Ricoh introduces sub-$400 color laser printer

West Caldwell (NJ) - Ricoh today introduced a new desktop color laser printed that will compete in the increasingly popular segment of $400 devices.

The SP C210, priced at $375, goes head to head with printers such as the Dell 3100CN ($380), Samsung CLP-510N ($450) and the very-low end of the color laser market, which starts at $300 with printers such as Konica Minolta’s 2500 models and HP’s 1600 series.

Ricoh said that the new printer will print the first after 13 (b/w) and 19 seconds (color) and churn out 31 pages per minute (ppm) in black and white and 8 ppm in color. Standard features include a 200 MHz processor, 64 MB of memory, 600 dpi resolution as well as a 250-sheet paper tray. According to the product’s specifications, the power consumption is about average with 675 watts during operation and 35 watts when in idle mode. In comparison, Konica Minolta’s 2500 series (which is equipped with a 333 MHz Intel Celeron processor) consumes up to 1100 watts during printing and 250 watts in standby mode ; HP’s 1600 color laser jets (264 MHz Motorola CFV4e CPU) run at 190 watts during printing and 13 watts in standby.

As it is the case with most color printers the cost of the device reveals itself when consumables need to be replaced. A complete standard toner set (5000 pages estimated yield) for the SP C210 currently runs for a street price of about $360. A high capacity toner set (15,000 pages yield) will cost about $700.

West Caldwell (NJ) - Ricoh today introduced a new desktop color laser printed that will compete in the increasingly popular segment of $400 devices.

The SP C210, priced at $375, goes head to head with printers such as the Dell 3100CN ($380), Samsung CLP-510N ($450) and the very-low end of the color laser market, which starts at $300 with printers such as Konica Minolta’s 2500 models and HP’s 1600 series.

Ricoh said that the new printer will print the first after 13 (b/w) and 19 seconds (color) and churn out 31 pages per minute (ppm) in black and white and 8 ppm in color. Standard features include a 200 MHz processor, 64 MB of memory, 600 dpi resolution as well as a 250-sheet paper tray. According to the product’s specifications, the power consumption is about average with 675 watts during operation and 35 watts when in idle mode. In comparison, Konica Minolta’s 2500 series (which is equipped with a 333 MHz Intel Celeron processor) consumes up to 1100 watts during printing and 250 watts in standby mode ; HP’s 1600 color laser jets (264 MHz Motorola CFV4e CPU) run at 190 watts during printing and 13 watts in standby.

As it is the case with most color printers the cost of the device reveals itself when consumables need to be replaced. A complete standard toner set (5000 pages estimated yield) for the SP C210 currently runs for a street price of about $360. A high capacity toner set (15,000 pages yield) will cost about $700.