Christian Little

At around $200, the Dell 1700 printer with the Dell Laser 1700 printer toner cartridge is an affordable choice. It is a good device for a small business or home office. It is a plug and play device, which means you do not need a computer technician to set it up. The 15,000 monthly print limit is just enough for a small office. The print quality is not that great though. It is only good enough for reports and forms, but it will not suffice for pictures and designs.

The printer is shiny, slim, and space saving device. It is perfect for those tight places in the office. The printer is about the same size and weight of an average laser printer. The printer uses a single built-on 10/100 Base-T Ethernet, USB 2.0, and parallel ports. All of the ports are located on the back of the printer.

The tray on top can hold 150 sheets and the base can hold 250. If you do more, you can purchase a tray that can hold 550 sheets. The printer control panel only has two buttons, which makes it very easy to use. The five LEDs also indicate the printer’s status. The front cover slot can be used as the manual feed for envelopes.

A small 3,000-page yield cartridge is included with the printer. A new cartridge can set you back around $100, which makes each print around 2.9 cents. However, Dell offers a $30 discount for old cartridges, which makes per page around 2.3 cents. The company also offers a 6,000-page cartridge for around $89.95 in its use and return policy. On the other hand, a brand new 6,000-page yield cartridge can cost $130. The $89.95 offer can make each print cost low as 1.5 cents, while the brand new Dell ink and toner cost per page is 2.2 cents.

The Dell 1700 printer has an upgradable 32mb memory, which is enough for a home or small office. However, if you are going to use it for a workgroup, you may need to upgrade the memory. The printer has two 100-pin DIMM slots for the additional memory. The upgrades are around $40 for the 64MB or $50 for the 128MB.

The printer is able to network with Windows 98 or higher operating systems. Unfortunately, it does not support networking with Macintosh computers. You will need to buy the optional USB 2.0 or parallel cable to make it work. The printer also comes with very clear illustrations on how to connect it to the network or to a computer. The manual and installation disk also makes the setup process very easy. Once the printer is connected to the network, it will check the jobs on queue and toner levels. There is software that will let the printer email you if the toner level is low.

The printer’s utility menus are very easy to use. The software also has an account-recording program that will show how much people are printing. You can even add watermarks and overlays from the network. However, only the administrator can delete and create them.

The Dell 1700 printer using the Dell 1700 toner cartridge has a standard one-year exchange warranty. However, you can purchase additional warranty from the manufacturer. You can even sign up for packages that include next day support. Dell also offers around the clock technical support through the phone or website. To maintain quality printouts,not only sign up for warranty but keep extra toners cartridges on hand. You can easily find Dell printer toner online.