Xerox Printers Big and Small

When it comes to print capability, small-business needs run the gamut from stand-alone desktop printers for occasional use to large, networked taskmasters suitable for continuous high-volume printing.

Xerox today announced four new black and white products — laser printers and Multi-Function Printers (MFPs) — that, according to the company, deliver "reliable, flawless work" no matter the size of the business or the task at hand.

Starting at the high-end, the Xerox products include the Phaser 5500 network printer, Phaser 3150 desktop printer, the WorkCentre PE 120/120i, and the FaxCentre F116/F116L.

Phaser 5500 Network Laser Printer

The Phaser 5500 handles high-speed, high-volume printing.

Designed for SMBs that need a printer that can handle high-speed, high-volume printing tasks, the Phaser 5500 features 1200 x 1200 dpi (dots per inch) optical resolution and prints 50 impressions per minute — that's 50 pages per minute for one side and 25 pages for duplex, or double-sided printing. Standard features include a 500MHz PowerPC processor, 128MB RAM (upgradeable to 512MB) and both USB and parallel connectivity. An embedded Web server lets you manage the printer from any Web browser.

A modular product, the Phaser 5500 line consists of five different configurations, and pricing starts at $2,499. You can add different components — from up to six paper sources — including various paper stacking and finishing options such as collate, staple, hole punch and stack. Other options include various high-speed, high-capacity paper feeders and 10/100 BaseTX Ethernet.

Todd Smith, product-marketing manager at Xerox said the Phaser 5500 offers companies increased productivity. "The duty cycle is rated for 300,000 impressions in a month, and the engine life expectancy is 3 million impressions," he said. The 5500's fast speed and high-volume capacity, approximately 20 to 30 thousand impressions per month, is ideal for companies that do lots of printing or need quick printing turnaround."

Phaser 3150 Desktop Laser Printer

The Phaser 3150: Professional laser printing designed to fit on your desk.

Xerox aims the 3150 at professionals who want a laser printer small enough to sit on a desktop. With a print speed of 22 ppm at 600 optical dpi, the 3150 comes standard with 32MB RAM, a 166Mhz processor, a 250-sheet paper tray and USB/parallel connectivity. It has a monthly duty cycle of 15,000 pages, and Xerox rates the toner cartridge at 3500 pages.

Smith notes that the 3150 handles N-up printing, where N equals the number of items. For example, printing 10 business cards per page would be 10-up. "It also handles a variety of paper styles and sizes including posters, envelopes and cards." The Phaser 3150 sells for $349.

WorkCentre PE 120 and 120i
The combination printer, copier scanner and fax machine prints 22 ppm and comes in two models — the 120i features a 10/100 BaseT Ethernet card for network printing. The MFP offers different resolutions depending upon the particular function:

Multitasking: Print, scan, fax and copy with the Xerox WorkCentre PE 120.

• Copy Resolution: 600 X 600 dpi
• Print Resolution: 600 X 600/1200 dpi (emulated, i.e., software enhanced)
• Scan Resolution: 600 X 1200 dpi (optical in black and white and color)
• Fax Resolution: 203 X 98 dpi

The PE 120 sells for $549 while the network-capable PE 120i costs $649.

FaxCentre F116 and F116L

Designed to handle high-volume faxing, the FaxCentre F116 also prints, scans and copies.

According to Smith, "the FaxCentreF116 is designed for companies that rely on fax communication as a major part of day-to-day business." The machine is also capable of printing, color scanning, and scanning to e-mail. Features include 16 ppm printing, text messaging, VoIP compatibility and the ability to program 200 speed dial numbers. Resolutions include:

• Copy Resolution is 300 X 300 dpi
• Print Resolution is 600 X 600 dpi
• Scan Resolution is 300 X 300 dpi (optical) 600 X 600 (interpolated)
• Fax Resolution is 400 X 200 dpi in monochrome or up to 300 X 300 dpi in color

The F116 sells for $999, and the F11L, which includes dual-line configuration for transmitting and/or receiving faxes simultaneously, sells for $1,499.

Lauren Simonds is the managing editor of SmallBusinessComputing.com

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