HP 96A - toner cartridge (C4096A)

...in transit. As with all HP toners, the cartridge is sealed in a black plastic bag, which seems to me to closely resemble bin bag material!


In Use

In terms of use, as with HP toners generally, these quite easy to fit into the printer, (once you have a bit of practice with them). As an IT support person, I get a lot of practice in this area!!

Once the toner is removed from its bin bag(!) it is ...
...
On the packaging, HP makes a bit of song and dance about the toners being “Ultra Precise”. I thought you might like to enjoy the description that goes with the “Ultra Precise” title:

“A major innovation in toner cartridge system design and functionality that enables a new standard in print quality and user interaction.”

Well, if you’d like to know what any of that techno-babble means, you better ask HP. I’m baffled ... more

Are you the sort of person who is interested in adventure, romance and death-defying escapes?

If so, then I’m sorry to disappoint you! None of these exciting topics will be featured in the following review…

On the other hand, if you’re the sort of person interested in the thrills of purchasing and fitting an HP4096A toner cartridge into a Hewlett Packard printer, then this is probably the review you’ve been waiting for!!

The HP4096A toner

This toner cartridge is designed for use with the Hewlett Packard Laserjet 2100 and 2200 laser printers. We have a number of these printers at the company I work for.

The 96A is a black ink cartridge with an estimated life of 8,000 pages. (Of course this will vary slightly according to whether standard or presentation modes are used on the printer).

We purchase these toners from a local company for around the £65 mark. Generally these toners seem to be priced around £60-£70.

This toner cartridge is packed in quite a large cardboard box and is securely packaged with cardboard holders to keep the toner from being shaken whilst in transit. As with all HP toners, the cartridge is sealed in a black plastic bag, which seems to me to closely resemble bin bag material!

In Use

In terms of use, as with HP toners generally, these quite easy to fit into the printer, (once you have a bit of practice with them). As an IT support person, I get a lot of practice in this area!!

Once the toner is removed from its bin bag(!) it is simply a case of removing a plastic strip from the side of the cartridge to make it ready for use, and then placing it in the printer. These toners are the type that slot straight into the printer and this makes changing them over an easy job.

On the packaging, HP makes a bit of song and dance about the toners being “Ultra Precise”. I thought you might like to enjoy the description that goes with the “Ultra Precise” title:

“A major innovation in toner cartridge system design and functionality that enables a new standard in print quality and user interaction.”

Well, if you’d like to know what any of that techno-babble means, you better ask HP. I’m baffled by it…but there we go!

So, after having a quiet lie down in a dark room to recover from failing to work out what the “Ultra Precise” description means, it’s time to get the toner fitted into the printer. After this is done, it is a simple case of letting the printer recognise the cartridge and then away you go with sending your print jobs!

Print Quality

The 2100 and 2200 series generally have a very good print quality, and as a large amount of this is to do with the technology in the toner itself, (or so HP tell us) then I guess this toner deserves a high rating!

The print quality is clear, detailed and sharp on the page. In all, it lives up to expectations. Hmm, perhaps it is all down to that “Ultra Precise” description that I don’t understand!

Reliability

In terms of reliability and life span of these toners, they get top marks in my book. The toners do seem to last for a good amount of time and when the print quality starts to fade, removing the toner and giving it a good shake around seems to give you a few more pages worth of printing!

Our company has a policy of using only HP consumables, so I am unable to comment on whether this toner offers a large advantage over the compatible products available on the market.

Conclusion

If you are using a Hewlett Packard 2100 or 2200 printer, then the 96A toner cartridges is probably the best option you can go for. Although they don’t offer particularly good value for money, they will definitely provide the best quality for your printer.

As ever with my toner reviews (of which I’ve done a few now), the only disadvantage that I can highlight is that the price of £65 per toner cartridge is quite steep.

Thanks for reading!

 

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