You won't start your car with a starter toner, but...

When you purchase a printer, you may come across the term "starter toner" in the manual or other documents. What do you think the manufacturer is trying to say by that? And how does it differ from conventional toners?

Why is it called a starter toner?

When purchasing a printer, it usually includes a suitable cartridge that allows us to test whether the printer is functioning properly, and overall it serves as a kind of "first aid" if you forget to add a toner for your printer to your cart as well. Quite simply, it is a toner for the initial startup of the printer, which is included with it, hence "starter". Sometimes you may also come across the term introductory or starter cartridge, or the English designation "Introductory cartridge", "Starter cartridge" or "Initial cartridge".

Starter toner cartridges are not sold separately, and once they are used up, they must be replaced with standard toner cartridges.

How can they differ from the standard ones?

Capacity

The capacity of starter toners (as well as other cartridges) is usually lower than that of standard ones, but it also depends on the brand or the specific printer model. You therefore won't print as many pages with it as with a conventional toner.

In the image below, you can see for yourself the difference in the capacity of the individual toners in the Canon 069 product line for the Canon i-SENSYS LBP673Cdw laser printer. These toner cartridges, for example, are available in three variants - starter, standard, and high-capacity.

Construction

Some starter toners may also differ in design, which is important especially from the perspective of the possibility of further refilling.

Toners, for example, may not contain a slot for placing a chip and then unfortunately cannot be refilled, or they may be missing some components that must be installed during refilling.

It may also contain a smaller waste container where used toner powder is collected.

Label on the toner cartridge

Starter toners and cartridges usually have a label on them indicating what you should replace them with once they are used up.

You can also recognize it by the inscription “Replace with…” on the toner label.

Our tip: You can find both standard and high-capacity toner cartridges with us, not only original ones (from the main manufacturer) but also compatible ones, which help you save money without compromising the final print quality. More about compatible vs. you can find about original toners in our article "Which toner to buy: original or non-original?".

 

Sára from CDRmarket