2 days ago, I have to deliver a brand new Brother HL-5250DN laser printer to a customer of mine in Subang Jaya. It was a very simple setup because the department has only 3 computers networked together.

I remembered when the admin manager called me a few weeks ago, she wanted a quotation for a laser printer. Since her office was so close to mine, I went to visit her on the same day.

There were a couple of things she wanted from the laser printer, but the main criteria was cost. I remembered sitting in her office and chatting with her, just to figure out what she, or rather her staffs really needed.

The company sells small industrial equipment from Europe and Taiwan and has to print out a lot of technical specifications.

I then asked her what type of files they have to print. She told me the files are mainly Words, Excel and PDF documents.

When she told me that, I immediately recommended Brother HL-5250DN. The main reason is the pdf printing capability. I know this from my previous experience supplying laser printer to a large oil and gas fabrication company in Seri Kembangan.

Apparently, the engineers were complaining about the slow printing speed from their HP laser printers when printing pdf documents. They have to print thousand of pdf documents everyday and the waiting time is affecting their work process.

Because of this issue, I had a conversation with Brother’s engineer and they assured me the HL-5250DN will print pdf files at high speed.

As proof, I even brought a demo unit to the company and tested the laser printer in front of the engineers. So far, that fabrication company has bought more than 10 laser printers from me.

Back to the laser printer inquiry in Subang Jaya, I recommended the HL-5250DN because I know it will print pdf files without any speed issue. Because the printer costs less than RM1,600.00, I got the order immediately.

I have been a supplier and System Integrator (S.I) for Brother Malaysia for a few years now. Since my office is located in the area of Subang Jaya, Selangor, my customer’s based is mainly in the surrounding area of Petaling Jaya, Shah Alam and Kuala Lumpur.

Do you know what is one of the most important office equipment in an office?

If you guess the fax machine, you are absolutely right!

Even though a lot of office communication is done by using emails, the fax machine is still very important. Many Malaysian companies still prefer to receive a hard copy Purchase Order or invoice sent in through the fax machine.

One of the fax machine brands that I usually recommend to my customer is the Brother Fax2820 laser fax machine. There are a couple of reasons why I do that.

The main reason is its reliability. Most of the customers I service in Subang Jaya are small offices located in shop lots. Their daily incoming faxes are from 50 to 100 sheets. Based on that volume, the Brother Fax2820 is more than capable to handle the job.

Some suppliers will recommend a bigger and more expensive fax machine. Usually, I will check what are the requirements of my customer and then suggest the right solution for them.

If the fax volume is reasonable, I will always recommend the Brother Fax2820. The machine cost less than RM1000 and most of the time I will get the order.

Since I’ve been partnering with Brother Malaysia for some years now, I know a lot of their service engineers there. Sometimes they give me some priority service treatment which I appreciate greatly.

Anytime when there’s a customer request for a laser fax machine quotation, I will always submit the Brother Fax2820. It has been serving me and all of my customers well.

A few days ago, I went to an office in Subang Jaya to deliver a new HP laser printer to a client. It is small forwarding sales office located in the SS15 area, very close to my office in Sunway.

When I reached my client’s office, I asked for the admin manager. I few minutes later, she came out to greet me. I was then escorted into the office where I proceed to unpack and install the printer.

It was a simple setup. A networked laser printer shared by 4 computers. After I’ve finished with the installation, I went to the admin manager’s office and passed her the invoice.

She then asked my how much is the toner cartridge for the printer. I told her the original toner from HP is about RM200. She then asked me if there are refilled toners. I was a bit hesitant to answer her at first…but then I told her there are. She asked me to quote her for the refilled toner cartridges.

I have been selling laser printer ranging from HP, Brother, Fuji Xerox, Samsung brands for many years now. Almost all of the brand models have refilled or compatible toner cartridges.

If you look at the pricing alone, no doubt these kind of cartridges seem cheaper. Some are cheaper by 40%!

But are they really worth your investment?

Based on my experience, they are not. It is actually more expensive.

You can use compatible toner cartridges for maybe 2 or 3 rounds at most. By then, most probably, your laser printer is already damaged.

At first, there wouldn’t be any problems. After half a year or so, you will start to see smudges, dots and lines on the paper print out.

I remember a customer located in Subang Jaya who bought a Brother laser printer from me. He was using compatible toner cartridges.

He called me one day and complained there is a problem with the printer. There were a lot of black dots on the printout. He asked me if the machine is still covered under warranty.

It has only been about 4 months since he bought the laser printer from me. Usually the printer comes with 1 year warranty. But from my experience, if he has been using refilled or compatible toner, the warranty is already void from the manufacturer.

The machine cost around RM1800. The compatible toner he bought was a bout RM90. But the cost to service and replace the parts of the faulty printer is a few hundred ringgit.

So are refilled and compatible toner cartridges for laser printer cheaper?

Based on my experience, they are not. If you use them, you have to spend more money to replace the entire laser printer.