We have Konica/Minolta PagePro 1250W which was purchased on the cheap when
on close-out at Staples. Beyond some annoying design defects (like a
hanging paper feed shelf which is prone to break at the hinge) it produces
very nice output at higher resolution than similar B&W lasers in this
price class.

We're now at the 4th spent toner cartridge, and my wake-up call came when
Staples didn't have the replacement in stock on the store shelf anymore.
Sure; I can order it with free shipping; but this gave me pause to think
about the wisdom of continuing to feed it.

The drum and toner are separate assemblies; so we're still on the
original drum. How many toner cartridges expected before the usage is
enough to require drum replacement? The cost of toner + drum durely
exceeds the value of the printer (heck - saw a Samsung low end laser for
$49.95 yesterday).

What would you do?

On Dec 28, 8:20*am, retsu...@xinap.moc (Mike S.) wrote:
> We have Konica/Minolta PagePro 1250W <snip> it produces
> very nice output at higher resolution <snip>
> We're now at the 4th spent toner cartridge <snip> we're still *on the
> original drum. <snip>
>
> What would you do?

I'd refill the toner cartridge for about $15, over and over, until the
drum started showing signs of failure
<http://tinyurl.com/8b2r3d>. Then I'd probably get another refurb
Brother laser printer. I've had good experiences with them, and they
refill easily -- high capacity for about $11delivered <http://
tinyurl.com/7vm65p>.

Best,
Larry

(E-Mail Removed) (Mike S.) wrote:

<snip>
> The drum and toner are separate assemblies; so we're still on the
> original drum. How many toner cartridges expected before the usage is
> enough to require drum replacement? The cost of toner + drum durely
> exceeds the value of the printer (heck - saw a Samsung low end laser for
> $49.95 yesterday).
>
> What would you do?

Just like the toner the DRUM has limited of its own life, or when it
reaches ##,### prints the printer may require you to replace or reset the
drum.

And just like inkjet cartridge the TONER can be refilled, you just need to
google for the price, instruction, and may give it a try. Or you can always
google for the 3rd party toner, drum which is usually much cheaper than the
original.

Mike S. <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> We have Konica/Minolta PagePro 1250W which was purchased on the cheap when
> on close-out at Staples. Beyond some annoying design defects (like a
> hanging paper feed shelf which is prone to break at the hinge) it produces
> very nice output at higher resolution than similar B&W lasers in this
> price class.
>
> We're now at the 4th spent toner cartridge, and my wake-up call came when
> Staples didn't have the replacement in stock on the store shelf anymore.
> Sure; I can order it with free shipping; but this gave me pause to think
> about the wisdom of continuing to feed it.

$82.99 for 3,000-page toner, and you don't even get a new drum for that.
That's very expensive to run. You've paid $332 to print 12,000 pages
for toner alone. A LJ4050 cartridge rated at 10,000 pages and including
a new drum is $135.49, less than half the per-page price. (That's from
Staples, but both are cheaper elsewhere.)

That "cheap" printer isn't saving you money.

Buying refilled toner or refilling it yourself may be practical to get a
little more operating life out of that printer. For me it would depend
on whether I can find a better printer for about the same cost as a
single toner change (probably).

> The drum and toner are separate assemblies; so we're still on the
> original drum. How many toner cartridges expected before the usage is
> enough to require drum replacement? The cost of toner + drum durely
> exceeds the value of the printer (heck - saw a Samsung low end laser for
> $49.95 yesterday).

Replacing your current "cheap" printer with a newer "cheap" printer will
have the same problem. The Samsung is probably the ML-2510, another GDI
printer with 3,000-page toner refills at $83.99. Yikes. At least it
looks like a cartridge includes a drum.

> What would you do?

Probably replace it with a used business-class laser with much lower
operating costs. Here's a thing I wrote on that a while back:

http://www.wonkity.com/~wblock/docs/usedlasers.pdf

--
Warren Block * Rapid City, South Dakota * USA

I have two of their 1350W printers I don't honestly know what the
difference is between the 1250W and mine.

With the 1350W, Konica Minolta has been incredibly irresponsible, IMHO
in regard to environmental considerations. From my discussion with one
of the upper end managers from their printer division, I'm not the least
bit surprised by their attitude.

