Ricoh CL7100 Toner
Aficio CL7100 Toner Cartridges

Ricoh CL7100 Printer Review

The Ricoh CL7100 is a color laser printer designed for high-volume office environments. Its large paper capacity and fast speeds will serve a large number of users. Expandability options allow it to grow in the future.

The Ricoh CL7100 is quite a bulky printer. It is designed for the large office, and makes no attempt at being compact. If enough additional paper trays are added, it becomes tall enough to set on the floor on casters, so that it can be wheeled into place. Its standard paper capacity is 1,100 sheets, which may be enough for most office users. The printer can support up to 3,100 sheets maximum, which is more that its competition, like the Xerox 6350 toner printer. In fact, a wide variety of upgrade options are available for the CL7100, including wireless networking and finishing options. Unfortunately, many of these upgrades are quite expensive, adding to the cost of an already high-priced unit.

The Ricoh CL7100 includes an ethernet port for connecting directly to a network. Setting it up for sharing on a network can be a little confusing, but the manual walks the user through the entire process. Once set up, it works flawlessly as a network printer, and most of its settings and features can be accessed remotely through its embedded web server.

While its upfront costs are high, the printer's operating costs are very low, making the total cost of ownership lower than less expensive printers. Ricoh CL7100 toner cartridges have capacities of 10,000 pages for each color cartridge, and 20,000 pages for black, blowing away other models on the market, such as the HP 4700 toner. Using third-party compatible cartridges instead of the more expensive branded Ricoh CL7100 toner will save even more money.

Print speeds are impressive, at 35 pages per minute for both monochrome and color printing. Print quality is excellent, utilizing the printer's 1200 dpi printing engine.

Overall, the Ricoh CL7100 is a solid choice for the large, busy office. It has the speed and capacity now and expandability for the future. For smaller offices, check out the Okidata C5200 toner printer.