CHEAPSKATE TECHNIQUES NOTE
In this section, I will show you some of the simple methods or techniques that i have learned that will save you money while using various technological equipments.
Configuring the Lexmark E210 to use the Samsung ML-1210 Toner
My mother from the U.S. asked me if I’m interested in a laser printer. I was ecstatic! I thought she was gonna buy me a new one. Turns out that a neighbor of hers was throwing out some old stuff on their garage, and she spotted an old laser printer. She thought that since I’m good at computers, I could still use it. So I said, yeah sure, why not? If I can’t get it to work, I can still sell it to some people who buy old/broken parts online. Or I can even use it in Samsung and Epson’s Trade up promo, where you trade in your old laser printer, working or not, so you can avail of a 20% discount when purchasing a new one (this was back in July 2007, they don’t have that promo as of this writing).
So when the package came, I was excited to see the printer. I was really hoping that it was an old HP 1020, since a local store here in the Philippines is selling HP1020 compatible toners at just $20. An old Brother laser printer would also be a welcome site. To my disappointment, it was a Lexmark laser printer – a Lexmark E210 to be exact. I don’t really like Lexmark printers since they seem to have a habit of selling low-price printers that use expensive ink cartridges. The very first printer I bought back in college was a Lexmark Z series. I was all smiles at first since I was able to buy a printer for a low price of around $60 (this was back in 1999). Come cartridge replacement time, my smile went upside down when I saw the price of the ink cartridges - $30 for the color cartridge, and $20 for the black ink cartridge. It was almost buying a new printer. Then to add to my frustration, it will be difficult to find a toner for the Lexmark E210 since most of the toners sold here in the Philippines are for the HP, Canon, Brother, and Samsung brands.
Before I go hunting online for a toner of the Lexmark E210 my mother gave me, I needed to make sure that it still works. Since it came from the U.S. where they use 110-volts in their electrical lines, the first thing I did was to check its voltage rating. It was rated to work at 110 volts only. So I hooked it up to the 110-volt port of my AVR, and connected it to my PC. I powered it on, and sure enough, Windows detected it. To be sure that it still works however, I needed to print a test page, but I can’t, since I don’t have the drivers for it. So I searched for the Lexmark E210 drivers on the net.
As I was searching for the drivers, my luck turned out. There was this site where I found an interesting information about the Lexmark E210. Seems like with a little tinkering, you can configure the E210 to use the Samsung ML-1210 toner. You just have to open the printer, and take out a small metal tab. So I saved the web page, and followed the instructions. Then after installing the drivers, I printed out a test page on the E210. The printout was blurry, which is understandable since the toner must have ran out of ink. But at least I have confirmed that the printer is still working. The next day, I went to out and bought a Samsung ML-1210 compatible toner which only costs $30. I installed it in the E210, configured some settings on the utility, and printed out a test page. It was perfect! The text was smooth and crisp, and since the toner yield is rated at about 4000 pages, that $30 will print out a lot of documents. As a matter of fact, I’m still using the toner I bought six months ago.
So if you happen to use a Lexmark E210 check out this CHEAPSKATE TECHNIQUE on how to configure your printer to use any Samsung ML-1210 toners here.
