New Lexmark Printers Released – 501h & 521h MICR Toner in R&D
The Lexmark MS812DE with 7″ touch screen and 70ppm is the perfect way to get your payroll check printed fast and in style!
Lexmark just released quite a few new Monochrome (Black & White) printers. We’ve already started developing MICR toner for several of the new printers. The new printers are very fast ranging from 35ppm to 70ppm. We really haven’t seen many mainstream laser printers reach the 70ppm mark.
We plan to sell the Lexmark 501H MICR Toner Cartridge for the Lexmark MS310, MS410, MS510 and MS610 (5,000 page) as well as the Lexmark 521H MICR Toner Cartridge for the Lexmark MS810, MS811 and MS812 (20,000 page). When these are available you’ll be able to buy them from our Lexmark MICR Toner Cartridge section. The MS810 series appears to be a direct replacement for the Lexmark T650 series.
Here is a summary list of the new printers. The MX line of printers are MFP’s, while the MS lines are standard monochrome printers (no copy, fax, scan). At this print in time we have no plans to develop MICR toner for the Lexmark MX line of printers as our customers typically don’t print checks on MFP’s.
MX 810 / 811 / 812 – 55/63/70 ppm MS 810 / 811 / 812 – 55/63/70 ppm (MICR Toner in R&D) MX 710 / 711 - 63/70ppm MX 610 / 611 – 50/50ppm MX 510 / 511 - 45ppm MS 510 / 610 – 45/50ppm (MICR Toner in R&D) MS 310 / 410 – 35/40ppm (MICR Toner in R&D) MX 310 / 410 – 35/40ppm
We plan to have the New Lexmark 521h MICR Toner Cartridge in July 2013. This will be a new cartridge, not remanufactured.
One major change to Lexmark’s new printer lineup is the use of both an toner and an imaging unit instead of an all in one cartridge. Previously Lexmark used a two cartridge system in their lower end printer such as the E260, E360, E460. Now their entire lineup uses a two cartridge system. The addition of an imaging unit is both good and bad. On the plus side you aren’t replacing your photoconductor drum and waste toner reservoir each time you run out of toner. On the minus side, troubleshooting gets much more complicated. If you have a print quality problem, you’ll have two cartridges to swap out to determine the culprit. For most people, the simplicity of a one cartridge system is the best way to go.
Not all printers are created equal…
The Lexmark 501h New MICR toner cartridge is currently in R&D and should be released July 2013.
The MX 310, 410, 510 and 610 series all share the same 501 series of toner cartridges. That said, Lexmark has taken the dark path by not allowing the lower end models use the high yield toner cartridges. What this means is if you buy the MX310, you will only be able to use the 1,500 and 5,000 page toner cartridges. Both the 10,000 and 20,000 pages cartridges will not fit. If you buy the MX410, you will not be able to use the 501X 20,000 page toner cartridge. Both the MS510 and MS610 will allow you to use all cartridges in the 501 series. As you progress through the series, the printers get faster. If you are a volume printer, it always pays off to buy the printer that can use the high yield toner cartridges. All four series use the same 500Z imaging unit rated at 60,000 pages.
As with the lower line, the MX810 will not accommodate the 521X extra high yield toner cartridge, but the MS811 and MS812 will. All three models use the same Lexmark 520Z imaging unit rated at 100,000 pages.
Here is a list of the new Lexmark MS series printers. For a list of the new Lexmark MX MFP printers, visit Lexmark’s website.
| MS310 Series | MS510 Series | MS810 Series |
| MS310D – 35ppm | MS510DN – 45ppm | MS810N – 55ppm |
| MS310DN – 35ppm | MS810DN – 55ppm | |
| MS610 Series | MS810DE – 55ppm | |
| MS410 Series | MS610DN – 50ppm | MS810DTN – 55ppm |
| MS410D – 40ppm | MS610DTN – 50ppm | MS811N – 63ppm |
| MS410DN – 40ppm | MS610DE – 50ppm | MS811DN – 63ppm |
| MS610DTE – 50ppm | MS811DTN – 63ppm | |
| MS812DN – 70ppm | ||
| MS812DE – 70ppm | ||
| MS812DTN – 70ppm |
If all of the cross compatibility is confusing, check out this chart. It may help.
You may be asking yourself, can I swap out MICR toner cartridges with standard toner cartridges when I do a check run. Yes you can. The MICR toner cartridges also includes a developer roller so the cartridges can be swapped. As a rule we don’t suggest doing this as we’ve had many a customer damage their cartridges by swapping them back and forth. The problem usually originates from the user doing a bad job packing away the cartridge that is not in use. The best way to insure the cartridge isn’t damaged is to place the cartridge back in the foil bag and then back in the original packaging, thus protecting it from light damage, dust and other environmental exposures. Note: toner cartridges from a two cartridge system are not susceptible to light damage as the photo-conductor drum is contained in the imaging unit.
2 Comments to New Lexmark Printers Released – 501h & 521h MICR Toner in R&D
Unfortunately after working with the new Lexmark printers we’ve decided not to release MICR Toner Cartridges for both the Lexmark 501H and 521H toner cartridges. The problem with these new Lexmark printers is the toner cartridges is essentially a reservoir of toner. When you install the toner cartridge, the toner is then released into the developing section of the Imaging Unit. The problem is the imaging unit is already primed with standard toner (non-magnetic toner). If you were to install a MICR toner cartridge, the MICR toner would then be mixed with the standard toner. The result would be toner contamination with unpredictable results. The initial prints would likely have no magnetic content. As time went by the original toner would be exhausted and you would be printing with Magnetic toner, but in the meantime the contaminated toner likely will have all sorts of imaging problems. The only way to make a system like this work is to replace the Imaging Unit prior to installing your first MICR toner cartridge. And from then on only use MICR toner. Our experience from the past has shown that end users just won’t do this and the end result will be bad/unreadable checks. The initial cost is too high to replace the imaging unit. It is difficult for us to support a product like this, so we’ve decided not to. The bottom line is we do not recommend the newer Lexmark series for printing checks. We do recommend the HP LaserJet line. If you must print checks on Lexmark, buy a Lexmark T650 series printer that uses an all in one toner cartridge.
Don HancockJune 11, 2013
This is just my last straw with Lexmark. The T650 series were good printer’s and I guess we will try to get more of them if we can. If not, we will switch to the HP Series of printers.
June 11, 2013