- Dell, Inc Laser Printer,2350DN,884116055839,Dell Laser Printers,Laser Printers,Printers,Dell, Inc
My workhorse HP LaserJet 2200d finally gave up the ghost last year after many long years of completely trouble-free service. I spent a lot of time searching for a replacement, reading reviews and specs and comparing numerous models. I even considered purchasing a color laser printer. In the end, I purchased this printer (directly from Dell), and I am very happy with it.
WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR
Here is what I was looking for, in order of importance from highest to lowest:
* automatic duplexing
* network capability
* reliability
* low to average per-page costs from consumables (primarily toner)
* high resolution
* quiet operation
* multiple paper sizes and weights
I wasn''t as concerned about printing speed or duty cycles, though I considered those as well; this printer is for home use, so most printers'' duty cycles are more than adequate for our needs. I wanted to spend under $200 but was mentally prepared to have to spend up to $400 for a printer that would meet my needs without breaking the bank. I was also hoping to perhaps get a good color laser printer instead of continuing with a monochrome printer.
MY SEARCH
For every printer I looked at, I read every review I could find, ranging from personal reviews to reviews on computer magazine/consumer electronic sites. For each printer, reviewers mentioned some kind of drawback that made me hesitate; for example, high toner costs. Sometimes replacement toner will cost almost as much as (or sometimes even more than) the printer--what''s up with that? At that point, why not just buy a new printer every time your toner runs out?
In addition, the reviews of the low-end color laser printers were pretty much universally bad. The reviewers might start out saying, "This is a great printer," but then they would continue with, "Well, the cost per page is pretty high, and the print quality isn''t very good unless you spend a lot of time fussing with settings, but we still recommend it." I guess they left off "If you don''t mind wasting your money."
I was getting a bit discouraged, thinking that perhaps I just wouldn''t be able to get what I wanted for my budget. And I finally gave up on the idea of getting a color laser printer when I read a very recent review (July 2012) that said the per-page cost for ink for inkjet printers has now gone below the per-page cost for toner, and the quality of the inkjets (in the ~$400 range) is better than price-equivalent color laser printers (though laser printers still have the edge in printing text). Okay, I thought, I have an HP PhotoSmart 8400 that I purchased specifically for printing photos. (And it does a wonderful job doing so.) We''ve been limping along using it in fast draft econo mode for our everyday printing needs; we can get a monochrome laser printer and then continue to use the PhotoSmart for our color needs.
THE DECIDING FACTORS
Then I came across this printer. I had read some good reviews of other Dell printers, though the prices of those printers were too high. But this printer was within my budget and, remarkably, the reviews were, in the majority, quite positive. One magazine couldn''t find anything wrong with it. They reported that the print quality is excellent (resolution is 1200x1200); the print speed (40 pages per minute) is high; the per-page toner cost is low, especially if you purchase Dell''s use-and-return toner cartridges; and you can get a cartridge rated at 6,000 pages, which is pretty good these days for the lower-end printers. "Sold," says I.
Since I have always had excellent customer service with Dell over many years of dealing with them, and because the prices there were similar to here (they were having a sale when I purchased the printer), I bought directly from Dell.
MY EXPERIENCES WITH THIS PRINTER
Because this printer just arrived yesterday, I know I will need to come back in a few months and update this review with my longer-term experiences. Here are my experiences setting it up and using it.
* Setup was simple and easy. I followed the visual instructions to remove all packing materials, plugged the printer into my modem/router, turned it on, and popped the installation disk into my computer''s optical (CD) drive. The installation software started up automatically. Our home network setup is pretty basic: we are all plugged into or wirelessly connected to a modem/router.
During the installation process,
1. I said I agreed to terms, then chose Next.
2. I now had three choices--two for how to install the printer and one to install documentation. I chose Network Installation (instead of Personal Installation, which would have been my choice if the printer were connected directly to my PC). Then I chose Next.
3. On the next screen, I chose "I am setting up a print server to share printers with others on the network." (The other option was, "I want to use a network printer on this computer," which I later realized was what I should have chosen) Next.
4. On the next screen, the printer was detected and displayed. Note that even though it is highlighted, you still have to click inside the little check box to the left of the printer to select it. Next.
5. The next screen lists what looks like three different printers, but those are instead different drivers for the same printer. The first driver is selected as the default, but to set a different driver as the default printer, you just click on the driver, then click "Set this printer as default." I left the default as it was, and also made sure that "Share this printer with other computers" was selected. I left the "share" name (the printer name--Dell2350) as the default. Next.
6. On the next screen, I could have entered a description (though I didn''t). Other options on that screen (documentation, toner management, location of drivers, etc.) are disabled. I discovered later that I can only edit them if I choose "I want to use a network printer on this computer" in step 3.
