New generation color laser printers are equipped with single pass print engines, the latest breakthrough in laser printer design. This actually represents an improvement in printer technology, where all the 4 color cartridges simultaneously supply toner powder in one stroke, and allows paper or media a single pass to complete image development. Under the old multi-pass technology, paper goes through 4 passes (one pass for each of the Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Monochrome toner cartridges). The single pass print engine technology guarantees the performance benefits below, though at a cost that is more hefty than the multiple pass units:
10 Times the Speed. Multi
Pass color laser printers can only deliver printouts at 4 ppm (pages per minute) which reduces overall office efficiency if printer is used in a network of PCs with recurrent requirements for printouts every now and then. Personnel will literally have to wait in line for documents to be printed. Not with a single pass color laser printer such as the Dell 3000dn laser printer as the unit can deliver printouts at the speed of 47 ppm, both for color and monochrome prints. The print speed delivery actually ensures no waiting time as personnel will only have to send the documents to a central server and printouts become ready as one moves from the table to the printer.
Double the Fun. Color printing becomes fun for single pass laser printer users because said technology not only reduces the incidence of paper jams to zero but likewise substantially improved color print quality. Printers of this type are equipped with high yield OEM toner cartridges like the Xerox 106R00652 monochrome toner cartridge that carries a yield capacity of 32,000 pages based on the 5% standard coverage. And to complete the fun, users can always conduct refills on empty cartridges using toner refill kits and spend only $75 for each refill without sacrificing print quality and yield in printed pages
Get Ready for the Cost. The only downside to a single pass laser printer is the high cost of consumables and maintenance. The new technology may have improved efficiency but it also added to the cost burden. Single pass laser printers come integrated with 4 OPC drums and 4 laser scanning assemblies for each of the 4 CMYK cartridges and an ITB (Image Transfer Belt). This alone raises the cost of the color printer upfront. Furthermore, OPC Drums are now built integrally into the toner cartridge to improve print quality so that when the unit dries of toner, the user also needs to replace the OPC Drum. While the cost of stand-alone OEM toner cartridges for multi pass printers cost way below $100, the coupled single pass OEM toner cartridges are offered at $365, like the Xerox 106R00653.
The new single pass print engine improves print speed by up to 10 times, raises printing fun, but also renders the cost restrictive. Well if budget allows, single pass laser printers will surely fit the bill of users with discriminating requirements for printed output.
