INK & TONER
Ricoh C411dn Review
 
Editor's Review
Ricoh C411dn by Andrew Hall 09/05/2010 OVERVIEW:
The Ricoh C411dn is a full-color printer with a small footprint, a number of convenient features built-in, and resolutions comparable to models like it as well as the throughput capacity necessary to ensure its function with minimal hassle in small to medium workgroup environments.
Editor's Pros & Cons
PROS: The C411dn measures 17.6" by 23.2" by 19.2" and weighs about 110 lbs, making it small enough to fit on a desk able to bear heavy loads and perfect for a cabinet or its own credenza if desk space isn't available.
The C411dn produces prints at 31 pages per minute in both full-color and black and white, above the standard 20 pages per minute but behind some newer models capable of producing upwards of 40-60 prints per minute. The C411dn can produce prints at resolutions of 600 by 600 dpi, 1200 by 600 dpi, or 1200 by 1200 dpi, making it competitive with other color laser printers, and duplexing is standard and produces almost no slowdown.
The C411dn has a standard paper capacity of 550 sheets expandable to 1750 with the addition of two 550-sheet optional paper trays. It also features a 100-sheet bypass and a 500-sheet output capacity, which cannot be expanded. It can print to paper sized 8.5" by 11", 8.5" by 14", 5.5" by 8.5", 7.25" by 10.5" or free-sized documents between 2.8" by 5.8" to 8.5" by 14". It can print to thick paper, plain paper, card stock, recycled paper, transparencies, and envelopes (sized Com 10, Monarch, C6, C5, or DL).
The printer includes 256MB of RAM, expandable to 512MB, and a 40GB hard drive is available as an optional add-on. The C411dn comes with two interfaces, 10/100BaseTX Ethernet and USB 2.0, and several additional interfaces can be installed, if necessary: the printer supports IEEE-1284 Parallel, 802.11b, Bluetooth, Gigabit Ethernet, and USB Host devices with available add-ons. To ensure forwards and backwards compatibility with almost any network, the printer supports TCP/IP, Novell IPX/SPX, AppleTalk, and SMB/NetBEUI, as well as auto-sensing and autoswitching between architectures. It is also capable of encrypting network traffic, if desired or necessary.
An MFP upgrade is available to give the printer scanning functionality, which adds scan-to-email (with LDAP), scan-to-folder, scan-to-FTP, TWAIN, and scan-to-print support.
A user account system can be implemented via the network and web-based management services in order to track printer usage and restrict it if necessary. The printer supports 30 user codes at shipping, which can be expanded to 500 user codes if necessary or desired.
The print controller supports Adobe PostScript 3, PCL5c, PCL6, Ricoh RPCS, and PDF Direct languages. Like many newer consumer printers, the C411DN includes support for PictBridge when the USB Host Interface is installed, allowing users to directly connect cameras to produce prints, sidestepping the need to move images to and print from a computer. Drivers are available from Ricoh for Windows, Mac OS and Mac OS X systems, as well as UNIX and Linux-based systems.
A Copy Data Security Unit and a Network Data Protection Unit are included. The printer can also be configured to require WPA for wireless printing, user authentication, locked printing, password protection for PDF Direct Print, and SNMP v3 authentication and encryption, which many printers do not offer.
CONS: The additional 40GB hard drive adds moving parts and another potential failure point to the system, worth considering when assessing long-term replacement costs for the C411dn.
The C411dn cannot serve as one's sole printing device if your office environment requires the ability to make copies. However, many copies are able to produce prints, making the C411dn a difficult purchase to justify in environments that will require a multifunction unit.
INK/TONER NEEDS:
The Aficio SPC411DN consumes and requires four toner cartridges: black, cyan, magenta, and yellow. All four cartridges are rated at 15000 page yields at 5% coverage.
The Aficio SPC411DN also requires replacement for its waste toner bottle at every 125000 pages, its photoconductor unit at every 50000 black pages at 5% coverage and its color photoconductor units at every 50000 pages at 5% coverage per color. 
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TONER CARTRIDGE
