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Dell 1710

When you think laser printer, an office always springs to mind. Now prices are coming down, these types of printer are making their way into the home. Ease of use, good quality monochrome prints and low toner prices all combine to make this an attractive proposition to home users who print a lot as well as small businesses.

With a rated duty cycle of 15000 pages a month, it isn’t really adequate for the large workgroup or user base. It is ideal for the home user or home office though.

The build is typical Dell, the black and grey box with no frills or flimsy shelves. The output shelf is on top and the paper drawer at the front. The processor is a standard 366Mhz, and the memory is 16Mb standard, upgradeable to 144Mb for larger print jobs. This is plenty enough to cope with almost anything the target demographic could throw at it, including a college essay or university thesis. Connection is by USB or parallel. If you want to network it then you will need to buy the 1710n, which has an Ethernet and optional wireless connection.

Despite the relatively low duty cycle, this has one of the largest paper drawers in its class, with a maximum capacity of 800 sheets. It won’t take the 1710 too long to print those 800 sheets either, with a rated print speed of 27 pages per minute. The print quality is good when printing text. The 1200dpi resolution means that the reproduction is clear and edges crisp. Details are sharp and the print looks good overall. Printing graphics or images is where no laser printer is at its best, but the 1710 holds its own well with no obvious banding or bleed on an 8x10 photograph.

The Dell is easy to install, configure and manage. Paper is easy to feed, the drawer moves freely and toner can be changed with ease. While Dell offer their standard Use and Return deal on their toners, online retailers like Quikshiptoner.com seem a much better deal. The starter cartridge is good for 3000 pages, and when it comes to changing it, pressing a button on the site of the printer reveals the front panel which drops down to allow easy access. Replacement cartridges are good for another 6000 pages, which drops the cost per page significantly compared to other devices.

With its ease of use, simple but effective controls and good build quality, the Dell 1710 is a great buy for users who want laser printing at low cost. It does everything it promises to do.

Source: http://hubpages.com/hub/Dell-1710
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