On the 1350W (which what all my comments will be based upon), the toner
cartridge is very easy to refill, but you do, of course, need to make
sure you get the correct type of toner, as they are somewhat unique (the
3rd party distributors do sell toner they consider compatible). There
is a chip on the cartridge which is literally designed to burn out when
the cartridge is near empty. Once this chip is burned out, if you
refill, the printer continually nags you that you have an "expired" or
"out of service" cartridge, but you can click through this, and
eventually it will print, however, as an extra punishment for refilling,
the printer does lengthy cleaning cycles between each page, to slow the
printer down to about 1/4h the normal speed. This helps to wear down
components like the drum, wiper and such, and your patience.

Konica/Minolta claims this is done to "protect" your printer from being
damaged by inferior toners, which in fact it is just to inconvenience
people, and to wear their components out more quickly. Some of the
refilling/toner supply companies may offer that chip in the refill kit.

If you do decide to replace your printer, I'd personally stay aware from
Konica/Minolta due to their attitude about living in a toss away world.

PS: the printer comes with a half filled cartridge relative to the
replace cartridge models.

Art



If you are interested in issues surrounding e-waste,
I invite you to enter the discussion at my blog:

http://e-trashtalk.spaces.live.com/

Mike S. wrote:
> We have Konica/Minolta PagePro 1250W which was purchased on the cheap when
> on close-out at Staples. Beyond some annoying design defects (like a
> hanging paper feed shelf which is prone to break at the hinge) it produces
> very nice output at higher resolution than similar B&W lasers in this
> price class.
>
> We're now at the 4th spent toner cartridge, and my wake-up call came when
> Staples didn't have the replacement in stock on the store shelf anymore.
> Sure; I can order it with free shipping; but this gave me pause to think
> about the wisdom of continuing to feed it.
>
> The drum and toner are separate assemblies; so we're still on the
> original drum. How many toner cartridges expected before the usage is
> enough to require drum replacement? The cost of toner + drum durely
> exceeds the value of the printer (heck - saw a Samsung low end laser for
> $49.95 yesterday).
>
> What would you do?
>

Thanks for the suggestions, all.

If the 1350W has a chip in the cartridge to limit refilling options, I
wonder if our earlier 1250W does as well - that would limit the attraction
of trying to get it cheaply refilled. We may do so anyway, and if it craps
out use that as the reason to replace it with something more economical to
maintain.

There's a Cartridge World not far from us; I'll pass by there one day and
feel them out on this.

Warren Block <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> Mike S. <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> >
> > We have Konica/Minolta PagePro 1250W which was purchased on the cheap when
> > on close-out at Staples. Beyond some annoying design defects (like a
> > hanging paper feed shelf which is prone to break at the hinge) it produces
> > very nice output at higher resolution than similar B&W lasers in this
> > price class.
> >
> > We're now at the 4th spent toner cartridge, and my wake-up call came when
> > Staples didn't have the replacement in stock on the store shelf anymore.
> > Sure; I can order it with free shipping; but this gave me pause to think
> > about the wisdom of continuing to feed it.
>
> $82.99 for 3,000-page toner, and you don't even get a new drum for that.
> That's very expensive to run. You've paid $332 to print 12,000 pages
> for toner alone. A LJ4050 cartridge rated at 10,000 pages and including
> a new drum is $135.49, less than half the per-page price. (That's from
> Staples, but both are cheaper elsewhere.)
>
> That "cheap" printer isn't saving you money.
>
> Buying refilled toner or refilling it yourself may be practical to get a
> little more operating life out of that printer. For me it would depend
> on whether I can find a better printer for about the same cost as a
> single toner change (probably).

It sounds like you have read so much information about inkjet to realize
that Inkjet and Laser are 2 different beasts.

Inkjet uses print-head which can cause some problem, but with laser the
whole thing is no more than the rollers, and toner. It requires few basic
requirements, and you still have to do it right like. The correct toner
type, make sure the toner get spreaded to the rollers evenly and clean etc.

Other then that if the roller is wear out, scratch etc. then you just toss
to trash can to replace with a working one. That's small personal printer,
now if you wanna talk about large printer (use in big company) then you may
see the toner are stored in a large bucket, and to refill is nor simpler
than just dump couple gallons of toner to the bucket.

Other than that I don't know much about it, cuz decades ago I worked for a
big company and I refilled the toner twice. And the printer was a little
larger than a computer desk.

