Dell extends Euro printer line

Dell announced new laser and inkjet printers for the European market on Wednesday, and hinted at further launches later this year.

The company is initially aiming at reduced running costs for home workers and departmental use with the 1700, a low-end monochrome laser printer in USB and Ethernet variants. Producing 24 A4 pages a minute at 1200x1200 dpi, the printer comes with PCL 6 and -- on the networked version -- Postscript 3. The network version also includes remote Web-based management and the ability to email support with toner status and other variables, and when alerts occur. Prices are £139 (all prices ex. VAT) for the 1700 and £159 for the 1700n.

The other laser printer unveiled is the Dell Laser Multi-Function Printer 1600n. This combines a colour scanner and a monochrome laser-print mechanism that delivers 20 A4 pages per minute at a resolution of 600x600 dpi. Only available in a networked version, the 1600n also includes fax and copy functions and costs £259. Dell said a colour laser printer could be expected in the second half of the year, but gave no further details.

The new inkjet printer is the Dell Photo All-in-One Printer 922, a £67 device aimed at the low-cost domestic market. It produces 18 pages a minute in mono, 14 in colour, has one-button copy and scanning support, and will print borderless A4 photographs with Dell's own photo-quality paper. There's no integral fax, nor flash card slot – although Dell hinted that products later this year will address this.

The printer has a four-ink colour cartridge and a separate black cartridge, with an optional extra tri-colour cartridge for photo quality output: it also supports Dell's DIMS automatic ink-ordering service, which can link to a Web site and set up an order for you as the ink cartridges get low – although delivery still takes between three and five working days. While you're waiting, if the black ink runs out in mid-print the 922 can carry on by mixing a black from the colour cartridges for the remainder of the page. Sterling prices weren't given, but Euro-zone cartridge prices range from €15 for standard black to €32 for the high capacity colour. The printer comes with a mix of optical character recognition, art and photo manipulation software, including PaintShop Pro 8 on a 60 day trial.

All of the above printers were recently made available in the US, with Asian launches due later this year.