eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.
Dell is launching eight new black-and-white printers, including several multifunction models, which target a range of businesses from large enterprise to small companies to specialized users in the health care, legal and education fields.
The eight new Dell printers, which are available March 30, represent the next step Dell is taking in revamping its printer portfolio to better compete with Hewlett-Packard and Xerox in the enterprise market and against smaller players, such as Samsung and Brother, in the SMB (small and midsized business) markets.
In 2008, Dell began revamping its printer portfolio to better compete against HP. Now, Dell has more than 25 printer models, including black-and-white offerings, color printers and multifunction machines. The prices range from $119 on the low end to $3,319 on the high end.
While Dell has expanded its offerings during the last two years, Donald Heath, a senior product manager in company’s Printing and Imaging division, said Dell is focused on offering IT managers a way to save 20 to 30 percent in printing costs. With the economy still sluggish, Heath said IT managers are looking for a way to save money in one area and move that cash to a more critical area, such as data storage and critical infrastructure.
For a look at wireless printers, please click here.
“With the downturn in the economy, everyone in IT has to come back to the drawing board,” said Heath. “Where do we save money? In most IT staffs, printers probably don’t even make the Top 10. Where we felt like we can add value as a company is if we can save you 20 to 30 percent on a product line, especially something that you’re not that interested in, you can take that same amount of money and go spend it on unified communications, the new SAN, the line of business applications-all the stuff that you are worried about and it makes sense.”
For IT departments, Dell is also looking to expand its line of multifunction printers to allow IT administrators to consolidate older machines and other peripherals-fax machines, for example-which can save money, offer more security and streamline the business.
Dell offers three-year warranties with its printers, and the product lifecycle ranges from three to five years. In addition, Dell has built embedded technology into the framework of many of its printers, especially the ones that offer touch screens, to meet the needs of specialty markets, such as health care and education. (With the passage of federal health care legislation in March, many IT firms are revamping their products to meet what many believe will be a growing need for health care-specific products.)
“Several printers that we offer are equipped to handle EMR [electronic medical record] systems,” said Heath.
The eight new Dell systems are designated with either an “n,” which means the printer offers a built-in network card, or a “d,” which means the printer can handle double-sided printing. The new offerings include:
- The Dell 1130, which handles 19 pages per minute (ppm), and the Dell 1130n, which handles 24 ppm. The Dell 1130 costs $119, while the 1130n costs $179.
- The Dell 3333dn, which costs $999 and handles 40 ppm, and the Dell 3335dn, which costs $1,299 and handles 40 ppm. Both machines allow for print, scan and copy functionality.
- The Dell 5230n, which costs $899 and handles 45 ppm, and the Dell 5230dn, which costs $999 and also handles 45 ppm.
- The Dell 5530dn, which handles 55 ppm and costs $1,929.
- The Dell 5535dn, which handles 55 ppm and costs $3,319. This machine also offers print, scan, copy and fax functionality.
All eight Dell printers are immediately available.