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More…The Oki Printing Solutions C3400n is a new low-end model in Oki's family of networked color laser printers. It carries the same $400 price tag (as of 10/6/2006) as the C3200n we reviewed in April 2006, but it's smaller and faster. It sports a new design that's better suited to a small office than Oki's former corporate style, looking more like a stackable plastic storage box than a printer.
Oki Printing Solutions C3400n
Pricing
$194.45 - $419.99 From 6 Vendors Get Best Prices »
- Spec Navigator
- Core Components
- Media Handling
- Network
- Connectivity
- Platform Support
- Dimensions
- General Features
- Green
- Included Hardware
- Included Software
- Resolutions
- Scanning
- Faxing
Media Handling
| Manual Feed Slot | Yes |
| Maximum Number of Input Trays | 2 |
| Maximum paper size, height | 1100.0 inches |
| Maximum Sheets With All Paper Trays | 250 |
| Output Tray Capacity | 250 |
| Standard Number of Input Trays | 2 |
| Maximum paper size, width | 8.5 inches |
| Standard input sheet capacity | 250 |
| Duplex printing | No |
Platform Support
| Operating System Support |
|
General Features
| PostScript Type | None |
| Printer Emulation Type | Host based |
| Media slots |
|
| PictBridge compatible | No |
| Printer languages supported | None |
3.5
5 User Reviews Add your own »
$194.45 - $419.99
From 6 Vendors
Get Best Prices »
- Lab Tested
- How We Test Printers »
Pros
High-quality text printing
Fast color printing, compact size
Cons
Expensive operating costs
No paper handling upgrades
Bottom Line
This small entry-level model is fast at printing both text and color graphics, though paper handling is limited.
Oki Printing Solutions C3400n
C3400n Review, by Paul Jasper October 20, 2006
The C3400n falls short of the C3200n's good paper handling. Its main paper tray holds 250 sheets instead of 300, while it has a single-sheet slot in place of the C3200n's 100-sheet manual tray. Though the C3400n retains the 250-sheet output bin (which gives a straighter path for thicker media), its rear-output capacity is down to 10 sheets from 100.
If you print many envelopes, you'd be better off with the new C3200n, which lets you feed more than one envelope at a time. Oki offers no optional paper trays for either printer, and the C3400n lacks the option of a duplexer.
The C3400n also trades the C3200n's neat backlit LCD for a simple control panel with two buttons and three lights, so most of the time you'll likely operate the printer from your PC.
The C3400n applies toner to the page using four LED arrays, a trait common to all Oki color printers. Like the C3200n, the $800 C5800Ldn we also reviewed in April 2006, and the $600 C5200n we reviewed in December 2005, the C3400n relies on a Windows GDI-based driver. By rendering the pages on your PC, Oki can build a cheaper printer by avoiding the need to pay licensing fees for printer languages such as PCL and PostScript. The good news is that this doesn't hurt the C3400n's performance, which is an improvement over the C3200n. In our tests, the C3400n printed text at a roughly average 15.0 pages per minute and excelled at color graphics, printing them at 5.3 ppm at default settings on plain paper; it printed at 2.5 ppm on glossy paper at best quality settings.
This model also offers improved text quality over the C3400n. Text output looked a little gray in our tests, and we noticed some jagged diagonals in large lettering, but most characters were sharp and nicely formed. Our line-art sample exhibited some minor horizontal banding in blocks of close parallel lines, but otherwise lines appeared sharp and distinct. Grayscale images achieved some good shadow detail, but looked a bit grainy with some narrow horizontal banding. On plain paper, the printer's rich, waxy inks give a glossy photographic appearance, but the images appeared grainy and oversaturated. When we printed at higher quality settings on Oki's Premium White Gloss paper, we still saw banding patterns, unnatural colors, and some posterization (lack of smooth gradient) in the darkest areas.
For maintenance, the top of the printer lifts to give easy access to the toner cartridges. Oki includes four cartridges, each rated for 1000 pages. You can buy replacement cartidges with a slightly higher yield than the C3200n's, making the newer model more economical to run. Black cartridges rated at 2500 pages cost $60, while the three 2000-page color cartridges cost $87 each. Adding to the operating costs, you must replace the four drum units every 15,000 pages; the black drum costs $40 and the color drums cost $48 apiece. Every 50,000 pages you need to replace the fuser unit ($252) and transfer belt ($318), but Oki supplies these free during the standard one-year warranty. Outside of the warranty period, you're looking at unusually high per-page costs of 3.8 cents for text and 17.8 cents for color. If you expect to print high volumes, it would be worth buying an extended warranty beyond the standard one-year warranty to reduce the recurring costs.
