OKIDATA C5100N COLOR TONER CARTRIDGES SET

OkiData C5100n review

Overview:

The OkiData C5100n is a compact workgroup printer offering relatively fast prints for its time in both black and color, making it a strong choice for users who want a color laser printer for a small workgroup with a larger paper throughput. However, it does lack a number of features that may prompt users to seek out a similar model, like the OkiData C5300n, instead.

Pros:

The C5100n measures 16.6" by 20.7" by 13.6" and weighs approximately 57.3 lbs, making it relatively small for a workgroup printer and likely more than possible to store on a desk or table, even alongside other equipment, if a dedicated printer cabinet or credenza isn't available.

The printer produces images at a maximum speed of 12 pages per minute in color and 20 pages per minute in black and white with a first page out of 18.3 seconds in color and 9 seconds in black and white. The C5100n offers a print resolution of 1200 by 600 dpi, consistent with most laser printers like this one.

The printer ships with a 300-sheet standard paper tray and a 100-sheet multi-purpose tray (capable of printing to overhead transparencies, envelopes and mailing label stock). This can be expanded for environments that go through upwards of a ream of paper daily by adding a 530-sheet auxiliary paper tray, which brings the printer's capacity to 930 sheets and likely ensures that most users will not need to refill the printer multiple times each day, a common problem with smaller printers in workgroups.

The printer's main paper tray supports 20 lb to 32 lb bond paper. The optional paper tray supports 20 lb to 47 lb bond paper, and the manual feed supports bond paper between 20 and 110 lb index card stock.

An automatic duplexing unit is available as an add-on for users who want double-sided printing.

The C5100n ships with 32 MB of RAM standard, which can be expanded to 288 MB if desired in order to speed up the printing process. Users who regularly print large documents, especially large PDFs, may wish to consider such a solution.

The printer is covered by a 1-year limited warranty covering an overnight parts exchange and the printer's LED printheads are covered by a 5-year limited warranty.

Cons:

While the C5100n's print speeds were more than satisfactory when the printer was released in 2003, this is a point where the printer now shows its age poorly, as many newer models offer speeds up to 40-60 pages per minute in their workgroup offerings.

Unlike the C5300n, the C5100n's higher-end cousin, this printer does not include any resident fonts or a built-in hard drive and neither can be added via expansion.

Though the C5100n includes optional support for automatic duplexing, it does not include other sophisticated paper finishing options, making it a difficult product to recommend for users who want stapling, stacking, and other such features from their primary workgroup printer.

The C5100n does not include a job accounting utility for printer management, though the C5300n does.

The C5100n does not officially support Mac OS X or any non-Windows operating systems, requiring that users in multi-OS environments seek out third-party solutions in order to ensure that the printer can be printed to from Linux, Unix, or Mac OS based computers. However, users who are set on this series can instead get the C5300n, which does officially support a number of network environments and operating systems, including Unixes, Linuxes, Mac OS 8-9.2 and all versions of Mac OS X.