the seller and buyer from accusations of selling and using products that violate HP's licensing rights. And finally, the cost of a Cactus print is 5 times lower than that of the original and is not particularly different from other manufacturers.
We award this toner our Editors' Choice for value for money and recommend the Cactus CS-CF280X for use in HP laser printers.
“If there is no difference, then why pay more?” - you say. However, not everything is as simple as it might seem at first glance.
Below are the most frequently asked consumer questions that we have tried to answer.
Original cartridges are made by the same manufacturer as your printer, while its compatible sibling is made by a different manufacturer. However, it has the same characteristics as the original.
Compatible Cartridge can be as safe and reliable as the original. The main thing is to make sure that you buy it from a reliable supplier. If you find an honest seller, you will purchase a quality product while saving a lot of money. However, do not rush to purchase a large batch at once. First, check how well your compatible cartridges work.
Why are compatible cartridges cheaper than originals?
Originals or original cartridges must recoup all the manufacturer's costs, primarily the money spent on their development, design, manufacturing and testing. The company needs to get some of the money back, so these originals have a high value. Compatible manufacturers don't have these overhead costs, so they are willing to sell their cartridges for much less.
Does it affect low price on print quality?
In principle, it shouldn't. Manufacturers of compatible cartridges try to ensure that the composition of the ink or toner is almost identical to the original, so you should not notice any difference. However, do not forget that you need to buy the product only from a trusted seller.
Can compatible cartridges affect the performance of the printer?
It is unlikely that one cartridge can harm your printer. Even if this happens, which is generally unlikely, an honest supplier will offer you repairs at his own expense.
If you purchased your printer less than a year ago
Typically, the manufacturer provides a one-year warranty for the product. If the printer is under warranty, the manufacturer must first prove that the cause of the failure was a compatible cartridge.
Ideally, the manufacturer should send a specialist to you to find out what is the reason and what caused the breakdown. If the printer itself is faulty, then the manufacturer must fix the problem, but if the problem is in the cartridge, then the ink supplier's warranty should cover your costs.
If you have a long warranty period
All warranty periods come from the manufacturer, the terms of the warranty are also determined by the manufacturer. Therefore, in some cases, the manufacturer has the right to refuse to help you if it finds out that you were using compatible devices.
In this case, ask the manufacturer to troubleshoot the printer; if they are not found, then the problem must be solved by the cartridge supplier.
It is worth emphasizing that compatible cartridges belong to the highest class of alternative consumables and differ significantly in their positioning, as well as in the efforts of the manufacturer spent on their production, from refilled and remanufactured ones. They are made entirely from new components from third parties and are refilled directly during the assembly process.
At the same time, the creators of original consumables (and, importantly, printers and MFPs in which they are used) never cease to claim that only their “consumables” ensure the achievement of the quality and resource parameters inherent in the devices. Of course, they cannot explicitly prevent the use of third-party cartridges (except for purely technical issues, such as chipping), but in all warranty conditions for equipment there is a disclaimer clause in the case of the use of alternative cartridges.
Our test does not at all claim to be comprehensive and covering all possible combinations of devices and consumables. Rather, this is an attempt, at least as a first approximation, to assess the true state of affairs in the consumables environment and compare the main parameters of the participants.
The set of cartridge types that participated in testing was selected based on the following considerations: they should be actively used in real work, i.e. used in popular office equipment; produced not only by original, but also by alternative brands; be available for sale. The surprise was that among the popular “consumables” it was difficult to find printer samples suitable for testing, because some of them belong to models that have been on the market for a long time and have been discontinued.
That is why the review includes two new HP LaserJet P1005 and LaserJet P1505 printers (and there are already some for them!), as well as one HP LaserJet 1020 (provided by the laboratory of the V.M. company), which in terms of consumables is very similar a large number names of office equipment. The choice of Samsung devices was complicated by the fact that alternative manufacturers have not yet developed built-in chips for the new models of cartridges from this company; accordingly, the release of compatible consumables is delayed. We had to use the Samsung ML-2570 (again, thanks to the laboratory of the V.M. company), which uses both original and compatible cartridges such as ML-2010, as well as ML-1610. This allowed us to limit ourselves to just one printer for testing a wide range of consumables.
