Toner Question

[Marrow Man]

I purchased a brand new Canon D320 digital copier for the church back in January. Our dinosaur finally went extinct, so this was a needed purchase. It cost $250, but came with a $125 rebate (which we have already received). The only downside is that replacement toner cartridges for the copier also cost $125.

I bought a backup cartridge the same day I bought the copier. The salesman told me the one that came with it probably wouldn't last very long (sort of like the cartridge that comes with computer printers I guess). Well, it started making streaked copies yesterday. I did the shaking the cartridge routine and have gotten a few more copies out of it, but it's started streaking again. I'm going to replace the cartridge with a new one tomorrow, D.V.

I have a few questions regarding this matter. First, is this usual for the initial cartridge? We don't ordinarily run many copies -- probably an average of 100 a week. We ran more this past month because we hosted presbytery, which required more copying. Also, do any of you know sites that might sell the cartridge cheaper than $125? The cheapest I've been able to find online is around $119 (free shipping). And thirdly, do any of you used the refurbished toner places? If so, are they good/reliable? And do you get your money's worth out of the cartridges in terms of quality and # of copies made?

 

[Theognome]

There is an inverse relationship between the purchase price of a copier and the cost of cartridges. As a general rule, the more you pay for the machine, the less it will cost to run. It's a good idea to research the CPC (cost per copy) before making the purchase and compare that to the estimated amount of copies you'll be making.

Theognome

-----Added 3/26/2009 at 07:55:45 EST-----

Here's a review of the printer from a fellow who bought one for church work-

I bought the Canon ImageClass D320 for our church. The need was for approximately 60 double-sided sheets each Sunday. We'd use the printer to print text directly from MS Word, and the copier was needed for any miscellaneous items (i.e. hymns not found in the hymnal). The Canon ImageClass D320 appeared to be powerful yet economical enough for this setting.

Since we've used this printer/copier over a year now, here is some real-life feedback:

(1) YOU WILL NEED TO BUY A USB CABLE.

(2) Driver installation auto-detection was smooth on Windows 98. However, auto-detection on Windows 2000 is non-existent. I had to point it to the .INF files myself. Not for the novice.

(3) Don't print/copy more than 15 sheets at a time. The output tray will either spill-out or jam up if you do more. Initially, I expected the output to dump into a tray off to the side. Instead, it's designed to end up directly under the scanner engine (see dark area in photo above).

(4) The heat of the print engine vents into the output tray making the copies "curl" as you pull them out. Not good if you need double-sided copies.

(5) Along with the paper cassette, it comes with a manual-feed slot which is great for one-offs, but poor if you need to do a lot of double-sided printing. We leave ours off permanently.

(6) Double-sided printing - Because of (4), the paper is curled which makes it not stack well, nor feed well for the reverse printing. Either the paper feeds crookedly, or more than one sheet "grabs" at a time. Our solution is to physically hold down the sheets except for the one to be grabbed next. Not good if you have to deal with (3) at the same time.

(7) Copying - We had problems with crooked copies, no matter how straight on the glass you put the document. We had a service plan, so this was subsequently fixed.

In general, I feel the Canon is good for single-sided report printing and non-critical photocopying (like tax documents, etc.), but not up to true SOHO tasks. Take a good look around before you decide to purchase this item.


Theognome

 

[Marrow Man]

Thanks, Bill. I read a number of customer reviews before purchasing it. All were much more positive than this guy.

I would not have bought it if running double-sided copies were a weekly thing. I do run some double-sided copies for Wed nights, but not as many as he needs. They do sometimes curl, but it's never been a problem. For Sunday bulletins, we purchased the sets from Great Commission, so they come already with one side printed. We only need to make copies for the inside (the "guts" of the order of worship). So none of this has been a problem. It's never given me any trouble running 50 copies at a time.

The copier can run as an all-in-one from the computer by hooking up a USB cable, but I've never tried this. I didn't buy it for that purpose. The way the church office is configured, I'd have a USB cable going across a walkway in order to make use of this function. Instead, I went to Best Buy and purchased a printer for $22 when the one I was using went bad.

Did the guy who wrote the review say anything about the cost to make copies or the price of toners?

 

[Theognome]

He did not, but apparently those cartridges are good for about 1,750 copies. I did find a site that claims to have clones available for under $40.00-

Verbatim Canon D320/D340 Compatible Laser Toner Cartridge: Compare Prices, View Price History and Read Reviews at NexTag

Theognome