A Closer Look At The Okidata C5200 Printer

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 12:05:19 EST

Ever since the Okidata C5200 printer andOkidata 5000 series toner was released, it has been regarded as one ofthe best low-cost color printers in its time. The primary reason forall the success is its price. At $800, it was the most affordablecolored laser printer. Let us look at it again and see if it can stillbeat the latest laser printers available.

Speed is an essential factor that should be present in any officeprinter. A couple of people may be using the printer at any given time.If it is too slow, it will be overwhelmed and the users will need towait until it is finished printing.

For any laser printer, it shouldexceed 18 pages per minute for the monochrome prints. The Okidata wasable to print at 24 pages per minute for monochrome and 16 pages forcolored prints. The speed makes it a good choice.

Speed is not always everything. The text and image should be clear andsharp enough. As for the text quality, the Okidata's prints werenothing short of excellent. Unfortunately, the colored printing is notthat good. Discoloration and inconsistency was apparent in the prints.

An office printer should be cost effective. The average office of 20 to30 people prints around 30,000 pages in a month's time. Keeping theprinting cost down should be a priority. The Okidata C5200 tonercartridge was able to print black and white documents at 2 cents perpage, which is actually quite reasonable. The color printing is littlesteep at 14.1 cents per page.

A major thing that makes the Okidata C5200 printer stand out is itshuge 50,000 monthly duty cycle. It is actually twice the value of othercolored laser printers in its class. The major paper tray can handle upto 930 sheets, which makes the C5200 a very good corporate printer.

Italso has an Ethernet port that makes networking a lot easier. Just plugit in to a router, and everyone can get access. There is no need forfancy and complicated software installation. In addition, since it isconnected directly to the router, there is no need for a computer toserve as its hub.

The maximum printing resolution is 1200 x 600 dpi. That goes for bothcolored and monochrome prints. If you want to get a duplexer, one isavailable at around $300. This will enable the printer to print on bothsides of the paper automatically.

For a colored printer, the C5200 isactually smaller than most. Its size is comparable to a 17-inch CRTMonitor. It weighs around 57 lbs, which makes it one of the heaviestprinters in its class. It is highly recommended that you find apermanent place for it. Moving something as heavy as this is dangerousand painstaking work.

The 200 MHz processor and 32 MB RAM is good enough for a small officeof three to five people. If there are a lot more people who are goingto use it, you might want to upgrade the RAM. It can support up to 288MB.

Although it has been almost six years, the Okidata C5200 printer isstill one of the best colored printers out in the market. Okidata42127403 toner provides quality prints without the hefty price. Shop atonline toner and ink cartridge retailers to find the best deals onOkidata C5200 compatible toners.

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A Closer Look At The Okidata C5200 Printer