Toner Transfer

[BradC]

Does the wiper also degrade in factory sealed package?

Yes.

[KL27x]

Good to know. Use it or lose it, eh? I suppose it's just as well that I am not reserving the HP solely for PCB, anymore.

Had a peek in my order history, and damn. I actually bought this HP 1102 in the second quarter of 2012 for $110, delivered. So it's been nearly 7 years, now.
I haven't managed to find where/when/what I paid for the OEM cartridges. I also can't find my second cartridge, so I think it's most likely that's the one that's in the machine, and I just forgot I used both.

$110.00 plus w/e I paid for the genuine cartridges, let's say it was $75.00 for the pair, even. Divided by say 5 years (because I let the Brother do the heavy lifting while I had it). That's $37.00 a year if the printer died today. And I'm pretty happy with 5 years out of an inexpensive machine as this.

I am seeing all kinds of generic cartridges for this printer, now, at as little as $15.00 for a 2 pack. It would be nice if those work halfway decent. From what I have read and my own experience, the generic carts/toners are likely to use the most common toner that is compatible with toner transfer.
 
Of course this in hindsight. When you buy w/e is today's $100.00 printer, you are scratching a new lottery ticket.  I suspect every printer from a respectable printer company is 99%+ likely to last at least as long as the warranty, because they been playing this game for a really long time. Reliability is there, even if model updates and obscolescence are part of the game. And the cardinal sin that will cost them bucket loads of money and lost bonuses is warranty service of a bad product. I consider the cost of replacing an entry level printer as the premium I pay to not have to ever "Press 1 for English. Press 2 for Espanole. Please hold... ... ok, thanks for holding. Can you read me the serial number off the back of your printer? Have you tried turning the printer off and on? Yes? Ok, great! I want you to turn the printer off.. ok, now turn it back on. Now try to print." It's more convenient to buy a new one, so long as they keep the price point where it is.