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The results are in on the second test of a Third-Party toner cartridge with good news in the page yield department and bad news in the leaked toner department.

As expected, the printer printed for nearly three weeks this time before running out of toner. The page yield for this cartridge was 16,162 pages which is above the published page yeild of 15,000 and is definitely acceptable. One thing to note, however, is that I have received several complaints that the print from this brand of cartridge is not as black or sharp as with preceeding toner cartridges - that it is more "dark grey" or "charcoal" in appearance than black. For inter-company prints that are being used for review and then disposed of, this is probably not an issue; for printed matter that is destined for customers, this can be a big issue. If you intended to only print documents for use within your company, I might be inclined to tell you to use a third-party cartridge were it not for the fact that this cartridge leaked an inordinate amount of toner.

Put simply, the amount of toner that was leaked into the printer is unacceptable. A large quantity of toner leaked out on the right-hand side of the toner cartridge and onto the transfer roller, drive gears, and paper path. There was also a small amount of toner that leaked out high on the left-hand side of the toner cartridge and getting into the transfer roller. Note that when toner gets onto the transfer roller it can significantly degrade print quality by causing streaks, lines, and smudges on documents. When this occurs, the transfer roller must be replaced. Toner that gets into the drive mechanism of a printer can cause parts to wear prematurely, requiring more frequent service.

While the page yield showed improvement with the second test, the cartridge still leaked toner. Considering the results from testing these two third-party cartridges, along with my experience with repairing printers, I would say the expense of repairs negate any savings you might see with the use of third-party toner cartridges. I'll hold my final opinion until after I have run one last OEM cartridge through this printer.