The five-year-old toner cartridge in my HP 4M started streaking. It was not
low on toner (the Low Toner indicator didn't come on, anyway), and shaking the
cartridge didn't fix the problem.

Although HP's Website says there is no time-limitation on toner-cartridge
warranty (there /is/ one on inkjet-cartridges), I was repeatedly told there
was a one-year warranty.

I escalated the complaint, and somewhat to my surprise, management agreed with
me. I got a new toner cartridge this morning.

Companies vary (and HP tends to treat its customers better than most), but if
you have a good, rational reason that don't like the way you're being
treated -- complain, complain, complain.

PS: HP says it's stopped making toner carts for the 4- and 5-series LaserJets,
tank-like printers made by Canon. If you own and love one of these, you might
want to grab a cartridge.

"'We already know the answers -- we just haven't asked the right questions."
-- Edwin Land

On 05/10/2013 01:29 PM, William Sommerwerck wrote:
The five-year-old toner cartridge in my HP 4M started streaking. It was
not low on toner (the Low Toner indicator didn't come on, anyway), and
shaking the cartridge didn't fix the problem.



snip
A few years back I purchased a Samsung laser printer for $100.

The cartridge lasted about a year and when I went to purchase a
replacement , Samsung wanted $100!

I purchased a refilled unit for $30 and I am now on my 2nd year with it!
A few weeks back, it started to streak just a bit. I removed it and
re-inserted it and all is fine.

A few years back I purchased a Samsung laser printer for $100.

The cartridge lasted about a year and when I went to purchase
a replacement , Samsung wanted $100!

I purchased a refilled unit for $30 and I am now on my 2nd year
with it! A few weeks back, it started to streak just a bit. I removed
it and re-inserted it and all is fine.

You might be surprised at the NOS you can find on eBay from legitimate
sellers. I replaced the streaking cartridge with an unopened OEM cartridge for
$35, including shipping. It works perfectly.

I just purchased spare power supplies for my HP notebook, both OEM, and
dirt-cheap.

On 5/11/2013 5:34 AM, William Sommerwerck wrote:
A few years back I purchased a Samsung laser printer for $100.

The cartridge lasted about a year and when I went to purchase
a replacement , Samsung wanted $100!

I purchased a refilled unit for $30 and I am now on my 2nd year
with it! A few weeks back, it started to streak just a bit. I removed
it and re-inserted it and all is fine.

You might be surprised at the NOS you can find on eBay from legitimate
sellers. I replaced the streaking cartridge with an unopened OEM
cartridge for $35, including shipping. It works perfectly.

I just purchased spare power supplies for my HP notebook, both OEM, and
dirt-cheap.

Indeed. Our company was going to throw away unused inkjet cartridges
that they had on hand for a printer that had otherwise bit the dust. I
volunteered to take them off the company's hands and put them on Ebay. I
didn't make a whole lot of money, but I did bump up my seller feedback a
bit.

I'm willing to bet this happens a lot. I do still have some Kodak slide
projector bulbs around here somewhere from when the bank I worked for
was acquired by a bigger bank and they were clearing out (throwing out
is more like it) the supply room. That was 15 years ago.

Of course, there's probably plenty of stuff that is plain old stolen
from employers out there too. Hard to tell from afar.

Regards,

DAve

On Sat, 11 May 2013 05:34:56 -0700, William Sommerwerck wrote:
A few years back I purchased a Samsung laser printer for $100.

The cartridge lasted about a year and when I went to purchase
a replacement , Samsung wanted $100!

I purchased a refilled unit for $30 and I am now on my 2nd year
with it! A few weeks back, it started to streak just a bit. I removed
it and re-inserted it and all is fine.

You might be surprised at the NOS you can find on eBay from legitimate
sellers. I replaced the streaking cartridge with an unopened OEM cartridge for
$35, including shipping. It works perfectly.

I just purchased spare power supplies for my HP notebook, both OEM, and
dirt-cheap.

I enjoy trawling thru second-hand shops. (A cheap passtime...)
Every so often I'll find New, Un-opened HP LJ III and HP LJ 4P toner
cartridges at the Goodwill, ARC, The Salvation Army stores.

The HP LJ III I bought for $1,872 23 years ago and is still going
strong. The HP LJ 4P I bought for $10 at a second-hand store 12 years
ago, and is primarily a backup for the HP LJ III, so it spends a lot of
its time under a dust cover.

Jonesy

On 05/12/2013 01:24 AM, Benjamin.Kubelsky wrote:


I'm willing to bet this happens a lot. I do still have some Kodak slide
projector bulbs around here somewhere from when the bank I worked for
was acquired by a bigger bank and they were clearing out (throwing out
is more like it) the supply room. That was 15 years ago.
If you find the bulbs and want to sell one (or more) post back

On 05/10/2013 02:29 PM, William Sommerwerck wrote:
The five-year-old toner cartridge in my HP 4M started streaking. It was
not low on toner (the Low Toner indicator didn't come on, anyway), and
shaking the cartridge didn't fix the problem.

Although HP's Website says there is no time-limitation on
toner-cartridge warranty (there /is/ one on inkjet-cartridges), I was
repeatedly told there was a one-year warranty.

I escalated the complaint, and somewhat to my surprise, management
agreed with me. I got a new toner cartridge this morning.

Companies vary (and HP tends to treat its customers better than most),
but if you have a good, rational reason that don't like the way you're
being treated -- complain, complain, complain.

PS: HP says it's stopped making toner carts for the 4- and 5-series
LaserJets, tank-like printers made by Canon. If you own and love one of
these, you might want to grab a cartridge.

"'We already know the answers -- we just haven't asked the right
questions."
-- Edwin Land

Really? The last job I was at still used a 5si up until about a year
ago... the thing was slow but literally never went down, unlike pretty
much all the new fancy printer/copier/scanners. Obviously I had to use
the new fancy stuff for copying and scanning but I still kept the 5si
mapped on my PC for print jobs. I don't know how old they are but my
job before that also had one when I started there... something like 14
years ago.

nate
--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

HP says it's stopped making toner carts for the 4- and 5-series
LaserJets, tank-like printers made by Canon. If you own and love
one of these, you might want to grab a cartridge.

Really? The last job I was at still used a 5si up until about a year
ago... the thing was slow but literally never went down, unlike pretty
much all the new fancy printer/copier/scanners. Obviously I had to use
the new fancy stuff for copying and scanning but I still kept the 5si
mapped on my PC for print jobs. I don't know how old they are but my
job before that also had one when I started there... something like 14
years ago.

It's a bit confusing. HP says it stopped supplying parts and support in 2005,
which (assuming it applies to the 4 models) is rather a long time. (Most
companies drop support within a year after a product is discontinued, even
though it's illegal.)

The 4- and 5-series printers were made by Canon, so it's not surprising
they've held up. You can buy a refurbished unit for $100 or so. The /only/
thing wrong with them is that they're a bit slow on complex graphics.

I was told cartridges had been or were about to be discontinued. I was also
told HP had trouble finding a new cartridge for me, and the one they sent was
about the only one they could dig up. (It's dated 12/20/2012.)

I get conflicting reports on how long cartridges will last. I'd read that the
toner eventually starts clumping, but HP's warranty was (at one time) "until
the toner runs out". The NOS cartridge I bought is two years /older/ than the
cartridge it replaced, yet it works fine.

I've placed the HP-warranty cartridge in a cool place in the garage. When I
need it in four or five years, it should be okay.