Ricoh SP 4100NL Toner
Aficio SP 4100NL Toner Cartridges

Ricoh SP 4100NL Printer Review

The Ricoh Aficio SP 4100NL is designed to fit the needs of a small office, while still offering some of the speed and quality one would expect from a large office monochrome laser printer. It can output up to 31 pages per minute for solid performance, and sports a 1200x600 dpi resolution for sharp quality. With upgrade options available, it has room to grow, but the cost of Ricoh SP 4100NL printer toner supplies is quite high for a small office machine.

As part of the SP 4100 series, the SP 4100NL is notable for its networking capabilities and its paper capacity. The standard configuration includes a 500-sheet main paper tray and a 100-sheet bypass tray for alternate media. It can be expanded further to a maximum of 1,600 sheets, however, by adding up to two more 500-sheet trays. In addition to the included ethernet port, it also includes a USB port for those who want to use it as a personal printer.

The unit measures 13.6x15.3x17.8 inches, and weighs 38.6 pounds including the Aficio SP 4100NL toner supply. This makes it an easy fit for desktop use and it will also be easy to set up. While it doesn't come with automatic duplexing in its standard configuration, this can be added as an option, and users can also add an optional 40 GB hard drive for document storage.

The cost-effectiveness of the device is undermined by expensive replacement toners. Even with decent page yields, the Ricoh SP 4100NL toner cartridges may be too expensive for small offices to handle. Each Aficio SP 4100NL toner cartridge does have an estimated yield of 7,000 pages, however.

On the surface, the SP 4100NL impresses with its solid speeds, decent output quality, and affordable upfront price. Digging a little deeper, however, buyers may be dissatisfied by the high cost of Ricoh SP 4100NL toner, and some features like duplexing require a costly upgrade.