Dell 5330dn review

The 5350dn is Dell’s new flagship mono laser, targeting paper-hungry workgroups with a need for speed. Compact enough to sit on a desktop, the 5350dn delivers a fast 48ppm A4 print speed, an integrated duplex unit and a true 1,200dpi resolution.

Once set up in our lab, it dispatched a simple 48-page Word document in precisely one minute, and that didn’t rise at all when we upped the resolution from the Normal 1,200dpi mode to the Best 2,400IQ interpolated option.

It also shrugged off the challenge of our complex DTP-style document. A 24-page print with large graphics and photos took 30 seconds regardless of resolution, which makes for a perfect 48ppm. It’s quiet during use, so is suitable for small offices.

Print quality is good enough for general business use, with razor-sharp text and clean bar and pie charts, although we couldn’t discern any real difference between Best and Normal modes. Photos were a job too far, with little detail in darker areas and much more evident banding.

After the low initial outlay, printing costs are impressive. Unlike many manufacturers, Dell ships with a generous 10,000-page toner cartridge. Follow that up with the buy-and-return, recyclable 30,000-page cartridge and you’re looking at a cost of 0.7p per page; if you don’t agree to recycle, print costs are nearly a penny per page.

For expansion, Dell offers an 80GB hard disk and a wireless print server. You can stack up to three further 550-sheet paper trays and a 2,000-sheet feeder under the printer, and output capacity can be bumped up to 2,750 pages.

Access to the printer can be easily secured with its own user database, or by using LDAP, Kerberos, passwords and PINs. A front USB port is also provided for walk-up printing.

The Dell 5350dn is a real printing workhorse that’s highly expandable, delivers on claimed speeds, and is remarkably quiet about it too. Photo print quality is lacking, but the impressively low running costs more than compensate.