There once was a time when choosing a smartphone was an easy endeavor because only a few models were available. Now, the market is saturated with a massive range of models that differ widely in style and function. Even RIM, which had been the pinnacle of simplicity with just one device- albeit, not a smartphone but a smart pager of sorts-now offers plenty of BlackBerry models.
In August 2008, we reported on the new BlackBerry Bold, the first Black Berry to support tri-band HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) networks. Now, details have surfaced on RIM’s first touchscreen BlackBerry, the Storm. Perhaps most notable about the Storm is that the device resembles an Apple iPhone more than a traditional BlackBerry device.
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The Brother HL-2170W is a printer that is simply designed well. It maintains a low profile (literally) so that it takes up very little desk space, and it has a sturdy, removable paper tray for easy loading. And that’s just the plastic parts; inside, the engineers over at Brother have managed to cram an impressive number of features into a petite package. For one thing, the HL-2710W boasts a resolution of up to 2,400 x 600dpi. It also has 32MB of RAM, supports Windows, Linux, and Mac OSes, and is a breeze to set up and install. And perhaps most appealing is that it’s ready for a wired network .
What sets this printer apart, however, is that it features Wi-Fi. With Wi-Fi capabilities, not only can you add the HL-2170W to your network, you can print wirelessly to it from a Wi-Fi capable device. A number of wireless security protocols are supported, including WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) and WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access). And the cherry on top of the convenience cake is that you can configure the machine with a number of one-touch technologies including SecureEasySetup, AOSS (AirStation One Touch Secure System), and Wi-Fi Protected Setup-capable routers.
The HL-2170W isn’t slow by any means, but it’s not setting any speed records, either. It makes up ground on longer jobs, though—a 10-page test document clocked in at 33.5 seconds. The print quality, although technically at a high resolution, isn’t as impressive as the other printers in this roundup. However, text prints are still crisp, gray-scale images are moderately smooth, and blacks are fairly deep.
The HL-2170W doesn’t have the bestquality prints or blazing speed, but because of its ease of use, impressive networking features, and low price—only $149.99—it’s definitely a printer that will meet your home or small office needs.
Specifications
Print Technology: B/W Laser Technology
Max. Black Print Speed 23ppm Black
Print Resolution (maximum dpi) HQ1200 (up to 2400 x 600 dpi)
Standard Paper Capacity (sheets): 250-Sheet Input Capacity
Optional Paper Capacity (sheets): No
Multi-purpose Tray Capacity: Single-sheet manual bypass slot
Standard Interface(s): Wireless 802.11b/g, 10/100 Base-TX Ethernet, USB
Printer Driver Compatibility† Windows®, Mac OS® & Linux
Emulation(s): PCL6
Max. Monthly Duty Cycle: 10,000 pages
Recommended Monthly Print Volume: 250 to 2,000 pages
First Time to Print Less than 10 sec.
Standard Memory (MB) 32MB Memory
Optional Memory (MB): No
Network-Ready Yes
Speed (Mono) : Up to 24 ppm in A4 (25 ppm in Letter)
Resolution : Up to 1,200 x 1200 dpi effective output
Emulation : PostScript3, PCL6
Input Capacity and Types : 250-sheet Multi Purpose Tray, 1-sheet Manual Tray
OS Compatibility : Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/(32/64bit)/2003 Server/ Vista, Various Linux OS including Red Hat 8~9, Fedora Core 1~3 Mandrake 9.2~10.1 and SuSE 8.2~9.2,Mac OS 8.6~9.2/10.1~10.4
The Samsung ML-2571N is much like the Xerox Phaser 3124—in fact, they come in identical form factors— but the ML-2571 also has wired network capabilities. However, the ML-2571N has a few shortcomings; although text prints are good, graphical prints leave something to be desired. Though not especially fast, it still sports decent speed—38 seconds for a 10-page document.
Shortcomings notwithstanding, the ML-2517N boasts some impressive features. It supports a number of OSes (operating systems), including every Windows OS since Windows 98, Windows Server 2003, several Linux OSes, and Mac OS 8 through OS X. It can print on transparencies, labels, postcards, and envelopes, and it supports manual duplex printing.
