New Printer Advice

[Modred]

Due to lack of satisfaction with my current Lexmark x5250, which I have found throughout most of my ownership to be a substandard product that wasn't worth the price we paid, I'm considering buying a new printer. My school's computer store has a partnership with several computer distributors, but as far as my investigation has lead me, the only one offering printers is Dell.

The two discounted options are the Dell 1110 Laser Printer (http://www1.ca.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/print_1110?c=ca&cs=CADHS1&l=en&s=dhs) and the Dell 1710 Laser Printer (http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&sku=222-0375&redirect=1).

I'm curious if anyone here has used either one or has any advice as to which might best suite my situation. The printer would mostly be used for printing off reports and papers. According to my measurements, both have a smaller footprint on the desktop than my current inkjet. The real choice is simply in if the larger, more powerful printer is worth the extra cost for me.

It has the advantage of printing around 50% faster, holding more paper, printing more pages per toner cartridge, double the print resolution of the smaller unit, and supposedly works with Mac OS X and various Linux. However, it also consumes double the power. The smaller unit has less powerful features and according to Dell doesn't work with Mac or Linux (although I found Linux drivers that claim to work for the 1110).

So any advice on which might be best? Or a recommendation for a different product?

[TimP]

Don't worry about power consumption. My printer says it uses up to 400W during operation, but most of the time it's in sleep mode which uses < 15W. It says that the 1110 uses 8W in sleep and the 1710 uses 20W in sleep.

In my opinion, the 1710 is a no brainer choice. For $40, you get twice the printing resolution, nearly twice the printing speed, a much faster processor, 8 times the RAM, and IMO, the killer feature is that the 1710 supports (some) PostScript and PCL printing standards which means it has a much better chance of working on other platforms without drivers (for example, if Dell or Windows ever drops support for it). The 1110 supports GDI (Windows standard) and nothing else.

I'm sure the 1110 would be sufficient, so if money is a primary concern then you may want to stick with the 1110, but I think the 1710 more than justifies its price.

I've had good luck with my Samsung 2251N, unfortunately it doesn't seem to be for sale on Newegg anymore. It was about $150 at the time (July 2005) and has a 166 MHz processor, 16MB RAM, 22 ppm, PCL support, parallel and USB interfaces, and the selling point for me was network printing built-in so I can print to it from multiple computers without having to keep any one computer on to spool to it.

[Modred]

Pricegrabber is pulling up the Samsung 2251N for around $200 average, before shipping, so the 1710 is looking like my best bet. I'll note that after the discounts, the 1710 is $150 and the 1110 is roughly half that, so it's a little more than the $40 difference on the retail price.

Comparing the 1710 with it's network enabled sibling, the 1710n looks quite a bit better. Not only does it come with network capabilities, it has a noticeably larger selection of PCL and PS fonts (and the PostScript isn't limited to Mac OS X). Unfortunately, even the current Dell markdown, which is less than the prices on PriceGrabber, puts it around $90 more than the non-networked model. I probably don't need all that extra, as nice as it is, for my intended use.

Thanks for the help TimP.

[Tassado]

Yeah I recently bought the 1110 model online at dell and it was terrible! When I opened up and tried to put it together, the instructions told me I had to buy a usb cable to connect the computer separately! I'm probably a noob in online shopping, but what the #$#@!

[Modred]

Yeah I recently bought the 1110 model online at dell and it was terrible! When I opened up and tried to put it together, the instructions told me I had to buy a usb cable to connect the computer separately! I'm probably a noob in online shopping, but what the #$#@!

Good to know, but I somewhat doubt that the more expensive models come with a USB cable, either. I certainly hope that wasn't the only thing that ruined the purchase for you.

[Tassado]

I certainly hope that wasn't the only thing that ruined the purchase for you.

what do you mean Modred?

[Modred]

what do you mean Modred?

You said the printer was terrible, but the only problem you mentioned was that it didn't come with a USB cable. Most printers, at least in my experience, don't come with the USB cable, so I was hoping that this alone isn't why you thought it was terrible.

[Basan]

*Meh* Tassado, if that was the only problem then I gladly welcome it. :P And you already know that when buying pieces of electronic equipment you should ask with what it already comes bundled in the package. ;)

For instance, when I bought my latest printer (http://www.epson.co.uk/products/all_in_one_products/Stylus_DX6000.htm) already had the common sense to ask with what it comes with. And from a couple of simple questions knew that it already came with all cartridges (although my initial suspicion that they were somewhat dry was right :lame:) and with no plug in USB cable.

[Tassado]

Well it's a big hassle to just look for usb cable that specifically fits to that port. That really bugs me. Dell probably wants to charge a major fee for that, but I think in the long run people who feel annoyed like me will stop buying from them. I expected it to be easy..

[Basan]

Well it's a big hassle to just look for usb cable that specifically fits to that port. That really bugs me. Dell probably wants to charge a major fee for that, but I think in the long run people who feel annoyed like me will stop buying from them. I expected it to be easy..

Rather simple really. When the salesman I was asking about the printer told me that it hadn't the USB connection cord (as I was picking up a box with it), I immediately told him that I wanted one and if he didn't minded to pin point me to one. You really need to start making'em work towards your benefit. ;)

[OboeGuru]

Well it's a big hassle to just look for usb cable that specifically fits to that port. That really bugs me. Dell probably wants to charge a major fee for that, but I think in the long run people who feel annoyed like me will stop buying from them. I expected it to be easy..

There are something like 4, and only 4, different kinds of USB cable, which you can go out and buy from any computer store that's worth a damn. And you should have no problem identifying what it is; they each look very different.
And a USB cable costs like $10, tops. Sure, it's annoying to have to buy the cable separately, but there's no hassle. Cables are easy to get. They probably don't include the cable because there are varying lengths of USB cables available, and not everyone will be able to use a given length, it's much easier (and cost-effective!) to provide no cable and let the consumer go out and get what they need than provide a cable that the consumer may or may not use.

If it's so big of an issue to have to go out and buy a cable, I think you've got other, more serious issues.