Testing methodology
To compare the resources and print quality of original and compatible cartridges for laser printers, a special technique was developed (based on that available for testing monochrome printing devices). The task of checking print quality throughout the entire life cycle was solved by conducting control tests: for models with a declared resource of 1.5 thousand. prints – at 500 and 1000 sheets; for cartridges designed for 2 thousand pages - also 1500, and for “three thousand pages” - respectively, also for 2000 and 2500 sheets. After passing the last of the above points, control tests were displayed every 300 sheets, and so on until the resource was exhausted.
The image set includes two vector samples to test resolution, dot gain, accuracy of filling low-saturation areas, and output of gradient stretches. Printing texts in three different fonts and font sizes of 1.5–15 allows you to evaluate their readability; a photograph containing smooth transitions of halftones and large areas of gray makes it possible to determine the uniformity of dye application in both coordinates and the influence of consumables on the quality of screening. To detect any unexpected toner spillage, a white control sheet was output, and a test block was completed to detect ghost images and measure the density of the applied dye. It contained contrasting figures and areas with 100% filling, located from them at a distance equal to half the circumference of the photodrum, as well as in the corners and in the central sheet.
For printers with asymmetrical maximum resolution modes, the first four test sheets were output in them and then duplicated in the maximum symmetrical one. In total, up to ten pages were spent examining print quality at each control point.
After they were output, the driver set the settings to normal quality (or 600 dpi) and printed sheets with 5% coverage in portions of 100 pieces with readability control on each last one. The cycle was repeated at each test point, which was located after 500 or 300 pages according to the method.
Before installation in the printer, the cartridges were freed, if necessary, from the safety pins and tapes and shaken vigorously to ensure even distribution of the toner.
Signs of exhaustion of the resource and completion of testing were noticeable areas of non-printing, stripes and other light artifacts on the control or resource test sheets. If they were detected, the printed number of copies was counted as the final result, and subsequent shaking of the cartridges could only be performed to obtain additional information about the remaining powder, but the sheets printed after it were included in the count.
It is worth emphasizing that the results obtained are not related to the numbers declared by the manufacturers, since our resource test was interspersed with quality control, in which sheets of much denser filling than the standardized 5% were used. They can only be compared with each other and only those output on the same printer. It is with this approach that the applied methodology provides equal test conditions.
Fill density was measured in the corners and in the center of the sheet with areas of 100% black, the average values are given in the table. For this purpose, the first control point and the one closest to the end of cartridge testing were selected. Data were obtained using an X-Rite “Eye-one Pro” spectrophotometer, which was kindly provided by V.M.
Expert opinion
Yulia Sokolova,
marketing manager in Ukraine and Moldova, representative office of Epson Europe B.V.
Based on the experience of Epson service centers, compatible consumables not only reduce print quality, including the resistance of documents to external environmental factors, but also have a negative impact on the operation of the print head in inkjet printers, and in laser printers even lead to problems with human health. For example, submitted service center representative offices of Epson Europe B.V. in Russia, print heads inkjet printers fail in 80% of cases when compatible consumables are used. To eliminate such a breakdown, the user pays a fairly high price, but in the end he often makes claims against the manufacturer not of consumables, but of equipment, which affects the company’s image. This is one of the reasons why it is our policy to prohibit the use of third-party consumables in Epson printing machines.
