OT: Is Samsung toner particularly crap?

[no_spam]

A couple of years ago I bought a Samsung CLP-680 colour laser printer - it doesn't get used much and, after 500 colour pages, there's about 35% toner left. I while ago it started printing badly so I invoked my (free!) 5 year warranty, but Samsung say that the toner is only warranted for 6 months and needs replacing, despite showing 35% remaining. Previous HP printers haven't had this problem so is there something particularly crap about Samsung toner, or are they trying to fob me off?

[Brian-Gaff]

Well have you removed the cart and done the tip it about a bit thing? also does this toner cart also have the drum in it as do the hp ones? often I understand it is the drum that gets faulty rather than the toner. This happens if it has the platinum wires that charge it up included as well, as they get slightly pitted and corroded due to the ozone or something. strange that hps work so well though, grin.

Do Samsung make their own print engine or just use one off the shelf?

Another funny one is that if the printers are in any damp at all, the toner seems to absorb his and not work so well.

Brian

[no_spam]

Yes, they've been thoroughly shaken about, but to no avail. Kept in a dry home office so damp isn't an issue.

They have an integral drum, so a full set of originals costs about £240!!

[The Natural Philosopher]

same for any small color laser.

3rd party set a bit cheaper.

[Davey]

But at least they don't dry up after a couple of weeks, like inkjet printer cartridges.

Are 3rd party laser cartridges for hp laser printers ok? I had variable (read: bad) quality issues with a couple of different inkjet brands, and that wasn't due to leaving them to dry out, typically there was one nozzle blocked, leaving a white stripe on the printout.

[The Natural Philosopher]

yes ish.

buy from a reasonable place wit some recommends, but expect the color balance to be different.

I spent a long tome trying to get a print run to look right/.

I had variable

[Martin Brown]

I suspect failure to use it often enough has led to the toner clumping.

Which is why I favour a big heavy ugly one (if you have the room)!

I also have a monochrome Samsung ML-2550 workhorse and it has been pretty well behaved especially for a duplex printer.

The third party toners for my Dell 1320c are surprisingly close to the OEM colour balance (and a full set costs less than one original).

My experience with third party inkjet inks has been mixed. Some "clones" didn't work at all but were cheap enough to throw away.

I found one brand that worked and then stuck with them.

[Charles Hope]

The ones fitted in the 2nd hand HP printer I bought were poor. The magenta one leaked toner and the cyan one was the wrong colour,