I've dealt with various type of laser printers since the original HP LaserJet, and in my experience I've rarely found a repro or refill that had constituent quality; they've sometimes actually leaked and ruined some printers. In the end, cartridges are wear items that are precision items, they have mechanical parts and seals that have a limited lifetime and that go out of spec after a few uses. Its a shame because it's almost impossible to kill those printers. On Tuesday, October 25, 2016, David Riley via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote:
Hi all,
This is vintage-ish... a LaserJet 2200 is kinda skirting the definition of "vintage", but the question applies to older laser printers as well.
I have an LJ 2200 that still sees frequent use (it's a great printer, especially with a network card in it), but it looks like HP has either discontinued or sharply reduced new production of its cartridge ("96A"). There are other toner cartridges for older laser printers that are entirely discontinued.
However, there are a lot of refillers out there who sell refilled cartridges for reasonable prices. I've never had good success with the print quality from those, though. There are also toner refill kits, which seem like a dubious (and messy) proposition. Does anyone have POSITIVE experience with any particular refillers? Whenever I've gotten one from e.g. "Cartridge Depot" or the like, the prints have been either light, uneven, or sticky. I'd like to have something that's roughly comparable to the excellent quality of the original HP toner. I don't mind refilling it myself if there are good results; I wouldn't be surprised if some of the spotty quality issues are due to worn wiper parts, etc. in the older refilled cartridges.
If I search on Amazon for HP 96A, I get a lot of results that claim to be "original", but the reviews say they're rebuilt/refilled cartridges, with all the related ill effects. Staples does seem to stock it, but for a bit more than I expected (and if it's discontinued, I don't know for how long). Regardless, it's a question of interest for all older laser printers.
- Dave