I also bought a cheap laser printer the other day.
They seem to be applying the same pricing model to them as they do to inkjets now.

Not really idiocy - there are always a few customers who will just say "fuck it" and buy the toner.

When mine runs out, I'm going to figure out how to hack it and refill the cartridge... :)
(Flap Burger hasn't really got a burger made of flaps, Thu 1 Mar 2012, 0:00, 3 replies)

The
previous Brother printer I had had a great hack. When the low toner light comes on you simply put a bit of tape over a hole on the toner unit. It just kept going and going. Easily another 1000 pages. Sadly, you can't do it with these new ones
( Legless Mister Stabby - shanks for the memory, Thu 1 Mar 2012, 0:02, closed)

or
when the low toner light comes on you simply put a bit of tape over the light. Problem solved.
( Pig Bodine., Thu 1 Mar 2012, 10:27, closed)

Sadly
this is the way of the world.
( P-MONKE We're all fucked, Thu 1 Mar 2012, 8:10, closed)

It's barely worth the trouble
Most of them have killer chips, which basically stop the toner cartridge from working when it's empty.

You have to replace that as well, I worked out refilling costs about 2/3 the cost of a new one, and is messy.

Cheapos aren't good either. Last week I ordered a non-OEM one for my Samsung colour laser printer, it arrived with half the toner on the outside of the cartridge, so went straight back to Amazon.

[edit] If you feel brave, Google 'killer chip [your printer model]' and look at the youtube videos. Quite often some mad Russian has worked out how permanently disable the print count function, so you can just top up the cartridges with cheapo toner indefinitely.

Normally requires soldering wires onto chips, so it's not for everyone. Obviously kills any warranty too.
(username failed moderation, Thu 1 Mar 2012, 8:16, closed)