With best-in-class print quality and impressive paper handling, the new Ricoh SP C250DN color laser printer is a very quick network color laser printer.
As inexpensive as color laser printers come, the Ricoh SP C250dn. It’s actually not that bad at all.
Keep reading our review so you will have a more complete understanding on this printer.
Table of Contents
Pros And Cons
Pros
- Networkable. Web UI is fairly standard fare, but it appears that the password is required for each change. SNMP and email configurations, but I haven’t used them yet.
- Duplexer! It also functions. Finding something that can network and duplex for a Benjamin is difficult.
- Individual drums in a single pass for every color. This is how a color laser can produce respectable color PPM timings. I hope the paper travels on a belt because a previous HP color laser printer I had to deal with used a similar system (in a different orientation), and the belt eventually became messed up over time. However, it’s possible that this was caused by the person who used the printer the most frequently.
- Paper tray has metal in it. It was reassuring to see this. I’ve been skimping on printers for my home over the past few years because I can’t bring myself to spend more than $500 on one, even if it performs worse than a printer that costs less than $130.
- Stackable 500 page tray is an option. Even though one of these will be more expensive than the printer itself, having a separate tray for different types of paper is a nice option and makes it possible to insert an entire Costco ream of paper.
- small user-mode drivers. The install disc was left out because I assumed it was out of date. These lacked fluff and were quite small and light.
Cons:
- I recognize it as a laser, but it groans loudly like an old laser. Additionally, fans are much noisier than anticipated.
- On the side, fans release air. Never experienced this, not even with business printers. Things on the left side will be affected by this wind.
- higher than expected power draw. Standby is working fine, but the first print job tripped the circuit breaker. According to the spec sheet, the maximum power consumption is 1300W, which is comparable to a kitchen microwave. This information explains why my 15A breaker tripped while light and a few computers were connected to the same circuit. This problem wasn’t present with earlier lasers on this circuit either.
- The device must be powered on and off again to make configuration changes. I’ve never encountered a printer that required this; at most, the network module required a reboot rather than the entire device.
- Check the dimensions; big and heavy. This is the size of a typical medium-duty office printer. The size is not comparable to a small desk printer. It weighs about 52 lbs (28 kg) as well.
Print Quality
The print quality, thankfully, was excellent. Photos and graphics both had neutral colors, and the toner produced a smooth, satin finish. However, those with keener eyes may spot some half-toning patterns between subtly different colors, and on thin paper stock, I could see some bleed-through in duplexed pages. As one might anticipate from a laser, the text quality was excellent.
This printer is quite loud, especially given its slow speed, despite vents that may protect you from an unwanted draft. The paper transport mechanism doesn’t make much noise, but those fans are loud, and every now and then while they were running I would hear a sudden, fleeting buzz as if an unfortunate insect had just been sucked into the blades.
Customer Reviews From Amazon
- “At first, I was pleased with the construction considering the cost. It all started to fall apart once I plugged it in. The fact that my wife is not pleased with this item is making me consider returning it.”
- “This printer works well for routine, low-quality prints but struggles to print documents in high contrast or color. Black is splotchy and varies across the page on a black-and-white print with substantial black areas (borders, graphics). The color is alright, but the resolution is noticeably lower than it was with our previous HP Color LaserJets. “
- “The delivery was quick, which surprised me! It is strong and competent as well! Its office compatibility and laser smoothness are appealing. Wireless setup for Apple products could be a little simpler, but it seemed relatively simple for Windows 10 devices. The support phone number was nearby, but I didn’t need to use it! “
- “About 2.5 years ago, I bought this printer for my home. I’ve actually printed around 20 pages of color documents and 200 pages of black and white documents. Surprisingly, the printer decided it was out of black toner and stopped working, so I already had to spend about $50 on another one.”
Our Verdict
Ricoh’s SP C250dn has excellent print quality, which makes it simple to recommend even though it has some minor flaws. Finding another laser printer this affordable, let alone one this good, will be difficult.
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