Dell Color Laser Printer 5100cn

Review: Editor's note: The ratings for this review have been changed since the original publication. (2/11/05) Color laser printers run the gamut in price, from the inexpensive Samsung CLP-500 to the premium Lexmark C762n. Treading the middle ground...

Inexpensive; fast print speeds; built-in duplexer; network ready; good service and support packages

Mediocre graphics print quality; dull-looking design uses cheap plastics

This respectable, middle-of-the-road color laser printer stands up to heavy network use but won't bankrupt the company.

The big and boxy Dell Laser Printer 5100cn is a $999 powerhouse that you can load up for high-speed, double-sided color printing.

The Web-based administration software is sufficient for a small office with few printers. The printed documentation consists of a setup poster, a quick reference sheet, an owner manual, and a user guide. The latter two have some overlap, with the user...

After cutting its teeth on ink jets and monochrome lasers, Dell is now moving on to color lasers. The Dell Laser Printer 5100cn ($999 direct) is built around a Fuji-Xerox engine rated at 35 pages per minute for monochrome and 26 ppm for color. It...

Photo quality is in the top tier for color lasers. Good performance for the price. Maximum capacity with optional paper trays is 2,150 sheets

Text quality, at just short of very good, is relatively low for a laser printer

The Dell Laser Printer 5100cn color laser offers reasonably good performance, duplexing, and the option to boost paper capacity from 650 sheets to 2,150. Output quality is mixed, with better than average photos, middling graphics, and...

Even offices that work mostly with memos, spreadsheets, and other no-nonsense documents need color output sometimes. Dell's 5100cn addresses this need in a very affordable, low-maintenance package.

All in all, Dell’s 5100cn is a competent color printer at a price within reach of most workgroups. It's easy to manage, and its consumables are affordable. Plus, if you invest in some paper-handling add-ons, you could probably stretch the number of...

The big and boxy Dell Laser Printer 5100cn is a powerhouse that you can load up for high-speed, double-sided colour printing.

Colour, high paper capacity, economical to run, fast printing, easy to network

Problems with image quality

The Dell Laser Printer 5100cn is fast and should be an economical choice for a workgroup that plows through paper, but its image quality could have been better.

This affordable, middle-of-the-road colour laser printer stands up to heavy network use.

Inexpensive, Fast print speeds, Built-in duplexer, Network ready, Good service and support packages

Mediocre graphics print quality, Dull-looking design uses cheap plastics

This affordable, middle-of-the-road colour laser printer stands up to heavy network use...

Eine Maschine für Arbeitsgruppen mit niedrigen Kosten pro Seite.

Eine Maschine für Arbeitsgruppen, bei denen in erster Linie Durchsatz gefragt ist und Farbdruck als Zusatznutzen angesehen wird. Über den im Vergleich zum restlichen Testfeld relativ hohen Anschaffungspreis trösten die echt günstigen Verbrauchskosten...

Love it!!!! Great looking print quality for my needs. Looks as good as the expensive printers we have at work.

Like Color Quality. Large Ink supply. Got it from a friend and I am very happy with it

It's big. And need's to reset (calabrate) itself - all the time

If you do a lot of low copy runs, it's great. If you want a real production printer, steer clear. I have use this for 4 years and under 40,000 copies and my printer is USED UP. Dell replaced it with a refurb with under 14,000 copies and it too, was...

This is a strong, multi user printer. It supplies are reasonably cost effective, and most of the time bullet proof. The print speeds when new, are great

Printing REAL productions runs (200 to 500 2 sided pieces) are a pain, and this printer has a major flaw in that when it reaches a certain print level, starts dumping towner because of over heating

If you do a lot of low copy runs, it's great.... 

This is a strong, multi user printer. It supplies are reasonably cost effective, and most of the time bullet proof. The print speeds when new, are great.

Printing REAL productions runs (200 to 500 2 sided pieces) are a pain, and this printer has a major flaw in that when it reaches a certain print level, starts dumping towner because of over heating.

I printed < 21000 impressions out of this ...

excellent printer, until it died

it died an early death

I printed < 21000 impressions out of this unit before it started printing grey across the whole of every page. Went through tech support and replaced a few parts until being told there was nothing more they could do, that the unit is good as trash....

excellent printer, until it died

it died an early death

If you do a lot of low copy runs, it's great. If you want a real production printer, steer clear. I have use this for 4 years and under 40,000 copies and my printer is USED UP. Dell replaced it with a refurb with under 14,000 copies and it too, was...

This is a strong, multi user printer. It supplies are reasonably cost effective, and most of the time bullet proof. The print speeds when new, are great

Printing REAL productions runs (200 to 500 2 sided pieces) are a pain, and this printer has a major flaw in that when it reaches a certain print level, starts dumping towner because of over heating

I printed < 21000 impressions out of this unit before it started printing grey across the whole of every page. Went through tech support and replaced a few parts until being told there was nothing more they could do, that the unit is good as trash....

excellent printer, until it died

it died an early death

I have spent months trying to figure out how ... 

Pretty cheap when I bought it

Size, Drivers, Support, Ink Use

I have spent months trying to figure out how to print postcards with this thing. I've concluded that there is a known issue with the feeder tray that makes this impossible. I posted 5-6 posts on the Dell Support forums and never found an answer... only...

Pretty cheap when I bought it

Size, Drivers, Support, Ink Use

Initially when using this high capacity print... 

Initial print quality

Reliability and cost per page, Dell support