Pros & Cons
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- High-quality output across the board.
- Appropriate paper handling for a small office or workgroup.
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- Speed for business applications is unimpressive (though well within an acceptable range for a small office).
Dell 2150cdn Specs
| Business Applications - DEFAULT SETTINGS - Adobe Acrobat 8 - 4 pages, text and photos (landscape): | 0:44 (min:sec) |
| Business Applications - DEFAULT SETTINGS - Effective PPM (pages per minute): | 5.5 |
| Business Applications - DEFAULT SETTINGS - Microsoft Excel 2003 - 1 page, graph: | 0:13 (min:sec) |
| Business Applications - DEFAULT SETTINGS - Microsoft Excel 2003 - 1 page, table A (with grid): | 0:13 (min:sec) |
| Business Applications - DEFAULT SETTINGS - Microsoft Excel 2003 - 3 pages, charts and graphs: | 0:19 (min:sec) |
| Business Applications - DEFAULT SETTINGS - Microsoft PowerPoint 2003 - 4 full-page slides: | 0:58 (min:sec) |
| Business Applications - DEFAULT SETTINGS - Microsoft Word 2003 - 2 pages, text: | 0:16 (min:sec) |
| Business Applications - DEFAULT SETTINGS - Total output time : | 2:43 (min:sec) |
| Color or Monochrome: | 1-pass color |
| Connection Type: | Ethernet |
| Connection Type: | USB |
| Cost Per Page (Color): | 14.3 cents |
| Cost Per Page (Mono): | 2.4 cents |
| Direct Printing from Cameras: | No |
| Duplexing Scans: | No |
| Duty Cycle: | 40000 pages per month |
| Input Capacity (printer input only): | 251 sheets |
| LCD Preview Screen: | No |
| Maximum Standard Paper Size: | Legal |
| Network-Ready: | Yes |
| Number of Cartridges: | 4 |
| Number of Ink Colors: | 4 |
| Photos - HIGH -QUALITY SETTINGS - Adobe Photoshop 7 - Average output time per print: 4" x 6" prints : | 0:14 (min:sec) |
| Print Duplexing: | Automatic |
| Printer Category: | Laser |
| Rated Speed at Default Settings (Color): | 24 ppm |
| Rated Speed at Default Settings (Mono): | 24 ppm |
| Tech Support: | dell.com/printers; (877) 293-1196; 1 year parts and labor |
| Technology (for laser category only): | Laser |
| Type: | Printer Only |
Color laser printers often do a better job delivering speed than high-quality output, so when a printer like the Dell 2150cdn ($399.99 direct) comes along, with above-par output quality across the board, it stands out. Aimed at a micro or small office or workgroup, it will be of particular interest to anyone who cares about printing things like professional-looking PowerPoint handouts or marketing materials like tri-fold brochures. This high level of output quality, combined with appropriate speed and paper handling, is enough to earn it an Editors' Choice.
Along with the 2150cn ($349.99 direct), which is the same printer without duplexing according to Dell, the 2150cdn is the next step up in Dell's line beyond the Editors' Choice
At 16.3 by 15.8 by 16 inches (HWD), the 2150cdn is a little too big to share a desk with comfortably, and bigger than most people would want in a home office. It's also heavy enough, at 44.1 pounds, so that you might want some help moving it. However, it's small enough so it shouldn't be hard to find room for in a typical small office.
The printer also offers ample paper handling for a small office, with a 250-sheet input tray, a 1-sheet manual bypass, and a duplexer for printing on both sides of a page. For offices that need more capacity, Dell sells an additional 250-sheet tray ($149.99 direct).
Speed
For my tests, I connected the printer to a wired network and ran the tests from a Windows Vista system. Setup was standard fare. The speed was appropriate for a small office, but it was also less than impressive. Dell rates the printer at 24 pages per minute (ppm) for mono and color printing, which means that you should see something close to that speed when you print text files with no graphics or photos. I timed it on the new version of our business applications suite (using QualityLogic's hardware and software for timing) at an effective 5.5 pages per minute (ppm).
As one point of reference, that makes the 2150cdn only a little faster than the less expensive 1350cnw, which came in at 4.9 ppm for the files that the old and new versions of the test share. It's also faster than the much more expensive Editors' Choice
Output Quality
The 2150cdn doesn't offer absolutely top-tier color laser output quality in any category of output—text, graphics, or photos. However, it's only a small step below the highest quality available in all three categories—which makes it well above par in each case and across the board.
Overall, the scores on our quality evaluations were among the best for any color laser we've tested. Text quality is good enough for anything but the most demanding desktop publishing applications, graphics are easily good enough for any business need, and photos are just short of true photo quality. In combination, the output is easily good enough for anything up to and including marketing materials like trifold brochures and one1page marketing handouts.
The 2150cdn's output quality is its strongest point and most impressive feature. However, its ample paper handling and reasonably fast—if not impressive—speed are also important parts of the mix. Together, they give the 2150cdn the right balance to make it a compelling choice, as well as Editors' Choice, for anyone who cares about high-quality output.
BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS
COMPARISON TABLE
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