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ressiv
e Business Pub
lications
.
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● The Phaser 7400DN ($3,349), which adds automatic
duplexing
● The Phaser 7400DT ($4,599), which has 512MB of
standard memory and a 40GB hard disk, and adds a
second 550-sheet paper input drawer for a total of
1,350 sheets
● The Phaser 7400DX ($5,499), which adds a 1,650-
sheet high-capacity paper feeder for a total of 2,450
sheets
● The Phaser 7400DXF ($7,999), which adds an 1,100-
sheet finisher
All of these models have other strong features. They
ha
ve speedy 800MHz processors and come standard with
both Ethernet and USB connectors. They also support
PCL and PostScript printing. And they all have a rated
duty cycle of 150,000 pages per month. Like most print-
ers in this guide, they can be managed remotely over the
Inter
net.
The one-year on-site warranty is typical, and Xerox
adds its own excellent Total Satisfaction Guarantee.
All five models can output color pages at up to 36ppm
and black-and-white pages at 40ppm. They print at
1,200dpi, with the exception of the base model, and they
run at full speed at the highest resolution.
Standard memor
y comes in at 256MB on the two
lower-end models and 512MB on the rest. In any case,
this can be expanded to a full gigabyte. Added memory
can make a big dif
fer
ence in a b
usy office where print
jobs back up, especially when they are large color jobs. It
also is a help in mopying or collating large documents.
The Phaser 7400DT, DX, and DXF models come with
a 40GB hard disk. This can be used to store frequently
run images or jobs. Most important, this makes it easy to
print complex jobs involving electronic collation, where
the printer prints an entir
e document,
in sequence
,
o
v
er
and over. 40GB is, by printer standards, a decent hard-
disk capacity.
T
he 800MHz processors in these machines are among
the fastest in the printing industry. It’s hard to tell how
much processor speeds matter in this market, since print-
ing speeds ar
e also limited b
y the ph
ysical elements of
the
printer. However, it’s always nice to have more speed.
The Phaser 7400’s paper handling is quite good. It can
handle ledger and tabloid-size paper, if that’s your
requirement, along with legal- and letter-size pages. The
lo
w
er
-end models
,
the Phaser 7400N and 7400DN
,
have
an 800-sheet standar
d pa
per ca
pacity
, which is based on
a 550-sheet paper tray (a little better than the usual 500-
sheet tray) and a 250-sheet multipurpose tray (letter-size
sheets only).
But you can build from there, by adding one
550-sheet paper tray. The top-end model also gives you a
1,650-sheet high-capacity feeder
, with a potential maxi-
mum of 3,000 sheets. That’s pretty good, and few models
do much better.
Output capacity
, however, is a disappointment. There
are only 600 sheets of output on the 7400N, and 750
sheets of output on the other machines in this family.
Gi
ven the throughput these machines will generate and
the good input capacities, we find the lack of larger out-
put options may be a problem in some offices.
Color pages print at a below average cost of 9.1¢, while
black-and-white costs are excellent for a color printer at
1.5¢.
We believe that in terms of performance and features,
these ar
e g
ood printer
s
.
T
hey are among the lowest-
priced color printer
s tha
t can handle 11" x 17" pa
per
.
They make most sense in office environments where you
need both monochrome and color capability.
Improvements in quality are fully appreciated, but this
machine is not intended for the most demanding graph-
ics tasks
.
T
hese Xer
ox printers come in at prices below their OKI
Printing Solutions cousins. They offer a good set of fea-
tures for the price, and the reasonable output costs are
pretty good as well. If you want even more, you might
also look a
t the mor
e e
xpensi
ve Xerox Phaser 7760
f
amilies
.
Char
t entries — pages 122–123
Better Buys for Business
Xerox Phaser 7400
Consumables costs at-a-glance
Price
Yield
Full-color cost per page
Black-and-white cost per page
Black toner $134.99 15,000 $ 0.009 $ 0.009
Cyan toner $324.99 18,000 $ 0.018 N/A
Magenta toner $324.99 18,000 $ 0.018 N/A
Yellow toner $324.99 18,000 $ 0.018 N/A
Imaging unit/black $139.99 30,000 $ 0.005 $ 0.005
Imaging unit/cyan $199.99 30,000 $ 0.007 N/A
Imaging unit/magenta $199.99 30,000 $ 0.007 N/A
Imaging unit/yellow $199.99 30,000 $ 0.007 N/A
Waste toner box $25.99 30,000 $ 0.001 $ 0.001
Fuser kit $199.99 100,000 $ 0.002 $ 0.002
TOTAL PER-PAGE COSTS
$ 0.0907 $ 0.0145
9.07 1.45
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