While most businesses spend a great deal of time deciding how much to pay for the equipment, they rarely pay as much attention to the toner. However, over the life of the equipment, the cost of toner needed to operate a machine can be many times the cost of the equipment itself. This guide is designed to give you the facts you need to shop around for less expensive sources of toner. The various sections are listed in the box above. You can choose to read this guide from beginning to end, or jump directly to a section of interest.
Bottled toner is plain toner in a plastic bottle.
It is typically used with photocopiers and is simply poured into a toner container within the machine. Toner cartridges are more complex units, consisting of toner plus an imaging drum, all packaged in a plastic case. Laser printers and fax machines most often use toner cartridges, although many low-end copiers do as well. Toner cartridges cost more than bottle toner, but are also usually easier to find. Although different types of toner can look quite similar to the naked eye, they can differ greatly in terms of their properties and actual makeup.