Paul Jasper
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PCWorld Lab Results
- Rating Breakdown
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81
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83
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79
- See Complete Lab Results »
Performance Comparison with Similar Printers
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82
Performance
| 300dpi Line Art Image (secs) | 11.82 |
| 4 by 6 Color Photo (secs) | 19.74 |
| 4 by 6 Grayscale Photo (secs) | 16.22 |
| Color Output Quality | Good |
| Color Photo Quality | Fair |
| Grayscale Glossy Output Quality | n/a |
| Grayscale Output Quality | Fair |
| Line Art Output Quality | Very Good |
| One-Page Webpage (secs) | 14.13 |
| Output Score, Color Graphics, Default Settings (formerly pf-Output-Print-Color-Default) | Fair |
| Output Score, Color Photo, Best Quality Settings (formerly pf-Output-Print-Color-Best) | Fair |
| Output Score, Grayscale Graphics, Best Quality Settings (formerly pf-Output-Print-Grayscale-Best) | Fair |
| Output Score, Line Art, Default Settings (formerly pf-Output-Print-LineArt-Default) | Very Good |
| Output Score, Text, Default Settings (formerly pf-Output-Print-Text-Default) | Very Good |
| Overall Scan Quality | n/a |
| Sports Action Shot (secs) | 23.92 |
| Ten-Page Word Document | 37.64 |
| Ten-Page Word Document (secs) | 37.64 |
| Tested Color Graphics Speed (formerly pf-PCWColorSpeed) | 5.3 |
| Tested Color Speed (ppm) | 4.6 |
| Tested Glossy Photo Speed (ppm) | 2.5 |
| Tested Grayscale Speed (ppm) | 3.7 |
| Tested Lineart Speed (ppm) | 5.1 |
| Tested Photo Speed (formerly pf-PCWPhotoSpeed) | 2.5 |
| Tested Text Speed (formerly pf-PCWBWSpeed) | 15 |
| Tested Text Speed (ppm) | 20.7 |
| Text Output Quality | Superior |
| Three-Page Word Document | 20.96 |
| Three-Page Word Document (secs) | 20.96 |
| Two-Page Excel Document | 18.6 |
| Two-Page Excel Document (secs) | 18.6 |
Text Printing
| Text output quality | Superior |
User Reviews
Review Now! Already own it? Tell us What You Think
User Reviews From Around the Web
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Reviewed by: JGShinn
Strengths: Speed is very good, well built printer.
Weaknesses: LARGE
Overall: This printer is huge but it has very good quality and prints fast. Network connection is a nice feature. If you look you can find some good deals on this printer in stores.
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Reviewed by: yellokondi
Strengths: hi-quality
Weaknesses: N/A
Overall: Very good product, one of the best printers I have encountered in this price range. I definitely recommend this printer to everyone who is interested in low-cost hi-quality color laser printer.
-
Reviewed by: dedras21
Strengths: Relatively quiet, fast printing, nice quality for documents, easy toner cartridge handling
Weaknesses: Photo printing a bit too dark
Overall: I'm really happy with this printer - i'ts much quieter than my Konica Minolta and grateful to find one where I don't have to fight to replace toner cartridges - these slip in and out like a breeze. Would not be good for lots of photo printing but I don't do it that much anyway so tweaking the photos is not a big deal to me. Overall, very good printer.
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Reviewed by:
Strengths: Cost (I bought mine at Office Depot for just $175!), speed, output, easy setup
Weaknesses: Photos print too dark, plus only a single sheet multi-purpose tray? That sucks!
Overall: I just bought the C3400n 5 nights ago and have used it to print roughly 500 color real estate flyers (heavy on photos). I love how simple this printer is to use, and how fast it prints. WOW! HOWEVER..
-
Reviewed by: weltwon
Strengths: Fairly compact for a color laser with full-size toner cartridges
Weaknesses: Image prints too dark, require adjustments to be WYSIWYG
Overall: Easiest setup & least expensive toner cartridges of any color laser I've tested. Regular toner cartridges are only about $25 each and drop right in after you "pop the top." You can also get a MICR toner cartridge from checksnet website that lets you print foll-color checks that are readable at banks and retail stores. My only complaint, which is true of many color lasers, is that getting image prints to match what you see on your monitor will require tinkering with printer settings. However, the Okidata 3400n does create razor sharp edges.
Shop for the Oki Printing Solutions C3400n
| Merchant | Price | Merchant Rating |
|---|---|---|
|
$419.99 Buy Now » | |
| Tech for Less Store | $194.45 Buy Now » | |
| Y2incusa | $242.99 Buy Now » | |
| ConsumerDepot | $256.30 Buy Now » | |
| California Computer Center | $335.00 Buy Now » | |
| Instawares | $393.75 Buy Now » |
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