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The Color Laser Printer Guide: Vendor & Product Profiles
Entire Contents © 2006 Prog
ressiv
e Business Publications. Copying of Pages Prohibited.To Order: 800 247 2185 or www.betterbuys.com 5
While a few years ago the Brother HL-4200CN would
be considered a competitive choice, it is now at the high-
er end (price-wise) of general color laser printers. Its fea-
tures are respectable, but other models offer more for a
lower price. Check out the Konica Minolta magicolor
5400 famil
y, which is considerably less expensive for
roughly similar features. This Brother model needs an
upgrade or a price reduction to compete.
Char
t entr
y — page 70
DELL
Round Rock, TX
800 999 3355
www.dell.com
Vendor Profile
Dell Computer, the number one computer retailer in the
US, is now putting its name on a growing set of printers.
J
ust a f
e
w y
ear
s a
go, it entered the color laser printer mar-
k
et with thr
ee models based on Fuji Xer
o
x engines.
Dell sells its printers both online and through catalogs.
The company, through its catalogs and Website, also sells
printers under other vendors’ brands, but it is moving
more and more toward selling its own brands.
Dell printer
s ar
e distinguished b
y lo
w str
eet prices and
r
easonable consumables costs. These are straightforward
models, intended for small-office use. They are so low
priced that they have set off a series of price reductions
by rivals.
Note that Dell printers are set up to work with
Windows PC computers only, natural enough in that
Dell is primarily a computer maker supplying printers for
its clients. Remember also that unlike most of its com-
petitors, printers are a sideline for Dell. Furthermore,
note that Dell’s support ratings have been slipping badly,
something that should enter into your considerations.
That may not make as much difference with printers,
since they are far simpler than the combination of hard-
ware and software that Dell must support in its personal
computers.
Product Profiles
Dell Color Laser Printer 3010cn
5ppm color
25ppm black & white
Dell Color Laser Printer 3110cn
17ppm color
31ppm black & white
Sum-up: Low-cost color printers, yet with reasonable costs
per page.
These new color laser machines (based on the discontin-
ued Color Laser Printer 3000cn and Color Laser Printer
3100cn,
respectivel
y) ha
ve remar
ka
ble performance and
Brother HL-4200CN
Consumables costs at-a-glance
Price
Yield
Full-color cost per page
Black-and-white cost per page
Black toner $62.99 9,000 $ 0.007 $ 0.007
Cyan toner $157.99 6,000 $ 0.026 N/A
Magenta toner $157.99 6,000 $ 0.026 N/A
Y
ellow toner
$157.99 6,000 $ 0.026 N/A
P
rint head cartridge
$
419.99 30,000 $ 0.014 $ 0.014
Transfer Roller $57.99 25,000 $ 0.002 $ 0.002
Fuser unit $241.99 100,000 $ 0.002 $ 0.002
TOTAL PER-PAGE COSTS
$ 0.1047 $ 0.0257
10.47 2.57
Dell Color Laser Printer 3010cn
Consumables costs at-a-glance
Price
Yield
Full-color cost per page
Black-and-white cost per page
Black toner $40.00 2,000 $ 0.020 $ 0.020
Cy
an toner
$70.00 2,000 $ 0.035 N/A
Ma
g
enta toner
$70.00 2,000 $ 0.035 N/A
Yellow toner $70.00 2,000 $ 0.035 N/A
Drum/black $169.99 42,000 N/A $ 0.004
Drum/4-color $169.99 10,500 $ 0.016 N/A
T
OTAL PER-PAGE COSTS
$ 0.1412 $ 0.0240
14.12 2.40