Our office owns a lot of printers. One of the networked printers is a Dell 1700N Laser Printer, which we have used for four years. Before you buy one of these, there are definitely some things to consider … like whether you enjoy listening to coworkers alternately curse and grumble.
Description
This is a nice looking laser printer with its dark gray and silver-trim exterior. It is compact, sitting tall instead of spreading out horizontally. This printer comes with one printer tray drawer (holds 250 sheets), and the printer measures 15.5” wide x 9.8” high x 13.9” deep and weighs 27 pounds. We purchased the extra optional 550 sheet drawer, so our printer stands 5” taller. Along with the paper tray drawers, there is a manual paper feed slot on the front of the unit with paper guides. The paper feeds from the trays/slot into a bin set on top of the printer.
A control panel is at the right of the paper bin on top of the machine. It’s straight forward with two buttons (Continue and Cancel) and five lights (Ready/Data, Toner Low or Replace Drum, Load/Remove Paper, Paper Jam, Error).
Basic specifications include: 1200 x 1200 dpi (dots per inch) resolution (black ink only), and it prints 25 ppm (pages per minute). It is designed for between one to three users with an average print cycle of 15,000 pages per month. The printer also has PostScript fonts.
This printer is designed to handle plain paper up to 8 1/2” x 14” in size, envelopes, cards and transparencies.
The platform is PC only. It will work with: Linux, Microsoft Windows 2000, 95, 98, ME, XP Home and Professional, 2003, as well as with Microsoft Windows 2000 Server and Microsoft Windows NT Server.
Setup
This printer was purchased about four years ago, before I started working for the company. So I was not here for the setup of the machine. The printer is networked to three computers.
According to the User’s Manual, the Dell Printer interconnection cable must meet these requirements: USB 2.0, Parallel IEEE-1284, 10/100BaseT Ethernet CAT-5E.
The optional printer drawer was simple to install. Just unpack the drawer, align the matching posts and holes, and snap the top of the printer down onto the optional printer drawer. There is a utility program to point the printer at the new paper drawer.
An optional memory card can also be installed. The base memory for the 1700N model is 32mb. There is one connector on the system board for an optional memory card. The printer can support up to 128mb of memory (for a total of 160mb for the networked printer).
Our Experiences
This printer is a headache. I’ll say upfront that it jams often! I’ve tried to figure out why. One thing I’ve noticed is that the two paper drawers are a loose fit. There is a lot of wiggle room, meaning that the drawers can move quite a bit from side to side as they are pushed into position. My feeling is that the printer is not correctly grabbing the paper as it feeds from the drawer into the printing mechanism. Sometimes the jams are easy to clear, and other times fussing is required. No matter how you look at it, having the paper jam is not only frustrating, but it slows down work output.
In case you are wondering, we have tried using different brands of paper. The printer still jams. We have also tried to fan the paper, but it doesn’t make a difference. We have removed the paper, turned it around, upside-down and have completely replaced the paper in the drawer … and still the printer jams.
On the bright side, this printer does a nice job of printing. We always use this printer with 20-pound multi-purpose copy/printer paper. Mostly it prints on the 8 1/2” x 11” size. The print is crisp and dark black. Some of our printouts have shaded gray areas with darker black print within those shaded spaces. I notice that this Dell printer produces darker gray shading than our HP laser printer. Everyone is happy with the way this printer performs … except for the jams.
This printer sees light use, even with three computers connected to it. The toner can be purchased in two yield sizes: either 3,000 copies or 6,000 copies. I would estimate that we replace a 6,000 copy toner cartridge about every three to four months. The replacement cartridge is easy to install. Just flip open the panel on the front of the printer, press a button to remove the toner cartridge, and then shake and insert the new cartridge. Close the door, and the printer is ready to use.
After four years of use, we are having to replace the imaging drum for the first time. The drum is rated for 30,000 printed pages, so we feel fortunate it has lasted this long. We ordered the drum from Dell since we could not find it available for sale elsewhere. The User Guide gives step-by-step instructions on how to replace the imaging drum, and we had no trouble installing it.
Purchasing
This printer cost around $270.00. At the time it retailed for $299.00, and we were given a discount. The optional 550-sheet tray at the time retailed for $99.95.
We buy our printer supplies from Dell. A 6,000 high-yield toner cartridge sells for $129.99. In case you are wondering, a 3,000 yield cartridge sells for $99.99. We were pleasantly surprised to discover that the replacement imaging drum was only $49.95. (We had anticipated spending more money for one.)
Summary
It’s a shame that this Dell 1700N Laser Printer has so many paper jams. We all agree that we would never purchase this same model because of that problem. The printer looks great, prints well, and was affordable. But it’s not worth the aggravation of having to pull jammed paper out of the printer so often.
The Dell Laser Printer 1700n offers razor sharp quality and affordable network printing in a compact design. With fast printing speeds of up to 25 pag...More at eBay
Fast up to 25ppm print speed Sharp 1200 x 1200 dpi resolution 3,000 page yield toner cartridge included Standard 250-sheet paper drawer 15,000 page mo...More at Amazon Marketplace
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