Customer Reviews

Canon 104 Black Toner Cartridge

5 star:		(51)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

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).

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.

The title tells it all. I priced this toner cartridge at various places, including a well-known big-box store that requires a membership. The Amazon price was significantly lower than everyone else.

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. Plus, I use the toner saving mode on my printer.

EDIT2: I have now tried two generic toner cartridges and have had good luck with them (some have not, however. check the reviews). I recommend that you give it a try since it's now under $15 on Amazon.

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.

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.

I bought this Toner cartridge just a month ago and Amazon delivered it within couple of days. After using the cartridge for few days, I started noticing that the cartridge was defective since many pages started coming out light or smudged. This happened in about 20% of the print jobs. The printer is about a year old and the previous cartridge that I had bought from Amazon worked like a champ for more than a year without any issues. So, this new cartridge probably some defective. Amazon very promptly replaced this cartridge with another new Canon toner cartridge and I have been using it for a week now without any issues. Of course, the champ here is Amazon.com who stand behind the products they sell and are very prompt in replacing defective products. Thank you Amazon.com!!!

I agree with everyone else who has put in a negative word about the lifespan of the Canon 104. I work in a fairly busy office and we just purchased a Canon laser all-in-one a month ago, and when we started noticing having to change the toner every week (!!!!!), I started keeping track of copy/print counts. Even at the lowest density settings, the most we've ever been able to get out of 1 cartridge was 1,300 prints -- a far cry from the advertised 2,000 prints. We are at the point that we will probably return the printer and go with something else. The only reason I gave it an extra star from rock-bottom is the ease of use (hey, if we have to change the cartridge weekly, might as well make it easy to do!).

Once I realized that I really didn't need color for most of my printing, I bought a Canon laser all-in-one printer. Now instead of replacing ink cartridges monthly, I replace the toner cartridge less than once a year.