Issue #0532/1 - 30ppm colour and black and white from Hewlett-Packard provides workgroup with the power and speed it needs for in-house printing.
Pushing its colour engine speed higher than before achieved, to the second fastest speed available in the A4 colour laser segment, this week Hewlett-Packard has released its new Colour LaserJet 4700.
Hewlett-Packard ColourLaserJet 4700
Arriving at the same price the outgoing CLJ4650, the CLJ4700 is capable of 30ppm print speeds in both mono and colour. Pricing on the higher-level configurations of the CLJ4700 is, however, slightly higher than on the outgoing model. For instance, the network-ready model is 4.4% more expensive and the dtn (duplex, twin input tray, network-ready) model is nearly 12% more expensive.
What is surprising is that Hewlett-Packard has decided not to make the inclusion of the network interface a standard feature for this printer – especially when the brochure text begins by introducing it as a ‘superior workgroup printer’ and making comment on ‘managed networks’. Basic interfaces are parallel and USB 2.0.
Using the Colour LaserJet 4700dn as the model for comparisons, we have ensured that each of the machines compared is both network-ready and duplex capable. Thus, the comparisons shown are ‘apples for apples’ comparisons. We have also shown the CLJ4650dn for comparative purposes, which shows that the new model is priced very closely to the outgoing model.
As market leader, Hewlett-Packard’s pricing tends to be near the top of the spectrum with other manufacturers pricing to it (see "Kyocera Mita – fleet management and fast copy" for further comment).
Lexmark only manages to scrape its long term CPP below the level of the Hewlett-Packard machines by selling the hardware at very low cost – high consumables pricing makes the machine very uncompetitive on the basis of day-to-day running costs. Lexmark’s mono CPP is the highest in the group and colour CPP is second only to the Xerox solid ink device.
Dell maintains its competitive edge with pricing that places it lowest in all three categories – even below the levels of the Kyocera Mita ECOSYS machine, the FS-C5030DN.
A4 Single-Pass Colour Cost Per Page
Speaking of Dell however, brings us to an interesting performance comparison.
Some speed trial tests were recently observed and verified, which involved the printing of a 40-page colour document. The trial compared the new CLJ4700 with the Dell 5100cn and printed the 40-page document in duplex mode.
|
UK >23ppm A4 single-pass |
Purchase | Print Speed |
Nominal CPP |
Mixed mono/colour CPP over 3 years |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dell 5100cn | £559 |
Mono Colour |
35ppm 25 ppm |
0.62 pence 4.33 pence |
1.89 pence |
|
Epson AcuLaser C4200DN |
£1,128 |
Mono Colour |
35 ppm 25 ppm |
1.19 pence 6.24 pence |
3.11 pence |
|
Hewlett-Packard Colour LaserJet 4650dn |
£1,500 |
Mono Colour |
22 ppm 22 ppm |
1.37 pence 6.34 pence |
3.46 pence |
|
Hewlett-Packard Colour LaserJet 4700dn |
£1,620 |
Mono Colour |
30 ppm 30 ppm |
1.28 pence 6.26 pence |
3.48 pence |
|
Konica Minolta magicolor 5450D |
£1,220 |
Mono Colour |
25 ppm 25 ppm |
1.05 pence 5.86 pence |
3.01 pence |
|
Kyocera Mita FS-5030DN |
£1,529 |
Mono Colour |
24 ppm 24 ppm |
0.89 pence 3.97 pence |
2.33 pence |
| Lexmark C762dn | £1,009 |
Mono Colour |
23 ppm 23 ppm |
1.54 pence 7.50 pence |
3.30 pence |
| Oki C7350dn | £1,119 |
Mono Colour |
26 ppm 24 ppm |
1.43 pence 7.21 pence |
3.62 pence |
| Ricoh CL4000HDN | £2,230 |
Mono Colour |
25 ppm 25 ppm |
0.89 pence 4.99 pence |
3.05 pence |
| Xerox Phaser 6350DP | £1,249 |
Mono Colour |
35 ppm 35 ppm |
1.41 pence 6.36 pence |
3.42 pence |
| Xerox Phaser 8550DP | £849 |
Mono Colour |
30 ppm 24 ppm |
1.42 pence 7.82 pence |
3.82 pence |
Note that for this level of machine, the mixed mono/colour CPP over three years shown in the accompanying table is calculated on the basis of 5,000 pages per month using maximum capacity toners and takes into account any standard, or starter, toner cartridges shipped with the printer and includes the purchase price.
This underlines the importance of efficient processing and paper handling in a printer over and above raw engine speed. Also contributing to this speed advantage is Hewlett-Packard’s ‘Instant on’ fuser technology that eliminates the need for the printer to wait for the fuser to reach operating temperature before releasing the first page.
Other elements of the Colour LaserJet 4700 series that are worthy of specific mention include the new toner formulation (ColorSphere – also see previous issue of TCPglobal - "A3 colour printer segment modernised with launch of Xerox Phaser 7400") that extends the colour gamut achieved by this printer by 22% over and above the gamut achieved in the Colour LaserJet 4650. This not only extends the breadth of colours that the device is physically capable of representing but also increases the accuracy of those colours.
With a range of models and accessories, the CLJ4700 is a flexible device for workgroups and departments with high volume colour document requirements. The maximum duty cycle capability has been set at 100,000 pages per month (almost seven-and-a-half office days continuous printing at full rated speed).
Add up to four 500-sheet paper trays to push maximum paper capacity to 2,600 sheets and an optional stapler/stacker with job offset function and the CLJ4700 turns into a fast and versatile short run in-house production machine. Both PCL and PostScript 3 are included as standard.
There are however, some limitations regarding the paper handling options that can be added to the CLJ4700. For instance, the finisher is only available as an option for the dn and dtn models - it is standard on the ph+. Also, there is no upgrade path to duplex capability for the basic and n models. If duplex may be a requirement, the user has to purchase a factory-prepared duplex model (dn, dtn or ph+) from the outset. The non-duplex models are capable of undertaking manual duplexing.
Hewlett-Packard ColourLaserJet 4730MFP
For users with requirements for secure/private/repeat print functionality, a 40GB hard disk is available as an option and fitted as standard on the ph+ model.
In addition to the Colour LaserJet 4700 printer, Hewlett-Packard has also launched a MFP version, Colour LaserJet 4730MFP.
Utilising the same print engine as the CLJ4700 printer, the CLJ4730 has not been thrown onto a stand and had a scan platen screwed to the top. Following similar design concepts used for the mono LaserJet 4545MFP, the CLJ4730MFP is a tightly integrated custom built multifunction device, especially in its media finishing variants.
Again, this device is built for durability. Maximum monthly duty cycle is rated even higher than the CLJ4700, at 175,000 pages per month. However, recommended duty cycle is 5,000 to 9,000 pages per month. With a 400,000-page rated life expectancy, the CLJ4730MFP will last somewhere in the order of four to seven years.
Hewlett-Packard ColourLaserJet 4730xm MFP
In order to create a separate cost centre, the CLJ4730MFP will not accept toner cartridges sold for the CLJ4700 printer. All four cartridges are rated at 12,000 pages in comparison the 11,000 pages for the black and 10,000 pages for the colour cartridges for the printer version.
Although the black toner is priced 21% lower than the cartridge for the printer, the colour cartridges are priced 20% higher!
When this is calculated out on a per page basis, the CPP for colour pages from the MFP is identical to colour pages from the printer but mono pages are almost 28% cheaper. At 0.75 pence per mono page, this will make the device very attractive to organisations wanting a single device to handle all its print and copy work where colour is in the minority.
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