I've read some of the reviews here, and I think that some people have some unrealistic expectations. First, several people commented on how the lifespan was based on only 5% coverage. Well, that's the industry standard folks, and every toner cartridge is based on that.
As for the life of the cartridge, it's very similar to others in its class. Many people, however, change the cartridge as soon as the toner light comes on. (It beeps and gives you an error sign). From that point, I've put another 500 pages through this printer before any loss of text density.
The fact is, the Canon home multi-functions that use this cartridge are leaps and bounds ahead of their competition. They are BY FAR the fastest and very quiet. (Go to an office supply store and try to make copies on several all-in-ones. The HPs will take twenty seconds to warm up, and spin their wheels for ten seconds after to "cool-off," after one print. The Brothers will shake off of the table, and the Canons will pop out of sleep mode and print your first copy in under ten seconds). Canon 104 Black Toner Cartridge
Amazon didn't have the specs on this toner cartridge but after digging around it will print about 2000 pages at 5% coverage. That's 3.2 cents a page and more expensive per page than a lot of other manufacturers. Something to think about if you are shopping for a printer.
I'm not sure what Amazon is shipping since there is no manufacturer listed on the cartridge package itself, but what I received when I ordered this specific item is not a genuine Canon-brand cartridge. The generic packaging lists "Laser Toner Cartridge," gives a part number of ST-104 (there is no such part number on the Canon Web site), and says it's "compatible for: Canon ImageCLASS 4120/4122/4150" and two other products. In small print, it states, "All brands and trademarks are the properties of their respective holders and referred are referred to for descriptive purposes only." (Yes, it actually has the words duplicated.)
I've returned this to Amazon.
I wonder if third-party aftermarket cartridges are being substituted for some orders. However, that would be an error since the product description on this page when I ordered said the cartridge is "by Canon" and included a paragraph about why it's important to buy "genuine Canon" products for warranty reasons (which is why I went with what was supposed to be a Canon-brand toner). I've flagged this and asked Amazon to review the product description to make sure it matches the product they are shipping.
If you order this and genuine Canon is important to you for warranty or other performance reasons, verify when it arrives that it's in Canon, not generic third-party, packaging. Reading the reviews here, apparently some orders are, and mine and others aren't.
Terrible cartridge life!! Don't be fooled by their marketing gimmick! Yield: Approx. 2000 pages (5-percent coverage). Most people will read it and remember only the 2000 pages and not focus on the 5% coverage, but who prints pages with only a few lines. I think this is borderline illegal marketing. I'm not the only one who thinks the cartridge stinks. Read the reviews at www_staples_com.
I used two cartridges since April 2007 to Dec 2007 with moderate printing of assignments/articles etc. In comparison my Konica Minolta cartridge lasted 2 years under similar workload. The only downfall of the minolta is that the printer has a long startup time. The canon printer starts up very fast. But, I prefer a slower startup with a longer cartridge life.
This toner cartridge works. It either does or doesn't. But it would earn a 5 star if it had a 3000 page capacity and a separate drum. I'm not complaining though, since I was the one who bought the printer to replace an inkjet (even more expensive to use). It's also cheaper on Amazon than in almost any other popular store. By the way, 2000 pages with 5% coverage isn't false advertising. It means that the area of the black part of the text equals 5%, not that the text takes up the top 5% of the paper. But that's still a pretty low average. With the starter cartridge, I got about 980 pages (rated at 1000), so it's off, and some of my pages barely had anything on it. But I use this for light-duty printing at home, so it doesn't really matter too much for me. Don't get a printer that uses this if you print loads of papers. If you buy here, I suggest you buy directly from a reputable seller because one of the previous reviewers got generic cartridges (I received a genuine one from Amazon).
EDIT: I used up this cartridge, and I got a little over 2000 pages. This makes sense, since some of my printouts did not consist of lots of text or graphics.
The description wasn't very clear that this was actually a recycled cartridge, and not a factory new product. However, I don't have any complaints as the copies are clear and clean as though it were a new product. Would have been nice if the description made that more clear. - Printer - Laser All-in-one - Laser Printer - Canon'
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