Brother printers are a great addition to any home or office – easy-to-use and affordable, they are available in a range of sizes and styles that will suit any situation or budget. However, like all printers, costs can soar when it comes to buying new ink – if you run a business, purchasing original manufacture Brother cartridges can really bite into your budget. There is a solution – buying compatible Brother toner cartridges instead. Remanufactured toners and refills are designed to mimic the qualities of original cartridges for a fraction of the cost. Here, we’re going to compare ‘original’ OEM with compatible toner cartridges – which offers the best balance between price and quality?
Original ink cartridges are where the printer manufacturer will make most of their profits (this is why their machines may seem inexpensive). Creating these toners comes with several overheads (like research and development, for example), so the price is naturally bumped up a considerable amount and passed on to the customer. On the other hand, compatible ink cartridges do not have these overheads – many of them will be simple refills that utilises existing cartridges so very little is spent on their ‘manufacture’. As such, vendors can charge a much lower price when compared to OEM – the only difference is that remanufactured cartridges have been previously used.
Is there a noticeable quality drop if you use compatible Brother toner cartridges? It all depends on who you buy from – if you’re purchasing from a respectable retailer that has a wealth of experience and is able to show a large degree of industry knowledge, you know you’re in good hands. There shouldn’t be a huge difference in the workings of an OEM and remanufactured cartridge if you buy from a respected retailer. The vendor will take a used cartridge, maintain it and refill with ink that closely corresponds with the originals – often using the same methods that the manufacturer would do. Therefore, the quality should be comparable, hardly even noticeable.
It’s a common misconception that using non-OEM ink in printers will somehow invalidate the warranty on the machine. While some manufacturers may have said this in the past, it was only because they wanted to protect their profits as the cost difference between their ink and compatible ink is so vast. A printer manufacturer cannot void your warranty because you have chosen a different brand of toner cartridge – trading law does not allow the use of a specific product as a condition of warranty unless it is provided at no cost to the user.
It’s safe to say that if this were a boxing match, it would have been stopped already – as long as you do a little bit of due diligence on the vendor you’re purchasing from, you can experience the same quality print job from compatible Brother printer cartridges for much less of a cost than if you went with OEM. If you’re running a business, the savings you could make could run into thousands of pounds a year. Then there’s the environmental question to ponder; re-using printer cartridges lessens the load on your waste – and stops them from being sent to landfills where they’ll take hundreds of years to break down. So, it’s an easy choice to make!
If you’re looking for reliable compatible Brother toner cartridges (and refill kits or drum units), you’ve found the right place here at Zinetic. Whether you need a single cartridge for your home office printer or require a large quantity (or regular supply) for your workplace, you can feel rest assured that we stock items that will help to get the best results from your printer. If you have any questions about our selection of Brother printer cartridges (or on anything printer-related in general), our dedicated team would be happy to help. Call us on 0118 328 2005 or click on our ‘Contact Us’ tab to send us an e-mail.