Dell Laser 3100cn Printer – The Able Office Printer

The Dell 3100cn printer is a fair priced unit designed for a small office. This printer costs approximately $500, which is a considerable price for its features and performance. You can also customize this model, but it may be quite expensive.

This device can take up a lot of space because of its four individual toner cartridges. It is also a very heavy, weighing a hefty 53 pounds. In addition, the multipurpose tray expands when you pull down the printer’s front panel. If space is your main concern, this printer is not for you.

This unit has 2 paper trays. The paper tray on top can store 250 sheets and the multipurpose tray can have 150 sheets. The output tray can be upgraded to hold 550 sheets. It will cost approximately $320 making a total of 950 sheets. This model also has an optional duplexer for $200.

This device has a speed of 400 MHz processor that is bundled with a 128MB memory which can be upgraded to 1GB. It also has a built-in Ethernet port in case you want to connect it to a workgroup. Aside from this option, you can also use the $150 optional wireless adapter. You can also connect the device to a computer using the USB or parallel port.

The package includes a 5000-page yield cartridge for black and a 4000-page yield version for the colored one. You may also replace these with high-yield cartridges. You can get a $76 5000-page black cartridge but you can also purchase a $110 for an 8000-page version. For the colored version, you have the option to buy a 4000-page type for $120. On the other hand, you will also be able to purchase an 8000-page colored version for only $215. It is true that you can save a lot if you buy the high yield versions. Black prints can actually be bought for only 1.4 cents, while for colored prints they are available for only 9.4 cents.

This unit has the capacity to print 23 pages per minute for black. For monochrome graphics, it can print at an amazing 22 pages per minute, which is one of fastest we have seen in a for printer under the same price range. However, color printing was a bit slow. It can only print 13 pages per minute.

This printer can print quality black text documents but not as dark as jet black. The result of the letters are closer to dark gray. The same goes with printing monochrome graphics. With color printing, the result is just the average. The letters were blurry for small letter prints. This made printing bar codes very difficult. When photos were printed, the color gradient resulted to some banding. There are times that uses excessive amounts of red, which would result to strange looking photos.

The Dell 3100cn warranty lasts for a one year. However, you can chip in a few dollars to extend it to a maximum of four years. Dell also offers toll-free 24/7 technical support via phone. The live chat support is also something you can try out. You also might want to try out Dell’s forums for any tips and troubleshooting steps made by other users. If you do not have the time, you can always email their support team. Keep your printouts looking crisp replacing the Dell Laser 3100cn laser toner when needed. Dell printer toner cartridge can be found online at any website selling toner.