HP Original Cartridges

(The "X" size won't fit the M601)

Reliable Remanufactured Cartridges

CE390A Print Cartridges for the Laserjet M601 series Printers.

90A cartridge for M601, M602, M603 and the M4555. 10,000 pages (at 5% cover) for just under £100 - so 1p per page.

The LaserJet M601 are fast, reliable laser printers with an A4 paper path and a selection of paper handling options. The M601 throughput is up to 43 A4 pages per minute and the M603 can manage 60ppm.

These are not only amongst HP's fastest printers, they are least costly to run. The CE390A cartridge prints at about 1p per page and the CE390X at 0.7p per page.

If you need to print economically using manufacturers original cartridges these printers are some of the best around.

90XD cartridge dual pack for best economy. Fits the M602, M603 and M4555. 48,000 pages (at 5% cover) for just over £280 so 0.6p per page.

90X cartridge fits the M602, M603 and M4555. 24,000 pages (at 5% cover) for just over £150 so 0.7p per page.

There are strong arguments for HP original cartridges:

• HP's technique of putting all the main print components in one cartridge makes it easy for users to identify problems and fix them - a single cartridge changed in a process that quickly becomes familiar.
• HP's manufacturing standards seem very good; returns of print cartridges are rare.
• In the unlikely event something does go wrong HP seem pretty good about warranty

HP have a strong brand image based on delivering high quality print trouble-free.

Cutting Costs

Procopy are one of the best remanufacturers around. All ProCopy cartridges are cleaned and the drum, developer, wiper-blade, doctor blade and pre-charge roller replaced with new OEM-grade components. Each cartridge is tested and given a 12 month warranty.

PC-CE390A-REM fits M601, M602, M603 and M4555. 10,000 pages (at 5% cover) for about £45 : 0.45p per page.

PC-CE390X-REM fits M602, M603 and M4555. 24,000 pages (at 5% cover) for about £53 : 0.22p per page.

Printers like the M601 series are used in all sorts of roles - mostly in corporate offices, finance, medicine and education but also because they are a robust way to produce documents in factories and warehouses. In some applications getting costs right down may take precedence over perfect quality and ease of use.

If you are willing to use refilled, remanufactured or compatible cartridges it is possible to halve the already low running cost of a printer like the M601.

Print cartridges are fairly cheap and straight forward to use - and comparable to a tank of petrol in price. It is easy to underestimate the complexity of such things.

First the negatives. It's worth noting that refill toners might :

• Leak making a mess in the printer that proves difficult to clear.
• Use inappropriate grades of toner that will not make the best of the printer's resolution and grey-scale.
• Use grades of toner that don't properly match the qualities of the fuser surface causing backgrounding in print and shortening the fuser life.
• Create problems that results in field service calls - there is a suggestion that cartridges overfilled with inferior grade toner can overload the drum drive motor splitting its cog. the cost of fixing this sort of fault could greatly exceed savings on toner.

HP don't attempt to ban the use of non-HP cartridges. However:

• Printers may report that a cartridge is not HP when it is installed (Error 10).
• The toner consumption and page-count facilities may not work unless it has a "clone" chip such as those supplied by Static Control.
• HP do allow use of refill toners under warranty. However they note that damage caused by a non-HP cartridge is not covered under their warranty and service agreements, so it may be wise to check that a fault persists when an original toner is used before making a warranty call.

On the other hand if you have technical support staff who know about printers, screwdriver skills and a toner-rated vacuum cleaner you could certainly operate these printers at well under the cost implied by HP cartridges and if on the odd occasion something does go rather awry it won't be too inconvenient.

With all those warnings said, the opportunity to get costs right down whilst still using a robust, modular printer that can be fixed in almost all circumstances is very attractive. We often use refills ourselves, but then we have lots of technical experience. We are also choosy about remanufacturers.

We don't entirely endorse manufacturers campaigns in favour of their original toners, they have a big vested interest. Experience suggests that HP original cartridges generally are reliable. Refilled and compatible cartridges have sometimes proved less so. The up-front saving of paying less that half price for cartridges is attractive.