> > The drum and toner are separate assemblies; so we're still on the
> > original drum. How many toner cartridges expected before the usage is
> > enough to require drum replacement? The cost of toner + drum durely
> > exceeds the value of the printer (heck - saw a Samsung low end laser for
> > $49.95 yesterday).
>
> Replacing your current "cheap" printer with a newer "cheap" printer will
> have the same problem. The Samsung is probably the ML-2510, another GDI
> printer with 3,000-page toner refills at $83.99. Yikes. At least it
> looks like a cartridge includes a drum.
>
> > What would you do?
>
> Probably replace it with a used business-class laser with much lower
> operating costs. Here's a thing I wrote on that a while back:
>
> http://www.wonkity.com/~wblock/docs/usedlasers.pdf

(E-Mail Removed) (Mike S.) wrote:

> Thanks for the suggestions, all.
>
> If the 1350W has a chip in the cartridge to limit refilling options, I
> wonder if our earlier 1250W does as well - that would limit the attraction
> of trying to get it cheaply refilled. We may do so anyway, and if it craps
> out use that as the reason to replace it with something more economical to
> maintain.
>
> There's a Cartridge World not far from us; I'll pass by there one day and
> feel them out on this.

Please learn to QUOTE some of the original so other knows what you read
and understand so not to repeat what you already read.

In general, not many people have the 1350W to know what it's, but if you
are talking about the laser DRUM or TONER cartridge then.

- Toner Cartridge can be refilled until you feel it's about time to replace
with newer one. Or you can replace the ROLLER which is the main part of the
whole thing. Some original Toner Cartridge may not allow to be refilled so
you may need to start with a 3rd party toner cartridge

- Drummer, depending on the model the drummer can be limited to something
like 20,000 - ###,### depending on the printer. But if you feel like the
ROLLER is still good enough then you can always RESET which also require
when you change to newer drummer.

Or the printer will count the number of print and won't accept the newer
drummer until you reset it.

That's it, and forget all the "craps" you have in mind, or stop using the
"crap" word when asking for help.

On Fri, 08 May 2009 18:36:53 -0500, Mike S. wrote:

>>Mike S. wrote:
>>> We have Konica/Minolta PagePro 1250W which was purchased on the cheap when
>>> on close-out at Staples. Beyond some annoying design defects (like a
>>> hanging paper feed shelf which is prone to break at the hinge) it produces
>>> very nice output at higher resolution than similar B&W lasers in this
>>> price class.
>>>
>>> We're now at the 4th spent toner cartridge, and my wake-up call came when
>>> Staples didn't have the replacement in stock on the store shelf anymore.
>>> Sure; I can order it with free shipping; but this gave me pause to think
>>> about the wisdom of continuing to feed it.
>>>
>>> The drum and toner are separate assemblies; so we're still on the
>>> original drum. How many toner cartridges expected before the usage is
>>> enough to require drum replacement? The cost of toner + drum durely
>>> exceeds the value of the printer (heck - saw a Samsung low end laser for
>>> $49.95 yesterday).
>>>
>>> What would you do?
>>>
>>In article <Ib36l.22232$(E-Mail Removed)>,
>>Arthur Entlich <e-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>I have two of their 1350W printers I don't honestly know what the
>>difference is between the 1250W and mine.
>>
>>With the 1350W, Konica Minolta has been incredibly irresponsible, IMHO
>>in regard to environmental considerations. From my discussion with one
>>of the upper end managers from their printer division, I'm not the least
>>bit surprised by their attitude.
>>
>>On the 1350W (which what all my comments will be based upon), the toner
>>cartridge is very easy to refill, but you do, of course, need to make
>>sure you get the correct type of toner, as they are somewhat unique (the
>>3rd party distributors do sell toner they consider compatible). There
>>is a chip on the cartridge which is literally designed to burn out when
>>the cartridge is near empty. Once this chip is burned out, if you
>>refill, the printer continually nags you that you have an "expired" or
>>"out of service" cartridge, but you can click through this, and
>>eventually it will print, however, as an extra punishment for refilling,
>>the printer does lengthy cleaning cycles between each page, to slow the
>>printer down to about 1/4h the normal speed. This helps to wear down
>>components like the drum, wiper and such, and your patience.
>>
>>Konica/Minolta claims this is done to "protect" your printer from being
>>damaged by inferior toners, which in fact it is just to inconvenience
>>people, and to wear their components out more quickly. Some of the
>>refilling/toner supply companies may offer that chip in the refill kit.
>>
>>If you do decide to replace your printer, I'd personally stay aware from
>>Konica/Minolta due to their attitude about living in a toss away world.
>>
>>PS: the printer comes with a half filled cartridge relative to the
>>replace cartridge models.
>
> I'm reviving this thread from late last year to give a followup and ask a
> new question.
>
> I ordered a refill kit specific to the Konica Minolta 1200/1300 series and
> filled the toner cartridge before it ran out. For 4 months or so, the
> printer output has been excellent - money well spent on the refill.
>
> Lately my wife complains that the printed pages are covered with a very
> light grey haze; and sure enough it is there. Adjusting the density using
> the control panel applet doesn't seem to change it.
>
> I removed the toner and drum cartridges and had a look. The drum is coated
> with a light dust of toner; I don't remember this appearance as being
> normal. I suppose this excess toner on the drum is related to the haze on
> the printed pages.
>
> I remembered discussions where proper refilling requires cleaning certain
> parts of the cartridge, and wonder if this is a side effect of re-using a
> toner cartridge not meant for extended use.
>
> Anything else to look for?

