As we're pretty much experts in the field of HP toner cartridges, it is fair to say we've had our fair share of dealings with the HP LaserJet 5 series. As such, we thought we'd write a brief summary of this popular line to let you know the score.

The HP LaserJet 5 series was introduced in the middle of the 1990s as part of Hewlett Packard's existing LaserJet range. The LaserJet 5 series can unofficially support up to 32MB 72pin SIMM modules with parity, which lets you install up to 98MB of memory.

Being a range of monochrome printers, the 5 series will only allow you to print in black - making them ideal additions to offices, or anywhere that requires quality documents in black print. 

As far as the network connection is concerned, though the 5 series does not come with a network adaptor, there is an expansion slot and the firmware itself supports all network printing. A little tip for you: if you are struggling to install a network card, you can reset your printer back to its factory settings, then let the printer fully boot before releasing the online button. You should now be able to get the network configuration to work just fine.

All-in-all the HP LaserJet 5 series is a high-quality laser printer which will be most at home in office environments.

In case you haven't caught the exciting news, our products - the Edible Ink Starter Kit with Canon MG5550 A4 with Scanner Value - are going to feature on Saturday morning's Weekend Kitchen! 

The popular cookery-based TV programme features presenters Steve Jones and Lisa Snowdon, but with the welcome addition this week of master patissier, Eric Landard. With some help from our edible ink products, Eric shows us how you can utilise such tools to really enhance your baking.

If you'd like to get a head start on the show, you can check out our range of edible ink products here. Otherwise, make sure you tune in to Channel 4 at 9.00am this Saturday to see our wondrous ink in action!

We've got some very exciting news from the City Ink Express offices this week - and that is that some of our fantastic products are being featured on National Television! 'Weekend Kitchen with Waitrose' airs Saturday mornings between 9:00 and 10:00am on Channel 4 and on this week's episode (Saturday 4th October) our Edible Ink Starter Kit with Canon MG5550 A4 with Scanner Value Kit will feature alongside presenters Steve Jones and Lisa Snowdon.

Saturday's episode of Weekend Kitchen with Waitrose will contain a section on cake decorating with master patissier Eric Lanlard, and edible printing features as part of this. With our range of edible ink and edible ink printers you can decorate your baked goods with precision and flair, really taking the quality of your cakes to the next level!

With edible ink printers you can use a variety of different papers including edible wafer papers, icing papers and even some delicious choco icing papers! These will make your fantastic creations come to life in a delicious edible way.

Anyone who enjoys baking and would love to explore taking their creations to the next level should look at our edible ink products and see City Ink Express can help transform your baking.

Tune in to Weekend Kitchen with Waitrose on Channel 4 this Saturday 04th October at 9:00-10:00 am for some fabulous recipes and foodie ideas, and of course to see our fantastic edible ink starter kit in action! 

To give you an idea of the kind of savings you could be making with City Ink Express, we thought we would share with you our HP toner cartridges price list. You will find both examples of original and compatible options on our HP toner cartridges price list, so you can choose whether you wish to have toner made by HP themselves, or a third-party manufacturer.

Though we’ll give you some examples from our HP toner cartridges price list, if you go to our HP toner page itself you will find a complete list of devices listed by their model number. All you must do then is select your model to be directed to a list of toner cartridges that are compatible with your particular printer.

Some examples are:

HP LaserJet 2100

Compatible:
C4096A LaserJet 2100 Compatible Toner | Black

£29.14 inc. VAT

C4096X LaserJet 2100 Compatible High Capacity Toner | Black

£36.16 inc. VAT

Original:

C4096A LaserJet 2100 Toner | Black

£92.32 inc. VAT

HP LaserJet 4000

Compatible:

C4127XX LaserJet 4000 Compatible High Capacity Toner | Black

£36.36 inc. VAT

C4127X LaserJet 4000 Compatible High Capacity Toner | Black

£40.43 inc. VAT

Original:
C4127X LaserJet 4000 High Capacity Toner | Black 

£114.19 inc. VAT

We pride on ourselves on our exquisite range of genuine toner cartridges as well as compatible high-quality alternative toner options for almost every leading printer manufacturer. Brother is a huge name in the printing industry, so naturally it was our perogative to ensure a well-stocked and versatile range of toner cartridges for all mainstream Brother printer model types. One of our most popular Brother printer model types is the Brother DCP Series of printers. We offer Brother DCP toner for almost 40 Brother DCP printer models, so if Brother DCP toner is what you're after then you have most certainly come to the right place!

Where possible, we will strive to offer genuine Brother toner cartridges for the Brother DCP range, as well as a lower-cost and equal-quality option for those who don't wish to splash the cash on Brother DCP toner. When we can, we will also seek to offer a variety of other spare parts for your printer, as well as the essential Brother DCP toner. We can occasionally offer feed rollers, fuser units, drums, imaging units and imaging drum toner cartridges for your Brother DCP range, so if you need any of these spare parts please don't hesitate to get in touch and we'll see what we can do for you!

Some of the most popular Brother DCP model types are the following, and we offer Brother DCP toner options for each and every one! 

1. Brother DCP-7055

2. Brother DCP-9010cn 

3. Brother DCP-9055CDN

Our Brother DCP toner is of exceptional quality and you won't believe how low the prices are! You should stock up immediately. 

We know how frustrating it can be when you’ve gone to the effort of purchasing some new toner only to find out your new cartridge isn’t working. To help you out, we’ve listed some of the most common problems that arise with new cartridges, and how to fix them.

Have You Inserted Your Cartridge Correctly?

Sometimes your issue can be as simple as not inserting your cartridge correctly – listen out for a click when inserting your toner, and even give a slight pull on it to ensure it’s in place.

Is The Shipping Label Removed Correctly?

