Xerox WorkCentre 3550 Toner Cartridges

Xerox 3550 Printer Review

A workhorse by design, the Xerox WorkCentre 3550 multifunction laser printer is equipped to handle the printing, copying, scanning and faxing needs of a busy office. It is durable, with a maximum monthly duty cycle of 75,000 pages, but scanning is the only function that has color capabilities. Faxes can be received in as little as 3 seconds, while print and copy speeds are up to 35 pages per minute. The 3550 can warm up in about 15 seconds and the first page will begin printing in about 8 seconds. These output rates should help increase production in most offices.

The unit is network-ready, with an ethernet port built in. A rear USB port for connecting to a single PC is available, as well as a front-loading USB port for uploading and saving documents to flash drives. An automatic duplexer allows users to print on both sides of the page, though this mode will reduce the speed to about 16-17 pages per minute.

Being versatile is an important characteristic for office equipment, and so is being expandable. Users should be able to upgrade features as business increases, as is the case with the memory and paper capacity of the 3550. The standard memory is 256 MB but can be increased up to 512 MB. The paper capacity, which consists of a 500-sheet input tray and 50-sheet multimedia tray, can be expanded to 1,050 sheets with the addition of an optional 500-sheet tray. The supported media types are also versatile, including envelopes, labels, cards, and transparencies, among others.

As a monochrome device, only a single Xerox 3550 toner cartridge is needed for operation. Standard toners can yield as many as 5,000 pages, which may be a bit low for users that print heavy volumes. The high-capacity WorkCentre 3550 toner cartridges can yield as many as 11,000 pages, however, reducing the overall cost per page. Comparative shopping is recommended when searching for replacement Xerox 3550 toner, as many online vendors offer better prices than ordering directly from the manufacturer.

The unit supports an optical resolution of 600x600 dpi when scanning, though the interpolated resolution is 4800x4800 dpi. When copying and printing, WorkCentre 3550 printer toner can generate a resolution of 1200x1200 dpi, which will create crisp, professional documents. The fax resolution is 600x600 dpi, so intricate images or graphics may come out a bit grainy but text will be clear.

The 3550 was specifically designed to handle high-volume printing in a fast-paced atmosphere. It offers expandable features, versatile paper handling options, high-capacity Xerox 3550 toner, and an array of functions that will enhance the speed and quality of production.