My fourth child, second daughter is off to college this year. She's the first of our five children that opted to go away to school. This at least helps free up my pc and printer at home. The others did work on my PC, our only home computer.

Ordering

Even so I still had to help her get a laptop and printer for school. We decided on Dell because of reputation, what I read here at Epinions, and for ease of shopping on their web site. I ordered the portable computer direct through Dell on-line. While filling the shopping cart we were asked about a printer. The Dell 720 was available for free. Yes that's right, it was part of a promotion of some sort. The retail price is $30-$60. Because of the price, we went for it.

A week later the laptop was delivered. Two days later came the Dell 720 inkjet printer. We have an HP printer in our home and continue to find it serving us well. I hope the Dell does the same.

The Unit

The box was lighter than I expected at less than six pounds. It's not overly cumbersome with a weight that comes in at less than six pounds. It felt toylike next to my HP printer. I could easily say its cheap feeling and the plastics it's made from seem like they are ready to break if a fly lands on it. I will say it made the journey from Freeport NY to Portland Maine without any mishaps.

Having said that I did feel the paper support and paper guides were well machined and moved smoothly.

Here are some specs.

DELL 720 Color/black Printer 720 Resolutions up to 4800x1200 dpi ,13 ppm black, 8ppm color

The printer takes up a 16"x16" space when the paper exit tray is pulled out for use. I like that the tray slides into the machine when not in use. It makes the machine "Smart Looking", machine at about 9"x16".

Quality Printing

At home we used our printer for the kid's school papers and for MapQuest printouts. Not much more, well except for Epinions print-outs. The new unit is being used for the same. My daughter does not expect to be printing out pictures with this printer and after seeing the quality it spews, I wouldn't even think of trying it again.

Now don't get me wrong. The printing quality for papers and such are just fine with this printer. It's just when I went with colour on a picture did it come out a bit "fuzzy" and took so long to print. Fortunately my daughter will be using it mostly for papers and she does have access to better equipment on campus for that occasional print that may need good definition.

Another good point about this machine is that till now we have not had problems with paper jams. It all flows smoothly.

More Info

Putting the paper in is a snap and the tray does support the exiting paper well enough. I wasn't so sure about it until I saw it do so.

This loads with paper going into the back of the machine, different than my HP that had a tray in front.

The set up is easy enough to the compatible Dell laptop we just purchased that has Windows XP. A wire from the laptop and then plug in the power cord and everything clicked. The book lets you know that it supports Windows 200 and Windows XP.

We didn't have to spend much time with the Dell Printer Solution Center that is part of the software that the machine comes with.

I was also pleased we did not have to go to page 27 of the User's Guide. That page is labeled "Set Up problems." The book comes with a list of different options for tech support if needed. Check out the "Trouble Shooting pages first. They seem to cover most problems right there.

Installing a new cartridge seems easy enough. Directions are under the top cover. We purchased additional ink cartridges at the time. They were a bit pricey. The Dell High Resolution Black Print Cartridge for Dell Color Printer 720 Qty: 1 Unit Price: $27.00. and the Dell High Resolution Color Print Cartridge for Dell Color Printer 720 Qty: 1 Unit Price: $30.00. Ha, combined that is well over the price of the printer itself at regular retail. I have seen these printers for $30 the same price as just one cartridge. Fortunately my daughter will not be using all that much ink while away. At least we hope not. All the same she has extras with her now.

Some Last Thoughts

The printer is very light weight, even so it seems well machined. Still, I hope it holds up. The prices of the cartridges are pretty expensive. A few bucks more than the HP counterpart we use at home. The clarity is just fine for most paper work we need. Photos didn't come out all that well in a test. This was NOT done on photo paper. It was also a bit slow to my liking in colour.
After a few weeks of us having the unit at home, it was off to Maine. I talked with my daughter last night and I asked her particularly about her Dell products. All is going well she said. That's good news.


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Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): Free with PC