Our main task is to educate users about the rules for operating equipment. And the first of them is working with the printing system (printer, cartridges and paper) as a single mechanism. All components of this complex are developed taking into account their mutual influence on the result in order to obtain prints High Quality throughout the life of the device. If one of them is replaced with a lower quality one, then such a result cannot be achieved. The production of original consumables is comparable in terms of purity and level of automation to manufacturing printed circuit boards. Those who produce compatible consumables do not have access to the development of the entire complex, but conduct their research on the basis of ready-made material under conditions different from the original ones. All these factors make it impossible for Epson to respond to other companies' products.
At European and global level, Epson fights for the protection of patent rights. In case of patent infringement, it holds the infringing company accountable in court. On the territory of Ukraine, we do not wage an aggressive fight; our company is engaged in explanatory work among users, starting from the points of sale of equipment: when purchasing, the consumer receives information about the importance of using original consumables from sellers and promoters, and on the box and on the device itself, the markings of cartridges and their packaging are necessarily indicated in detail, which gives the ability for the buyer to distinguish original products from compatible ones. Also included in the box with the printer is a test set of papers and cartridges to evaluate the print quality and select the desired media. Next, we use media support, including the Internet and printed publications. Recently, a website was opened that helps the user understand what problems he will encounter when using compatible consumables of different types: inks.epson.ru
Epson is well aware of how much customers want to save on printing. Especially for the CIS market, we produce sets of cartridges and paper with the possibility of 10–30% savings. Of course, it is also important for us to have the entire range of original consumables on store shelves, which is why we created bonus programs for our partners who successfully operate in the Ukrainian market. We are also preparing a special anti-crisis program that will help users remain faithful to the original products in the current situation, since only under this condition can guaranteed quality and service life of the device be achieved.
HP
Cartridges of three types from this company that took part in this review, refer to devices of different generations. The Q2612A model is used in a wide range of equipment that has already become familiar in many offices, and also in the latest printers.
HP cartridges are supplied in a colored cardboard box, which contains the model marking, a list of compatible printers and MFPs, and warranty terms in several languages and email address information about the cartridge resource. Instructions for replacing and installing consumables in the corresponding HP printer are printed on one of the end caps. The cartridges are sealed by packing them in a transparent plastic bag with pneumatic shock-absorbing cavities over the entire area.
The test results were stunning - the level of quality, performance and reliability of original HP toners turned out to be an order of magnitude higher. Of the 168 remanufactured cartridges tested, 47 showed record low output parameters - more than 50% of prints made with them were of rough quality or not suitable for work at all, while 96% of documents printed using original HP cartridges were suitable for any task. Taking into account the re-output of low-quality documents and problems arising with low-quality cartridges, the cost of printing with non-original consumables may be more expensive.
We actively educate end users - highlight the benefits of original HP consumables, conduct various promotions aimed at motivating both end users and the seller - providing him with objective information that he passes on to the consumer. In Ukraine, as in other countries, HP has nothing against manufacturers of compatible cartridges if they do not pass off their products as original ones. Competition is good for the healthy business development of any company, but only as long as product differences are correctly communicated to end users.
We are convinced that the customer must independently decide which cartridges he needs. Therefore, the offer on the market must satisfy different needs. We usually recommend that our partners have different products in their portfolio, insisting only on equal promotion of brands. Our task is to constantly improve the availability of original consumables on the market and expand their range.
HP offers options that can benefit a variety of consumers: those who print a lot, those who are price-sensitive, as well as special creativity kits that expand the capabilities of the HP printer. Discounts are provided for large corporate users. The prospects for cooperation, the duration of the contract and the volume of purchases are taken into account. Customers who purchase not only consumables, but also printing devices, can count on additional support.
A study conducted by IDC suggests that by proactively managing your print infrastructure, environment, and workflow, you can reduce overall print costs by more than 30%. That is why HP cartridges are equipped with microchips, which, in combination with special software products(HP WebJetAdmin) are a key link in automation and print management. Tales that the manufacturer specifically integrates chips into cartridges in order to prevent them from being refilled show the “deep” knowledge of competitors in this matter.
