Another Dirty Little Secret ~ “Other Consumables”

Have you seen spec sheets that say “$.09 per Print*” with the * telling you that was a “toner only” price?  If you are working with a Black and White copier, that will be close, but if you are working with a Color copier or printer, well …  that’s another story entirely.  You see, with a color printer or copier, toner is not the only consumable.  There are imaging units, transfer belts, fusers, waste toner bottles etc.  Now, with imaging units, both Ricoh and Kyocera have tried (unsuccessfully) to convince us our underperformance is due to “humidity level variance” in Colorado.  Now, they recommend not having a color laser by a front door because this is a place of great humidity variance.    I personally think this is bogus and I often get stuck fighting with manufacturers who like to give excuses for the poor performance rather than resolution.  We actually have had some customers who only got 1,000 pages on a 50,000 page rated imaging unit and the manufacturer at first was not going to cover it under a normal warranty because it was “a consumable item.”

This becomes a huge deal when you are trying to accurately assess potential costs of a color printer.  Even if you use the rated yield, how are going to ensure you are actually getting that yield?  Who is responsible for keeping the spreadsheet of all 13 consumable items?  There are definately other methods of purchasing a printer, but if you are going to be the one footing the bill for the consumables, maybe it would be wise to not “just trust” the manufacturer.  We have a quick 5 minute presentation to the right of this page (look for the big maroon box.