Okidata B4200 Printer Review
The Okidata B4200 laser printer is designed for the home or small office user. It is a very economical printer, due to its low toner costs and affordable upfront cost. Lack of a multipurpose tray may be a problem for some users, but expandability helps bridge the gap. For lower capacity printing, look at the HP P1005 toner printer.
Compact size is important for a small office, and the Oki B4200 laser printer keeps things very compact without sacrificing speed or print quality. The unit measures 7.9 inches by 14 inches by 15.6 inches, and weighs only 22 pounds. Paper capacity is good, with 250 sheets in a single standard tray, but some users may miss the option of a multipurpose tray, which makes using more than one kind of paper very convenient. If more capacity is needed, an additional 500-sheet tray can be added, bringing the total paper capacity to 750 sheets.
The unit connects via parallel or USB, and an ethernet print server is available, allowing it to be connected and shared across a network of users. All modern versions of Windows are supported, as well as Mac and Linux platforms.
Okidata B4200 toner cartridges have a capacity of 2,500 pages, and the laser toner cartridges are very affordable, making it a very economical choice for an office. However, if color printing is desired, perhaps the HP CP1215 toner printer will be a better choice. Third-party compatible printer toner cartridges are also available at an even lower cost, for even more savings. Combining compatible cartridges with the unit's toner save mode can result in extremely low operating costs that will save a significant amount of money over the lifetime of the machine.
Print speed is fast using the one laser toner cartridge, at around 19 pages per minute, and should be fast enough even for a busy small office. Print quality is excellent, with sharp and detailed text, and good graphics and photo quality.
Overall, the Oki B4200 is one of the most economical printers in its class, and is perfect for the small office on a budget. Its operating costs and its upfront price are both very low.
