Home > Consumer Reviews > Brother TN360 High Yield Black Toner Cartridge

Before I ordered this item, I called to make sure that it was an OEM vs. generic version. I placed the order on 1/26/09 and the item was delivered on 1/31/09. Although I haven't opened the package, the box indicates that it's an OEM from Brother. So, perhaps Amazon has corrected the problem.

Also, someone posted this tip for another Brother printer cartridge, but it works on the TN360 as well.

The Toner Life LED flips on, requiring you to replace the cartridge, even when there's still toner left in the cartridge. The machine detects end of life by shining a light through from one side to the other.

To circumvent the detection mechanism, remove the cartridge and put a piece of masking tape over the clear opening/circle on the right side of the toner cartridge, and then pop the cartridge back in. Eventually, you'll start seeing streaks, and then you'll know that the cartridge is truly empty.

At a reasonable price, this high-yield toner cartridge slips in nicely and makes enough copies to keep this paper-based home office content. As a writer, I need to do a lot of printing - I print out research, drafts, manuscripts, press releases, emails and documents all day long. I need a dependable cartridge and buy this one every time.

A good hint, if you do a tremendous amount of print jobs at home, is to re-set your default printer instructions for the lowest-quality and "toner-saving" settings. The pages come out lovely for my own use (not too light at all), and the cartridge lasts longer.

It's worth it for the price to get the high-yield cartridge, BTW. You are really paying much more for the plastic housing than any actual ink.

Plus, as each one of these large toner containers has a large carbon footprint as it's produced, and creates toxic waste in landfills when empty, getting as much use out of one single, efficient product is better for the environment than any of the lower-yield versions.

While other "High Yield" toners by Brother such as TN570 and TN580 print more than 6,000 pages, TN360's capacity is only 2,600 pages.Each page will cost you 2 cents while TN570 and TN 580 less than 1 cent, excluding paper and depreciation of the printer. In addition, the users of TN570 and TN580 have the choices between genuine and recycled toners.

While HL-2140 and HL-2170w (printers using TN360) are cheap, the total running cost is not as low as they appear. If you print a large number of pages, I would recommend other models

I've been using product for a few weeks now as I write this. It has performed flawlessly.

Here is a tip if your current printer/cartridge is reporting out of toner condition. Remove cartridge. On right side look for a small window (may be circular). Cover window with a little masking tape. Re-install cartridge. Toner error will disappear. Now you can use your old cartridge awhile longer while waiting for your new one to arrive.

Edit: 5 mos. Later: Still working perfectly except when I select "Toner Saver" mode. Then I'll see a little excess toner appearing like dust in a small area or two on the printed page. Of course I only use that mode when I'm printing something that I know I'm going to toss out after I read it.

I still recommend it.

Was happy to get the OEM Brother cartridge after seeing that some people got the generic.

Also, the tape trick indicated in another review is a great tip. I think I have printed 300 pages + since the cartridge 'ran out' ... and it's still going.