There are also other initiative programs. For example, HP Pay For Print is a fully automated supplies ordering service that optimizes inventory replenishment, radically reduces your printing costs, and offers comprehensive monitoring features. This is an opportunity to switch from purchasing a cartridge to a printing service with payment per copy and support from HP and authorized service partners.
Up to 90% of the domestic consumables market belongs to foreign manufacturers. And this is natural. Because in Russia, full-fledged processing and assembly production of cartridges appeared only a few years ago.
The idea of re-manufacturing consumables has existed before. But the Ecocartridge company succeeded in the main thing - to create an environmentally friendly product that does not harm the environment and saves enterprises’ printing budgets. While prices for original and compatible materials are gaining momentum, the cost of eco-cartridges remains friendly for domestic consumers.
IMPORT SUBSTITUTION WILL REDUCE THE INCREASE IN PRICE OF CONSUMABLES FOR OFFICE EQUIPMENT FROM 200% TO 20%
Dollar appreciation and politics foreign manufacturers made themselves known immediately. The cost of original and compatible Chinese cartridges (analogs) has increased up to 200%. And recycled consumables rose in price by only 15-20%. We anticipate the question: “Can environmentally friendly materials be cheaper than originals and analogues of dubious origin?”
Yes, and there are 3 reasonable explanations for this:
1) OWN PRODUCTION IN RUSSIA
We produce “green” cartridges at our own production sites in the Moscow and Rostov regions. Using well-established technology, we produce up to 120,000 units per year. The plans are to launch large-scale production in the Leningrad region and other regions of Russia. We are autonomous in production, predict risks and minimize additional costs. The price of our products is always stable. Therefore, clients can plan their budget several months in advance. No unexpected costs.
2) WE PURCHASE ABROAD ONLY COMPONENTS
The total cost of laser cartridges is tied to the dollar by no more than 20%. Because it depends on the prices of parts that we purchase abroad. Even with a significant increase in the exchange rate, the cartridge will cost only 15-20% more. But not by 200%, as has already happened with analogues from foreign manufacturers.
3) WE RECYCLE USED CARTRIDGES FOR LASER PRINTERS
It is cheaper to buy a cartridge produced by us because we save on the body itself. We recycle the Chinese cases and give the original ones a second life. We disassemble them, clean them of toner residues, and install new components. We use toners, photodrums, magnetic rollers, static charge rollers, squeegees, dosing blades, bushings famous brands from Japan, China and Malaysia. Then we assemble and check for leaks. If necessary, re-glue the sealing tapes. Only after this we send the finished product for a “test drive”.
If the cartridge for the copier and printer has successfully passed the test, then we check the print quality, weigh it, inspect it and pack it.
WHAT RESULTS AND NEW OPPORTUNITIES DOES THE CONSUMER GET?
1) The performance of eco-friendly cartridges is 20% greater than original and compatible ones
Therefore, you can worry less about refilling and exchanging cartridges. At the same time, the print quality competes with the performance of original consumables.
2) The cost of Russian-made cartridges is up to 20% lower compared to imported materials
The dollar exchange rate and sanctions of foreign companies have minimal impact on the price and regularity of delivery. So you don't have any printing interruptions. Production is established in the Moscow and Rostov regions, and is based on the national currency.
3) Transparent quality guarantee
All environmentally friendly cartridges for office equipment have passed 4 levels of testing and are insured by the RESO company.
Therefore, the share of defects in the total quantity of products is no more than 1%. For comparison: for imported consumables this figure is 20 (!) times higher - about 20%.
4) Convenient delivery “to your hands”
We do not have service or pickup locations. Because the courier himself comes to the company’s office, picks up the old cartridge and replaces it with a new one. Within 1-2 business days from the date of order.
You save time. Because you no longer need to refill cartridges yourself, send cases for restoration, or look for new consumables.
5) More than 300 popular types of cartridges
We study the market, customer demand and offer laser cartridges