The shipping label prevents any ink from escaping your cartridge in transit, so before inserting your cartridge make sure all the packing material and the tab is fully removed.

Have You Performed A Cold Start?

Sometimes your printer will not read your new cartridge as it will still be processing the old one. In order to clear your memory perform a cold start to allow the new cartridge to be recognised.

How Long Have You Had Your Cartridge For?

Remember, toner does have a shelf-life, and when it nears the date it can dry up, or get moist and clump up. Make sure you rotate your large stores of toner so that you’re using the older ones first in order to avoid this problem.

If you currently own or are planning to purchase a laser printer, then unfortunately toner is something you need to get to grips with. Toner cartridges are an essential element of any laser printer and indeed without one your printer simply won't print! If you want to stay on top of your printing game, you need to know the ins and outs of toner to really make the most out of your printer. We regularly get tweeted, emailed and facebooked all manner of questions about toner cartridges, so we thought we'd put together this handy FAQ blog post to try and answer all of the most common toner questions in one place. 

Toner Cartridge FAQs 

1. Are toner cartridges expensive?

To put it simply - yes, they tend to be. Toner is a powder form of ink, rather than the traditional gloopy ink we're used to with printers. A standard toner cartridge is more expensive than a standard ink cartridge, however there are a variety of compatible toner cartridges for most printer models which are significantly cheaper than manufacturer branded toner cartridges. Of course, the more you print the more you'll have to replace your toner - so indeed it depends entirely on how often you print and whether you're opting for manufacturer or quality alternative toner cartridges. 

2. How long does a toner cartridge last? 

This depends on how often you print, the type of printing you're doing (if you're printing high-quality images obviously more toner will be used) and whether or not you correctly installed and cleaned your cartridges when you first purchased them. You should regularly schedule cleaning courses for your toner to keep it on top of its game. A standard toner cartridge should last you a couple of months though!

3. How does the quality of a toner cartridge compare to that of a standard ink cartridge?

A toner cartridge should produce documents and pictures of a much higher standard than an ink cartridge. 

4. Is a genuine manufacturer toner better than a compatible alternative toner cartridge?

Technically speaking yes. Printers are designed to have compatible toner cartridges from the same manufacturer. However, in our experience we have found our range of carefully selected high-quality alternative toner cartridges produce documents and images of equal standard to genuine manufacturer toner, without the cost!

5. What do I do with my empty toner cartridge?

Recycle it! There are a number of companies who will do this for you and collect your toner cartridges for free - some will even pay money for the privilege! 

If you thought that printing was kind of a boring topic, think again. We at City Ink Express have been in this business for a long time, and we've learned that printing - and printers in particular - can inspire a wider range of emotions than all the world's poetry and music and art put together. Emotions like...

Cynicism!

More frustration!

Bafflement!

Yet more frustration!

And finally - if, by some black magic, you actually manage to print your document - overwhelming pride!

More of this sort of thing on our Printing Memes board.

HP LaserJet 4000 Series is Hewlett Packard’s range of monochrome laser printers that come in the medium-duty category. The HP LaserJet 4000 series uses a similar nomenclature that they’ve applied to many other of their series’:

n: network Ready (as standard)

t: twin paper trays

d: double sided printing

s: stacker for your output tray

l: includes stapler

So you can tell purely by looking at the names of the devices themselves what factory-standard features they will include – which certainly makes the job of purchasing a lot easier!

If for example you wished for a high-speed laser printer which featured twin paper trays and came network ready, you may want to look at the HP LaserJet 4250tn. Say you were looking for a quality colour laser printer that was just network ready, we’d suggest the HP LaserJet 4500n. If none of those printers had quite the specifications list you required, and you wanted a kind of Swiss army-style printer we’d point you to the HP LaserJet 4300dtnsl – which handily contains all of the features mentioned above!

Owners of printers from the 4000 series all remark on the consistent quality of the prints, and if you do decide to make the jump to Hewlett Packard then come on over City Ink Express for the best deals on HP toner cartridges!

If you use a laser printer then you might well be wondering what to do with your toner cartridges once they've run dry. Simply throwing them away isn't a particularly eco-friendly choice - why not recycle them instead?

There are many companies in the UK who will be more than happy to take your empty inkjet cartridges, but toner cartridges are a little trickier. Since they're too big to fit in an envelope, you won't find many recycling services out there for laser users.

Still, there are some companies who can help, and we at City Ink Express have scoured the internet for them so you don't have to. Here are 3 companies who can recycle your used toner cartridges:

The Recycling Factory

www.therecyclingfactory.com

The Recycling Factory are based in Lincolnshire, and they accept some Brother and HP toner cartridges (there's a full list of accepted models on their website). These are recycled for the benefit of various charities, including the NSPCC and the British Heart Foundation.

How does it work?

They send you a box and collect your cartridge free of charge.

Empty Cartridge

www.emptycartridge.co.uk

With offices in Milton Keynes and Northern Ireland, Empty Cartridge are among the country's leading recyclers of ink and toner cartridges. You can even earn money by offloading your empties to these guys!

How does it work?

Empty Cartridge will collect free of charge, but only if you have at least 15 items of value. If you've been printing for many years and saving your empty cartridges, this might be a good way to get rid of them.

Takeback Ltd.

www.takeback.ltd.uk

According to the company's website, Takeback have been collecting ink and toner cartridges (as well as unwanted mobile phones) since way back in the early '90s. You can choose to sell your empty cartridges or donate them charitably.

How does it work?

You'll have to register an account on the Takeback website - once you've done that, you can arrange for collection and, if you choose to sell, select a method of payment.

Of course, if your toner cartridge is empty, you probably need a new one! Click here to see our comprehensive range of replacement toner cartridges.