7. This was it! I chose Install. The installation was pretty fast--maybe a few minutes. At the end of the installation, the printer spit out a network/printer information page--boring information, but gorgeous.
I could probably have then had others in the house access the printer over the network and through my computer, but after having gone through the installation process once, I realized that I could have (and probably should have) selected "I want to use a network printer on this computer" in step 3, and that is what everyone else did. With that choice, everything was pretty much the same, except they had more choices enabled in step 6, and the page that got spit out at the end was a standard Windows printer test page (instead of the network/printer data page). As with my installation, the installation software quickly and easily found the printer on the network for everyone else. In one case, the installation was done using a wireless connection. It was kind of fun to have my daughter print out her test page from downstairs in the kitchen, where she was working on her laptop using a wireless connection.
* Noise. This was one of my criteria, and the reviews had said it is quiet. When it is on but not actively printing, every so often it makes a quiet little noise to itself for a second or so, but otherwise it is completely silent. I have to take a look at the little panel in front to see if it is on. However, when printing, it is noisier than my old LaserJet was. It isn''t unbearably noisy, but it isn''t quiet, either. It isn''t noisy enough to ding a star for.
* Printing quality. For text and photos: WOW. There are three printing options: Draft, Normal, and Best. The printing quality on Normal mode is better by far than on my admittedly ancient HP LaserJet. I expected that. But it is also much better than the large commercial monochrome printer/copier we have at work. As a typography geek, I am impressed and beyond pleased. Printing quality in Best is even better. I tried printing in Draft mode and I can''t see a difference between it and normal, so I need to do more testing. Also, I did not do extensive testing of the other two drivers (the three drivers are named 2350dn Laser Printer XL, 2350dn Laser Printer PS3, and Dell 2350dn Laser Printer; I was using the XL). Output between the XL and the regular one seem the same; I will read the documentation to discover the differences.
In my test print, I have a color photo (with some large dark areas), a large area of background color, and text in two different Open Type fonts and in several sizes (from 10 points to 72 points; some of the text is in color, while most is black). The type (both black and color) and photo are crisp, sharp, and clear. The only thing I don''t like is that the background area is not a uniform mass of gray, but instead has some gradations in some areas. Perhaps I can make printer adjustments to fix that, but it isn''t a big deal to me. The color text (which if course is also gray) is perfectly uniform and shows no such gradations.
* Duplexing. The printer is NOT set to duplex by default. You can change your printer driver to duplex, which I did for my printing tests. However, it is also quite easy to use the two-line LCD display to change the default to duplexing. In fact, once I dived into the menu settings (after consulting with the surprisingly excellent documentation that is supplied in the form of a Windows Help file), I was surprised and delighted to find out how many paper sizes and options this printer offers.
* Other notes: The printer driver control panels (the one you access within your operating system) are fully loaded and easy to use. The printer dimensions (roughly 17" wide by 15" deep by 10" high--a small plastic back protector thing adds another 2" to the depth) are perfect for placing it on a large open shelving unit where all my auxiliary computer equipment resides. As for the color of the printer itself, I''d have preferred white, but black was the only choice. It is kind of picky of me, but the black shows finger marks from when my wonderful partner heaved it onto the shelf. (He says it isn''t all that heavy.) The 250-sheet paper tray holds plenty of paper for our uses; I didn''t purchase the optional 550-sheet tray. I could add 256MB more memory, but will wait to see if the included 32MB is enough. Returning the lower-cost use-and-return toner cartridges is free. The duty cycle is 60,000 pages per month. This is an Energy Star printer.
Buy Dell 2350dn Monochrome Laser Printer Now
I replaced my previous 2350 when the envelope printer stopped printing clear envelopes as it was more expensive to fix than the cost of a new printer. As it turns out, the new one is no better. The regular 8.5 x 11 sheet printing works great. Unfortunately I can''t return the printer because we already scratched the printer.
Read Best Reviews of Dell 2350dn Monochrome Laser Printer Here
We bought this for the printing of small tags. But it does not work well with those. It was recommended by Dell for small tags but it did not live up to expectations.
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We are having so many problems with this printer. It doesn''t always print when we send an item to the printer. Our IT folks aren''t sure what''s going on with it. It would be great if we could at least exchange it, but we threw out all of the packaging material. CAN YOU HELP???
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This printer is noisy. People keep asking me what is wrong with it when they hear it print. It has been installed for two weeks and works well so far. I use it as my personal office printer, it replaced an HP 4100 which was a decade old but much quieter. It is much louder than numerous HP and Brother printers in our office.
