Compare OEM & Compatible HP 148X Toner Cartridge

Relatively speaking, HP 148X (W1480X) toner cartridge is a high-yield cartridge, offering a yield of 9,500 pages. It can last for a long time before you consider a new replacement. But the time for a new one will still come. Weirdly, when looking for a new toner cartridge, you might find that there are many “toner cartridge” described by “OEM”, “original”, “genuine”, “compatible”, “generic” etc. While you’re confused with what they mean, the time of decide which to buy keeps shrinking. What a time of scratching head!

At present, there are mainly two types of HP 148X toner in the market, OEM/original/genuine W1480X and compatible/generic W1480X. In this article, we will tell you the differences between OEM and compatible HP 148X. Then dive into the specific strengths and weaknesses of them. Hope this blog will give you some ideas to make the best for your budget!

Index:

OEM & Compatible Toner Cartridge
Price Differences
Cartridge Quality
Page Yield
Printer Warranty
Why choose compatible HP 148X in YB Toner?

OEM & Compatible HP 148X Toner Cartridge

OEM Toner Cartridge

The acronym “OEM” stands for Original Equipment Manufacturer. Put in printer and toner industry, it simply means that the producer manufactures both printers and the toner cartridges. Then an OEM toner cartridge is a cartridge produced by the printer manufacturer for the printer model it’s used for. It is interchangeable with genuine/original/name brand toner cartridge. That is, genuine W1480X toner is made by OEM HP to work with HP printers under HP LaserJet Pro 4001 and HP LaserJet Pro MFP 4101 series.

Compatible Toner Cartridge

As you might have guessed, a compatible toner cartridge is a brand-new printer cartridge produced by a 3rd-party manufacturer for use in your OEM printer. Usually, compatible toner cartridge is uniquely redesigned to fit in the printer without infringing the patents on the OEM one. So they looks a little different from the OEM toners. Compatible toner cartridge is also regarded as generic toner cartridge, as it has no affiliation with genuine manufacturer. But that is not to say all of them have no brand name. Some compatible toner cartridge suppliers are well-known for their experienced production and reliable reputation in the aftermarket.

In simple terms, compatible HP 148X is a cartridge that is made by non-HP manufacturer. It has structure a bit different from the original, but still prints the same number of pages and works like the genuine W1480X.

Price Differences

If we don’t guess wrong, the amazing price difference between OEM and compatible HP 148X toner cartridge might have caught most printer users’ eyes. W1480X printers has the price ranging from $300-550. Surprisingly, genuine HP 148X toner cartridge goes for over $200, 1/4 to 1/7 of the printer price. However, the cost of a compatible W1480X will be no more than $100. So here comes the question, how does this big difference come?

OEM Cartridge Maker

Pinter manufacturer, like HP, Brother, Canon etc., has a long history of success in developing and producing printers and cartridges. Before a new series of printers and cartridges come into market, OEM manufacturer has put great amount of investment into research and development. Somehow they need to recoup the cost back. A printer can work for a long time but printer users have to continue replacing toner cartridges over the life of the printer. To make money in the long haul, the razor-and-blade business model is certainly an optimal strategy. OEM makers sell printers at a low price or even at a loss but set a notably high price tag for OEM toners. Obviously, the original toner is the long-term profit driver for printer makers.

Generally, you’ll find genuine W1480X sells the most expensive price in the market, compared with other types of W1480X toners. If you have interst in knowing more about the OEM toner price, we recommend you to see our blog Why is Printer Toner so Expensive?

Compatible Cartridge Maker

Compatible cartridge makers, on the other hand, only focus on the production of toner cartridges. They don’t need to worry about the costs of research and development on printers, firmware updates and other work that OEM manufacturers put a lot of efforts in. Even though they are required to make the structure different from the original, the investment in the redesign of toner cartridge is much lower than OEM suppliers. The new design should be based on the genuine structure, but not very far off from it in case that the printer doesn’t accept the compatible. So just little modification with low or moderate cost can make good compatible toner cartridges. In this way, compatible toner cartridge suppliers are able to pass the savings onto the customers. That also explain why original branded cartridges cannot get discounted as low as the price of compatible version.

Compatible W1480X toners will definitely reduce your printing bill. A superb one just makes you feel you’re using a generic version of a OEM toner.

Cartridge Quality

OEM Toner Quality

Generally, most users prefer the OEM one as they usually have good experience from its reliable printing and superb performance. As “OEM” suggests, OEM toner cartridge has the original design that can fit the printer it used for seamlessly. Also its components has high compatibility with the printer. So it makes sense that genuine HP 148X is capable of working perfectly with your printer and producing high-quality prints. The failure rate is relatively low.

But in fact, each manufacturer may produce some unacceptable products due to different batch of raw material, varying production condition, assembly issue etc. So do OEM makers. There will be occasional defective original HP 148X cartridges in the bunch. Overall, genuine cartridges receive a large number of good feedback thanks for the outstanding compatibility that OEM can provide. Just to understand that there is still a small chance that you might receive a bad apple.