You got what you paid for.

measekite wrote:
> On Fri, 08 May 2009 18:36:53 -0500, Mike S. wrote:
>
>>> Mike S. wrote:
>>>> We have Konica/Minolta PagePro 1250W which was purchased on the cheap when
>>>> on close-out at Staples. Beyond some annoying design defects (like a
>>>> hanging paper feed shelf which is prone to break at the hinge) it produces
>>>> very nice output at higher resolution than similar B&W lasers in this
>>>> price class.
>>>>
>>>> We're now at the 4th spent toner cartridge, and my wake-up call came when
>>>> Staples didn't have the replacement in stock on the store shelf anymore.
>>>> Sure; I can order it with free shipping; but this gave me pause to think
>>>> about the wisdom of continuing to feed it.
>>>>
>>>> The drum and toner are separate assemblies; so we're still on the
>>>> original drum. How many toner cartridges expected before the usage is
>>>> enough to require drum replacement? The cost of toner + drum durely
>>>> exceeds the value of the printer (heck - saw a Samsung low end laser for
>>>> $49.95 yesterday).
>>>>
>>>> What would you do?
>>>>
>>> In article <Ib36l.22232$(E-Mail Removed)>,
>>> Arthur Entlich <e-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>> I have two of their 1350W printers I don't honestly know what the
>>> difference is between the 1250W and mine.
>>>
>>> With the 1350W, Konica Minolta has been incredibly irresponsible, IMHO
>>> in regard to environmental considerations. From my discussion with one
>>> of the upper end managers from their printer division, I'm not the least
>>> bit surprised by their attitude.
>>>
>>> On the 1350W (which what all my comments will be based upon), the toner
>>> cartridge is very easy to refill, but you do, of course, need to make
>>> sure you get the correct type of toner, as they are somewhat unique (the
>>> 3rd party distributors do sell toner they consider compatible). There
>>> is a chip on the cartridge which is literally designed to burn out when
>>> the cartridge is near empty. Once this chip is burned out, if you
>>> refill, the printer continually nags you that you have an "expired" or
>>> "out of service" cartridge, but you can click through this, and
>>> eventually it will print, however, as an extra punishment for refilling,
>>> the printer does lengthy cleaning cycles between each page, to slow the
>>> printer down to about 1/4h the normal speed. This helps to wear down
>>> components like the drum, wiper and such, and your patience.
>>>
>>> Konica/Minolta claims this is done to "protect" your printer from being
>>> damaged by inferior toners, which in fact it is just to inconvenience
>>> people, and to wear their components out more quickly. Some of the
>>> refilling/toner supply companies may offer that chip in the refill kit.
>>>
>>> If you do decide to replace your printer, I'd personally stay aware from
>>> Konica/Minolta due to their attitude about living in a toss away world.
>>>
>>> PS: the printer comes with a half filled cartridge relative to the
>>> replace cartridge models.
>> I'm reviving this thread from late last year to give a followup and ask a
>> new question.
>>
>> I ordered a refill kit specific to the Konica Minolta 1200/1300 series and
>> filled the toner cartridge before it ran out. For 4 months or so, the
>> printer output has been excellent - money well spent on the refill.
>>
>> Lately my wife complains that the printed pages are covered with a very
>> light grey haze; and sure enough it is there. Adjusting the density using
>> the control panel applet doesn't seem to change it.
>>
>> I removed the toner and drum cartridges and had a look. The drum is coated
>> with a light dust of toner; I don't remember this appearance as being
>> normal. I suppose this excess toner on the drum is related to the haze on
>> the printed pages.
>>
>> I remembered discussions where proper refilling requires cleaning certain
>> parts of the cartridge, and wonder if this is a side effect of re-using a
>> toner cartridge not meant for extended use.
>>
>> Anything else to look for?
>
> You got what you paid for.

What about that compatible photo paper you use? Did you get what you
paid for?