Dell 1600n

Brands such as Canon, Epson and HP instantly spring to mind when you're in the market for a new printer, but Dell has been building up a range of inkjets and lasers in recent months.

The 1600n, a multifunction workgroup device, combines mono laser printing, colour scanning, standalone fax and copier functions.

One of the 1600n's major selling points is its relatively compact size. At just 457mm high and 424mm deep, it doesn't command a huge amount of space and would suit a small or home office environment.

Dell has included some rather impressive specifications considering the low price. Prints shoot out at up to 20ppm (pages per minute) in draft mode, while scans can be produced at an optical resolution of 600 x 1,200ppi (pixels per inch).

What's more, the scanning quality was excellent, which is something you don't always see on a multifunction device.

The integrated LCD screen and logical menu structure make it easy to access all its functions, but it's missing a backlit display.

As well as a standard USB2 port, the 1600n has a 10/100 Ethernet adapter which allows it to print from any computer on the same network. It isn't possible to scan or fax over a network, though.

The low price is backed up by a reasonable total cost of ownership. The 3,000-page toner cartridge delivers prints costing just under 1.5p per page, but the 5,000-page cartridge is better value and reduces costs to just 1.05p per page.

The lack of network scanning and faxing is a shame, but the 1600n is cheap to run, produces good quality prints and has a wide range of features that will suit most small offices.

See also:

Brother DCP-310CN

A compact multifunction device  07 Feb 2005

Samsung SCX-4100

A fast laser printer and multifunction device  15 Nov 2004

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