Compatible Toner Quality

Even though all of us favor the excellent quality of OEM W1480X toner cartridge, the high sticker price will certainly cut most customers an arm and a leg. That’s why compatible alternatives have been played a role in the aftermarket for a number of years. Most people don’t want to put a lot of money in printing but still wonder if they can expect the same result from this more affordable option. Some people might have had inferior experience with generic cartridges. Considering it’s low price, they conclude that compatible toners are in poor quality.

Actually, there are assorted manufacturers of compatible toner cartridges and the quality can vary from one to the another. Some aim to deliver standout printing and others seek to get more orders by selling at the lowest price. If you bought a toner from the makers that sell at a low price while compromising quality, you might get a really bad apple. Even among them, some excellent compatible cartridge suppliers put most of the endeavor in new technique. With high-standard raw material and professional technique, their products are guaranteed to reach or even exceed the printing standard of name brand cartridges. Therefore, the key to having satisfying printing with less cost is to find the compatible toner suppliers with good reputation.

Page Yield

OEM Toner Page Yield

Page yield of a toner model refers to the estimated average number of pages a toner cartridge can print at 5% coverage before it runs out of toner. It’s measured using the ISO/IEC 19752 test. But it is just reference number for comparison purposes, not the minimum of maximum number of pages. The exact number varies with the coverage of prints, paper size, the environmental condition, etc. Essentially, page yield is determined by the amount of toner powder a cartridge contains. The more toner it has, the more prints you will get.

As HP published, HP 148X is able to print up to 9,500 pages in which 5% of the page is covered with toner. It’s a relatively high-yield monochrome toner cartridge, ideal for small and medium offices.

Compatible Toner Page Yield

There have been similar debates around the yield of compatible cartridges. Some printer users complain that compatible products print less than it says. The actual story is quite different. The toner just cover a little part of the cartridge cost. That means, more toner powder on a cartridge won’t increase the cost a lot, but will bring you more printed pages. Reliable compatible cartridge suppliers often fill more toner powder than the required amount as equivalent OEM model. Therefore, you can expect the higher capacity of compatible W1480X toner cartridges, as long as you purchase from a reputable manufacturer, like YB Toner. We fill all of our W1480X cartridges to the recommended toner levels based on ISO/IEC 19752 specification so you get the same or higher number of prints.

Also, as mentioned above, the actual number of printed pages may be change based on printing coverage and other factors. For example, the higher percentage of coverage you print at one page, the fewer pages you will get.

Printer Warranty

There is always a question from most printer users, will the compatible toner cartridges void my printer warranty? In fact, it’s one of the approaches that OEMs use to squash the competition from 3rd-party toner suppliers. They release the warning that using generic toner cartridge would damage your printer or void its warranty. In this way, most customers will lose the confidence in buying compatible toner replacement.

However, this warning is highly unlikely. First, it’s hard to analyze how the damage is caused, usually depending on what you describe. Second, if the engineers don’t fix your printer just because they judge that it’s damaged by the compatible toner, probably you’ll feel unsatisfied. Then they will lose a customer in this way, which is not what they want. So no worries, the engineer will repair your printer no matter it’s damaged by you or any toner cartridge. What’s more, your rights are under protection of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Improvement Act. That is, no person or company can reject your requests covered under the warranty program. You’re free to choose what you want to install in your printer!

Besides, good compatible toner makers tightly replicate the original cartridge. Compatible cartridges are designed to fit into your printer and work in exactly the same way as original cartridges even though they may look different sightly. You can expect the same compatibility as the OEM cartridge.

Why choose compatible HP 148X in YB Toner?

1. Reliable Quality with Affordable Price

YB Toner is one of reliable compatible cartridge producers you can trust. We have over 10-year experience in compatible toners and mature production line. Our product list covers most toner models on the market. Each toner goes through a rigorous quality and reliability test to ensure you receive a superior product. The print quality and page yield will typically equal that of the name brand. We continue receiving good reviews from our customers.

YB compatible W1480X toner cartridge is a great alternative to OEM toner of high compatibility. As HP 4101fdwe toner, HP 4101fdw toner, HP 4001dw toner, HP 4001dn toner or it will be perfectly fit in both HP LaserJet Pro MFP 4101 and HP LaserJet Pro 4001 printer models and be recognized instantly. But our price is only at a fraction of the price that OEM charges. Therefore, it’s possible that you cost less to enjoy the same level of printing experience.

2. Friendly Customer Service

YB Toner takes pride in providing friendly customer service that exceeds your expectations. Our team of experienced and friendly professionals is committed to ensuring that every interaction you have with us is pleasant, efficient, and helpful. Our use of cutting-edge technology helps us to provide you with a seamless experience. If you have any questions about our HP 148X toners or other products, just contact us via email, live chat, phone call at any time. Our friendly team will provide you with satisfactory solutions.

3. 100% Satisfaction Guarantee

YB Toner is committed to providing our customers with the highest level of satisfaction possible. That’s why we offer both a 30-day money-back guarantee and a 2-year warranty on all of our products and services. Our satisfaction guarantee means that we will either replace the product or service, or offer a full refund, depending on the situation. We are committed to resolving any issues that our customers may have, and we take their feedback seriously. We are confident in the quality of our products and services, and we believe that our customers will be satisfied with their purchases. If you have any dissatisfaction with your purchase, please contact us by email, phone, or live chat at any time. We’re always at your service.