OKI C830n

Handling: A3 and A4

Why would you choose OKI instead of a better known brand? For the cost per page! It's much lower than with other printers, and there are some real savings to be made on consumables over the lifetime of the printer.

What's more, the C830dn is a colour laser printer that prints both A4 and A3, with double-sided printing, all inside a footprint that's not much bigger than an A4 only printer. It measures approximately 34 x 48 x 63 cm, but a standard A4 printer like the Canon 7200cdn measures around 33 x 41 x 49 cm. The OKI might be a little wider, but within reasonable proportions.??It's also an exceptionally fast printer - over 30 pages per minute in colour and black and white (half that for A3). It's PC, Mac and Linux compatible, and its 256 MB of RAM, network connectivty, and compatibility with the PCL6 and PS3 languages make it suitable for workgroups of up to ten people. So do its speed, quality, and flexibility of format (it can also use paper weights up to 220 gsm) make it the ideal printer?

Well, there are other points to consider: it has a resolution of 600 dpi, it isn't a multi-function, and it's wired, with buttons instead of a touchscreen. Also, the consumables - toner, drum, transfer belt and fuser - are separate. Their lifespans vary between 8 000 and 100 000 pages, so you may have to juggle the consumables a little.

Speeds: 31 ppm, but ...

The printer claims a speed of 30 pages per minute in colour and in black and white, and it delivers! So it is very fast - once it gets started.
Unfortunately there's a big black spot that spoils the picture: the printer is slow to start up. As you can see in the inset, when it's warmed up it reacts quickly. The problem is that when the printer is coming out of sleep mode, it takes over a minute to print a page. And it can even take longer - the printer's datasheet clearly states that it can take up to 75 seconds.

Noise and energy consumption: not at all good!

When operating, noise reached 65 dB, and energy consumption a record 1 200 W! Most A4 laser printers consume 400 to 800 W. So this is a power-eating model.

Printing Quality

The results were up to our expectations - precise and legible. The colours were a little less vivid than the original ones, and also slightly darker and with a reddish cast (it was flagrant in photos, but then that's not intended to be this printer's primary use). But the results were no worse than average, and undeniably in business class.


Cost per page

As we pointed out at the start, one of OKI's techniques is to use low running costs to attract customers. The cost per page of just 1 p in black and white is a long way from the 3 p, or rarely 2 p per page that most of its competitors offer. Still, there are some 'hidden' costs, because the consumables themselves aren't all-in-one models, but instead separate components. If you include the printing drum, black and white printing rises to 1.3 p per page (which is still very low), but you then need to add a quarter of the cost of the fuser and transfer belt.

ISO Lifespan for text documents

Drum	Price	ISO Lifespan	Cost per page
44064012 (black)	£75.43	20 000	0.38 p
44064011 (cyan)	£73.00	20 000	0.37 p
44064010 (magenta)	£73.00	20 000	0.37 p
44064009 (yellow)	£73.00	20 000	0.37 p

Transfer Drum	Price	ISO Lifespan	Cost per page
43449705	£78.36	80 000	0.1 p