OKI C810N is an A3 colour laser printer, which makes it distinctly different from the last OKI device we reviewed. Our previous OKI review was for OKI MC780DFNFAX, which is a colour laser multifunction printer. Multifunction printers tend to incorporate as much functionality as possible so as to be adaptable and flexible. A3 printers, on the other hand, have to focus on their primary mandate i.e. A3 printing. This is why the OKI MC780DFNFAX and OKI C810N are so different.
The OKI C810N, like all OKI devices, is built around the Digital 4 LED Full-colour Electrophotographic Printing Technology. In fact, using LEDs instead of lasers is a speciality of OKI devices. It brings with it, its own benefits such as better energy consumption figures and efficiency models. Apart from the fact that the OKI C810N is LED based, it is also important to note that it has the distinction of being one of the smallest A3 laser printers in the market. Therefore, if space is short but you still need proper colour A3 printing functionality, then you should consider the OKI C810N. Here’s our review.
Strengths of OKI C810N
The compact size of OKI C810N is clearly a great advantage for small to medium scale businesses because such businesses often have to deal with spatial constraints. While the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) has managed to make this device compact with respect to its width and height, this has come at the cost of depth. This device is short and squat but it is very deep. It measures about 485mm wide, 579mm deep and 345mm high. Effectively, what this means is that you won’t need floor space for the OKI C810N but will need a deep desk for it.
The C810N also offers good paper handling capacities. The standard variant of this machine comes with a total paper capacity of 400 sheets which can be divided between a 300-sheet paper tray and a 100-sheet multipurpose tray. However, this can be upgraded to up to 1,460 sheets through the addition of the two optional 530-sheet trays. The OKI C810N’s good paper capacity is supported by decent print speed as well. This machine can print at a maximum speed of 32 pages per minute (ppm), which means that you can get 32 A4 sheets every 60 seconds. If you print A3 sheets, the print speed of the device goes down to 17 ppm.
Furthermore, this combination of decent speed and great paper handling capability is supplemented by a good print engine boasting of a good monthly duty cycle. OKI recommend printing at least 10,000 pages per month but the printer is rated to handle up to 50,000 pages per month. The output quality of the OKI C810N is also decent since it has a maximum print resolution of 1200 x 600 dots per inch (dpi). This maximum resolution translates into sharp black text with virtually no jagged edges or shading issues. Colour prints are also quite good when compared to other printers in the same product segment. A3 printers tend to generally be costlier with respect to their running costs when compared to A4 printers.
This means that this device shouldn’t be compared to A4 printers in terms of its running costs. When compared to its competitors, though, the device offers better cost metrics than most of its counterparts. If you use genuine cartridges in the OKI C810N, it will deliver every page for about 16.15 cents. However, you can reduce this cost by choosing to use generic toner cartridges. Using generic toner cartridges will yield every print for less than 14 cents per page.
Weaknesses of OKI C810N
We began the previous section of this post by explaining how compact the OKI C810N really is. The caveat here is that while this device is fairly compact, it isn’t lightweight. In fact, it is on the heavier side, weighing 36 Kg. Consequently, you not only need a table that is deep in dimension but also sturdy enough to handle this printer’s weight. While you’re on the subject of furniture, we also recommend taking into account the simplistic appearance of this device.
Don’t expect the OKI C810N to look all futuristic and swanky on your desk. It is a decidedly dull looking machine that is reminiscent of devices from the ‘90s. So, you might want to make peace with the fact that the OKI C810N falls flat on its face when it comes to appearances. At the same time, if you’re an optimistic individual, you can also see this device’s appearance as old school and classic as opposed to antiquated and out of date.
A far more significant weakness of the OKI C810N is that it doesn’t offer automatic duplexing in the standard version. Automatic duplexing is something that most laser printers are offering these days and its absence in the C810N, in our opinion, is a gross oversight from the OEM. To be fair to them, they have offered automatic duplexing in the form of an optional component. Furthermore, the company does offer the OKI C810DN which has automatic duplexing as a standard feature.
Another miscue by OKI with the C810N is the absence of wireless connectivity. Most modern laser printers not only offer wireless connectivity but actually offer the Wi-Fi Direct feature. While the former allows for the printer to be connected to the network wirelessly, the latter allows mobile devices to connect directly to the printer, bypassing the network. Unfortunately, the OKI C810N offers neither. Connectivity options it does offer are USB 2.0 and Ethernet.
Key Features of OKI C810N
A3 printers are generally slower than A4 printers and this is reflected in the performance of the OKI C810N with respect to first print out times. The device will take about 10 seconds to deliver a colour print into your hands while the time it takes to print a monochrome page is slightly lesser at 9.5 seconds. Apart from the primary print engine and technology, the internal RAM memory also contributes to this device’s first printout times and overall print speed. The inbuilt RAM memory in this device is 128MB and it is not expandable.
The control panel of the OKI C810N consists of two light indicators, a display screen, and some buttons. The two indicators denote “Ready” and “Attention”, the display screen is 2-line, 16-character backlit LCD, and the buttons consist of basic cancel and online buttons along with four-way navigation. Finally, while the running cost of the OKI C810N is very good, as mentioned earlier, the initial investment you’ll have to make to get it is at par with other devices with a similar feature set. The C810N will most probably be priced around the $2,000 mark give or take $10 or $20.
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