Dell 5140cdn Toner Cartridges

Dell 5140cdn Printer Review

The Dell 5140cdn is a fast laser printer that can grow from supporting a medium-sized office to a much larger shared network environment. It starts with quick speeds of 47 pages per minute, but a large monthly duty cycle and upgrade options give it room for expansion. Dell 5140cdn printer toner is expensive, but third-party supplies are available.

The 5140 starts out with a modest input paper capacity of 700 sheets, between a single 550-sheet drawer and a 150-sheet multipurpose tray. With upgrades, users can boost it to a maximum of 2,900 pages, or increments in between. USB and ethernet ports are both included, though networked environments will obviously choose the latter. The machine also has a front USB port for connecting flash drives or other storage media for direct printing.

Reviewers noted that text was a bit below par, but good enough for business use. While graphics quality was considered rich, photo quality was also a bit disappointing. It's also a fairly large unit, measuring 17x22x20 inches, and it weighs just less than 100 pounds with the Dell 5140cdn toner installed. Other expansion options include a finisher, boosting the RAM from 256 MB to 1 GB, and the addition of a 40 GB hard drive.

Buyers may suffer some sticker shock when they see the price of replacement Dell 5140cdn toner cartridges, despite the option for both standard and high-capacity versions. Luckily, compatible Dell 5140cdn toner cartridges are available from third-party sellers at lower prices, making it a much more affordable option long term.

The Dell 5140cdn would be best for a medium-sized office with plans to expand in the future, thanks to its large monthly duty cycle of 110,000 pages. Its quick speeds are impressive, but output quality can be a bit lackluster, relegating it more to color business documents than to photo output.