HP Color LaserJet Enterprise MFP M480 bad quality prints on brandless toner

[Timmmmaaahh]

Hey everyone!

We've replaced the toners in our MFP M480 printers a few months ago with brandless cartridges. I wasn't involved in this decision, but it is what it is. I knew and expected that HP was going to give us a hard time by installing non-HP cartridges (it keeps showing "used cartridge" errors), but I didn't expect it to degrade quality over time. The printer is just over a year old, so I'm quite surprised it's got so bad. Please see the following picture to illustrate the current quality of our prints:

As you can see, the colours are very bland and dark, and there's black smudges on the sides. Especially the black smudges have become an increasing problem. I found a detachable rubber/sponge-like roll on the back, which I've cleaned thoroughly, but that made no difference. The printer is still in warranty, should we return it to the shop or is there something else we should check first?

[Timmmmaaahh · Accepted solution]

I found the perfect solution. We got ourselves an Epson ET-16600, delivering remarkable results for a lower price (taking toner cost into account) and it's an A3 system.

I mean, look at that quality:

It might not seem fair to say that on this community but I've had nothing but bad experiences with HP, both personally and professionally, and this is the feedback they deserve. Their current strategy is unacceptable and they should know that the price they'll pay is a loss of customers. This was the last HP product we've purchased.

Happy holidays everyone!