The ML-2571N also has a burly 32MB of RAM. Like the Phaser 3124, the ML-2571N is a solid printer with enough options to accomplish any home or small office print job you can throw at it. The wired network capabilities make it a useful addition to any network, although you’ll have to settle for only moderate quality for graphical prints. Still, the ML-2571N is a printer that won’t disappoint.
Specifications
Speed (Mono) : Up to 24 ppm in A4 (25 ppm in Letter)
Resolution : Up to 1,200 x 1200 dpi effective output
Emulation : PostScript3, PCL6
Input Capacity and Types : 250-sheet Multi Purpose Tray, 1-sheet Manual TrayOS Compatibility : Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/(32/64bit)/2003 Server/ Vista, Various Linux OS including Red Hat 8~9, Fedora Core 1~3 Mandrake 9.2~10.1 and SuSE 8.2~9.2,Mac OS 8.6~9.2/10.1~10.4
The Phaser 3124 is an all-around good machine. While it doesn’t have any features that make it stand out in a crowd, it quietly does everything it’s supposed to do very well. There is little to say against it. It doesn’t have any network capability, which may be a big concern for some users, but otherwise it holds its own when compared to other machines.
It’s not blazingly fast, but it’s still awfully quick. The Phaser 3124 cranked out a 10 page test document in 36 seconds. The print quality isn’t especially impressive, but it still sports deeper blacks than some of the other machines, produces nice grayscale images, and makes eminently readable text prints even at small sizes.
There is nothing in terms of print quality to complain about. In addition to being able to print on a splendid variety of media, including envelopes, labels, transparencies, and cardstock, the Phaser 3124 can make manual double-sided prints on all supported paper sizes, up to 8.5 x 14 inches.
A couple of unique features of this printer include NUp printing, which allows you to print up to 16 pages on a single sheet, and the ability to create watermarks. It also has an impressive duty cycle of 20,000 pages per month.
The Phaser 3124 is a workhorse printer that produces quality results in every area; even installation was quick and tear-free. It may not be sexy, but it’ll get the work done and do a fine job. Although some users may want to opt for a pricier Xerox product to acquire network capability, this machine can do everything else.
Specifications
- The Phaser 3124 price starts at $179.
- up to 25 ppm
- First-page-out time as fast as 9 seconds
- 150 MHz processor
- Maximum paper size is legal (216 x 356 mm)
- Standard paper capacity: 251 sheets
- 1200 x 600 Image Quality
- 8 MB memory
- Maximum duty cycle of 20,000 pages per month
- Dimensions (w x d x h): 14.1 x 11.7 x 10 in. / 358 x 298 x 253 mm
The HP P1505 is, to put it bluntly, loud enough to turn heads in an office setting while printing, at least. Although it idles as quietly as any machine can, when it starts printing, the P1505 belts out sounds that people in the back of a theater could hear, and it may very well be a distraction in a small office setting.
Why didn’t HP make it a little quieter? Probably because it was busy giving it lightning fast speed. This Printer performed exceedingly well when printing a 10-page document (31 seconds). If you’re printing a one-page text document, it’ll appear in less time than it takes to have a hearty swig of coffee or take a bite of muffin.
A couple of other knocks on the P1505 are that it has no network capability, it only has 2MB of RAM, and it’s also a pain to install. (We had to completely uninstall the software and reinstall it a couple of times to get the printer to work properly.) Of course, if you don’t need to use your printer on a network, the former complaint is nullified.
Those few negatives are ones you can quickly ignore if your primary criterion for a laser printer is print quality; the P1505 produced exceptionally rich, deep blacks in graphics and crisp text even in an 8-point font.
Although the P1505 produces prints in 600 x 600dpi, the FastRes 1200 function gives it an effective output quality of 1,200dpi. It can also handle legal-sized paper and can print on a variety of media, including envelopes and postcards. If you can deal with the noise and don’t need a network-capable printer, the HP P1505’s impressive speed and superb print quality make it an ideal laser printer for your home or small office.
Price: $199.00 (Base Model), $249.00 (Base printer plus: networking and 8 MB more memory).