Laser printer toner, also called a ‘laser printer toner cartridge’ is nothing but a dry powder that is electrically charged during laser printing, so that it gets transferred onto the paper, thereby completing the process of printing. Usually, this toner comes in a cartridge which is inserted into the printer. One such cartridge can then be used for printing a thousand pages. Once the cartridge empties, it can be replaced or refilled easily. A cartridge, which can be replaced, offers two advantages: speed and portability.

Four types of laser printer toners exist in the market. First are the inkjet and toner cartridges produced by manufacturers under their own brand name. These are called ‘OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer)’, for example, Canon OEM, Epson OEM, Lexmark OEM, HP OEM, and Brother OEM. The second type is known as ‘Compatible (Generic)’ toner cartridge, which is produced in order to equal or excel the OEM toner cartridges. These are cheaper than OEM cartridges. The third one includes ‘Remanufactured (Refurbished)’ toner cartridge, which are recycled from the OEMs. And the last type is ‘Refill Kits’, which is the most inexpensive method to replace the toner cartridge.

There are benefits to using toner cartridges in a laser printer. First of all, laser printer toners have the capacity to print thousands of pages, and usually cost less per page compared to inkjet cartridges. Also, the printing speed is much quicker than inkjet cartridges, and they work on almost every type of paper. The only drawback of laser toner cartridges is that their initial cost is higher. Nevertheless, in due course they prove to be much more economical if a lot of printing has to be done.