Ricoh announced the Aficio SP C210SF, a desktop color laser multi-function printer for small offices and workgroups. The device combines printing with copying, scanning and IP faxing capability. Print speeds are rated at 31 pages per minute (ppm) in black and white as well as eight ppm in color. The maximum print resolution is 600 dpi.

Standard equipment of the C210SF include a 250-sheet paper tray for 16 lb to 55 lb paper and stock, a 266 MHz processor, 64 MB memory as well as USB 2.0 and 10/100 Base-TX Ethernet interfaces. The base printer is priced at $1000.

Consumables of most color laser printers will easily exceed the cost of the printer after one or two toner set replacements. The new Aficio is no exemption : Besides a power consumption of 650 watts, street prices for black toner (9800 pages capacity) and color toner (6500 pages) range from $160 to $200, putting an $800 - $1000 price tag on a new toner set.

To avoid that customers are buying a completely new printer instead of the pricey toner set, Ricoh follows an unfortunate industry trend to equip the new printer with printer cartridges that offer just about half the capacity of regular cartridges. According to Ricoh, the black toner included with the C210SF will print about 5000 pages, while the color toners are good for about 3000 pages.