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Dell Multifunction Color Laser Printer 3115CN

80

Very Good

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Pros
Fast; very crisp text printing
Good standard paper handling and options
Cons
Expensive; photos look oversaturated
Control panel sometimes confusing

Pricing: Expensive: $899 (3/26/2009)
Performance: Very Good: 83
Features: Very Good: 82
Design: Very Good: 80

Find out how these four scores, and their relative weights, combine to produce the PC World Rating.

Pricing

Expensive: $899

Standard-Capacity Black Cartridge - $109.99

Standard Cyan Ink Cartridge/Toner Cost - $214.99

Standard Magenta Ink Cartridge/Toner Cost - $214.99

Standard Yellow Ink Cartridge/Toner Cost - $214.99

Performance

Very Good: 83

Text Printing (Plain Paper, Normal Settings)
Tested Text Speed (ppm)	24.2
Three-Page Word Document (secs)	16.1
Ten-Page Word Document (secs)	32.24
Text Output Quality	Superior

Color Printing (Plain Paper, Normal Settings)
Tested Color Speed (ppm)	5.4
Two-Page Excel Document (secs)	15.97
One-Page Webpage (secs)	13.01
4 by 6 Color Photo (secs)	15.25
Color Output Quality	Fair

Color Photo Printing (Glossy Paper, Best Settings)
Tested Glossy Photo Speed (ppm)	1.4
Sports Action Shot (secs)	41.76
Color Photo Quality	Fair

Grayscale Printing (Plain Paper, Normal Settings)
Tested Grayscale Speed (ppm)	3.9
4 by 6 Grayscale Photo (secs)	15.27
Grayscale Output Quality	Good

Grayscale Printing (Glossy Paper, Best Settings)
Grayscale Glossy Output Quality	n/a

Lineart Printing (Plain Paper, Best Settings)
Tested Lineart Speed (ppm)	5.6
300dpi Line Art Image (secs)	10.79
Line Art Output Quality	Very Good

Scan Tests (in seconds)
Preview Scan, 2-by-2-Inch Document, 600 dpi	11.47
Preview Scan, One-Page Word Document, 300 dpi	11.39
Final Scan Time, 2-by-2-Inch Document, 600 dpi	10.42
Preview Scan, 4-by-5-Inch Document, 100 dpi	11.41
Final Scan Time, 4-by-5-Inch Document, 100 dpi	7.43
Preview Scan, One-Page Word Document, 300 dpi	11.39
Final Scan Time, One-Page Word Document, 300 dpi	8.63
Overall Scan Quality	Good

Copy Tests
One-Page Copy (secs)	13.15
Copy Output Quality	Very Good

Features

Very Good: 82

Memory (in MB)
RAM Installed	128
Maximum Amount of RAM	1152

Dimensions
Dimensions	18.1 by 22.4 by 28.7
Weight (pounds)	79.4

Vendor Rated Speeds
B&W Pages per Min.	B&W PPM:31
Color Pages per Min.	Color PPM:17

Resolutions
Max. B&W dpi	600-by-600
Max. Color dpi	600-by-600

Language & Emulation
Printer Emulation Type	PCL
PCL Emulation	PCL6
PostScript Type	Adobe PostScript 3

Interfaces
Parallel Port	Yes
Serial Port	No
USB 1.1	No
USB 2.0	Yes
Ethernet	Yes
Media Card Readers	None
PictBridge	No
Other Interfaces	Optional 802.11b/g

Drivers
Macintosh	Yes
Windows 98	No
Windows NT	Yes
Windows 2000	Yes
Windows XP	Yes
Linux	Yes

Power
Maximum Power Draw (watts)	460
Standby Power Draw (watts)	108

Multifunction Printer Specs
Scan Area (inches)	8.5 by 11.7
Max. Scanning dpi	600x600
Maximum Enhanced Scan Resolution (dpi)	600x600
Scanning Image Sensor Type	CCD
Scanner Type	Flatbed with ADF
Maximum Scan Color Depth	48
Maximum Scan Grayscale Depth	8
Fax Resolution (dpi)	600-by-600
Fax Memory (pages)	128
LCD Type	Mono

Paper Handling
Number of Input Trays, Standard	1
Number of Input Trays, Maximum	2
Tray Capacity, pages	400
Maximum Sheets With Optional Paper Trays	900
Manual Feed Slot	Yes
Maximum Paper Size	Legal
Output Tray Capacity	250
Auto Duplexer	Yes

Warranty & Support
Labor Warranty (years)	One
Parts Warranty (years)	One
Weekday Support Hours	24
Saturday Support Hours	24
Sunday Support Hours	24
Toll-Free Support	Yes

Cost of Operation Inside of Warranty
Cost per Page, Black	$0.08
Cost per Page, Color	$0.09

Vendor-Supplied Data (in Pages)
Monthly Duty Cycle	60000
Monochrome Ink/Toner Yields	8000
Standard Cyan Ink Cartridge/Toner Yield	8000
Standard Magenta Ink Cartridge/Toner Yield	8000
Standard Yellow Ink Cartridge/Toner Yield	8000

Bundled Items
Included Software	Installation software, PaperPort 10.0 business software, Dell Toner Management System, Dell Printer Configuration Web Tool, Dell Color Track 2, Local & Remote Printer Setup Utility

Reliability & Service
Summary of results for all of brand's products in this category	Printers are Dell’s weakest category, according to our survey. Readers gave the vendor below-average grades for phone service, ease of use, and reliability.

Reliability of brand's products in this category
Reports of products arriving with problems	Average
Reports of products with any significant problems	Average
Reports of problems that render a product unusable	Average
Buyers' rating of products ease-of-use	Worse than Average
Overall satisfaction with reliability of brand's products in category	Worse than Average

Service & Support Quality
Time spent holding for phone support	Average
Overall quality of vendor's phone support	Worse than Average
Reports of problems unresolved after contacting service	Average
Overall quality of service	Average

Design

Very Good: 80

Dell Multifunction Color Laser Printer 3115cn Review

by Melissa Riofrio

- The Dell Multifunction Color Laser Printer 3115cn is a little less expensive than the Xerox Phaser 6180MFP that it closely resembles (as well as the recently announced Lexmark X560n, which we haven't tested yet). But while the Dell delivers on speed and features, its design and print quality fall a bit short.

Read Complete Review »