INK & TONER
Ricoh Aficio CL7200 Review
 
Editor's Review
Ricoh Aficio CL7200 by Andrew Hall 09/08/2010 OVERVIEW: The Ricoh Aficio CL7200 is a full-color printer designed for office environments with high paper throughputs, but it cannot function as a single device intended to fulfill all of one's paper needs despite its being sized and designed like an industrial copier/printer/scanner.
Editor's Pros & Cons
PROS: The printer measures 22.7" by 26.7" by 26.7" and weighs 187 lbs. This is too short for it to stand alone and likely too large and too heavy for the printer to sit comfortably next to other equipment accessed regularly, meaning that it will require its own table or credenza for easy access.
The printer prints at speeds of 32 pages per minute in black and white and 28 pages per minute in color, well above standard speeds and consistent with its competition.
The CL7200 produces prints at resolutions of 600 by 600 dpi, 1200 by 600 dpi, and 1200 by 1200 dpi across both black and color prints. This is consistent with other printers like it and superior to many all-in-one units that limit printing at 600 dpi.
The CL7200 has a standard paper capacity of 1100 sheets across two 500-sheet trays and a 100-sheet Bypass. This can be expanded to a maximum of 3100 sheets across two 500-sheet trays, a 100-sheet bypass, and a 2000-sheet large capacity tray. Duplexing is available as well, as are sheet and booklet paper finishers. The CL7200's output capacity is 600 sheets standard and has a maximum capacity of 3100 sheets.
The CL7200 comes in five different configurations based on paper capacity, the presence of a hard drive, and duplexing. The CL7200 D adds duplexing, the CL7200 DT1 has a base capacity of 1600 sheets and includes a hard drive. The CL7200 DT2 includes 4 500-sheet trays, and the CL7200 DL includes the 2000-sheet large capacity tray.
The CL7200 supports printing to paper sized 8.5" by 11", 8.5" by 15", 11" by 17", 7.5" by 10.5", 8" by 13", 8.25" by 13", A5, A4, and A3, with widths ranging between 3.5" and 12" and lengths ranging between 5.8" and 49.6" depending on drivers used and settings configured. It will print to plain paper, labels, transparencies, envelopes, glossy paper, banner paper, and recycled paper.
The CL7200 features 256MB and includes one additional slot for expansion up to 512MB.
10/100BaseTX Ethernet and USB 2.0 are included standard on the CL7200, with options for connectivity including 802.11b, Bluetooth, IEEE-1284 Parallel, IEEE-1394 Firewire, 1000Mbps Gigabit Ethernet, and USB Host. It also includes support for direct camera printing via any PictBridge compatible camera. Do note, however, that only one of the optional interfaces listed above can be installed at a time, making it impossible to use all of them if desired. To ensure both forward and backwards compatibility, the printer can interface via TCP/IP, Novell IPX/SPX, SMB (NetBEUI, NetBIOS), and AppleTalk, and supports Adobe PostScript 3, PCL 5c and PCL 6 via emulation, Ricoh RPCS, and PDF Direct.
CONS: Despite its large size, heavy weight, and industrial paper capacity, the CL7200 is not a multipurpose or all-in-one unit without the purchase of an add-on. It lacks even the options to add copier, scanner, or fax functions, and as a result any environment that requires those will need to purchase an additional device, that will likely also be able to produce prints, in order to make copies or scan documents. As a consequence, it is extremely difficult to recommend a device as large as the CL7200.
INK/TONER NEEDS:
The CL7200 consumes toner in black and in three colors, all of which will require regular replacement. The CL7200's black cartridge is rated at 24000 pages with an average of 5% paper coverage. All color cartridges - cyan, magenta, and yellow - are all rated at printing 10000 pages at an average of 5% paper coverage. Furthermore, the printer's drum units will require replacement: each is rated at 40000 pages. The developer and fuser are also rated at 80000 pages and will require replacement at that point. The separation of components brings down long-term costs, but will require additional maintenance to ensure printer function. 
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