| | |
|
| |
| | |
|
|
| | |
|
The Way We See It
|
 |
|
| Excellent |
| Good |
| Average |
| Poor |
|
|
| Setup |
9.6 |
| Print Quality |
9.5 |
| Speed |
9.3 |
| Paper Handling |
9.4 |
| Supplies |
10.0 |
| Service/Reliabilty |
9.5 |
| TOTAL |
57.3 |
|
 |
In Short:
 |
 |
The new Ricoh C430dn is the latest from this manufacturer and will eventually replace the extremely successful C420dn. The new C430dn is built on a rugged 4th generation Ricoh engine that is ground breaking in several key areas and is coupled with a very advanced controller.
The printer was extremely easy to set up after it was unpacked. The four color toners that ship with the printer just snap into their slots and the imaging units were already installed. The printer drivers supplied for the C430dn also installed without a hitch. The numeric key pad next to the front panel display is a first for a single function machine. It is there for ease of use as well as the new secure printing capabilities. The print quality we produced at the 1200 dpi setting was very sharp on text and line art even on tiny details. We found the color gradations to be smooth and the color vibrant. The Ricoh C430dn did very well in all of our print quality benchmark testing usually finishing at or near the top.
The new C430dn comes standard with auto-duplex for two sided printing, true 1200 x 1200 dpi, Adobe PostScript Level3, PCL5c, PCL6, PDF direct print, 384 MB RAM, a 600 MHz processor, and Ethernet 100 Base TX, and USB interfaces. The Ricoh C430DN prints full color or black & white at up to 37 pages per minute. The standard 550-sheet drawer can accommodate paper as large as legal size paper, 8.5”x14” and as heavy as 80lb cover (220gsm). The 100-sheet bypass feeder will feed paper from as small as 3”x5” to as large as 8.5”x 49.6” banners and as heavy as 94lb cover or 256gsm. No other “A” size color laser printer is specked to handle anything over 220gsm so this is new territory for desk top color laser printers. The printer had no problem feeding from the bypass tray but it left pressure lines on the surface of some heavy glossy media and, like most color lasers, it creased envelopes though we were able to feed as many as 30 at a time from the lower feeder. Another impressive feature is this printer’s ability to auto-duplex paper as heavy as 60lb. cover or 163gsm.
Many upgrades are available like additional RAM, 80 GB internal hard disk, up to three more 550-sheet feeders, and high-speed or wireless interfaces. The most impressive feature of this new Ricoh C430dn is the operating cost. This is the first color laser printer to have a cost per page as low as 3.8 cents per page and print black and white for less than most black and white printers.
The Bottom Line: This new Ricoh C430dn is a fast network color laser printer that produces excellent print quality and has above average paper handling. The combination of speed, price, and excellent print quality coupled with the lowest operating costs of any color laser printer ever make this model an easy editor’s choice. To say the new C430dn is a great value may be an understatement. The Ricoh C430dn works well with Windows, Mac OS (8.6 or later), and all other current operating systems.
|
|
| |
| | |
|
|
|