Typically, the extra paper transportation involved in duplex printing meant that the 4620V/DN printed duplex sides at around half the rate of simplex sides, with a 10-side, five-page graphical job completing in 35 seconds. Print quality was very high across all tests, with crisp text and progressive, smooth shading in graphics and photographs. Banding was virtually absent, and the toner's semi-matte finish was consistent and professional.
It's immediately obvious that this is a rapid printer.
The 4620V/DN supports walk-up USB printing, and its large mono LCD and simple menu system makes this more simple than many. Along with the high-capacity consumables, this should help minimise print-related helpdesk tickets. Future-proofing comes through support for a massive range of protocols and standards including IPv6. Useful secure printing features include the ability to log all print jobs for auditing purposes and allow only certain IP addresses to print. There's also Image Overwrite, which can be used to destroy sensitive information on the optional hard disk, should you choose to fit one.
Xerox supplies the printer with a reasonable 10,000-page starter toner, along with a photoconductor drum rated at 60,000 pages. Consumables contracts are available, but otherwise replacement drums last 80,000 pages and cost around 115 (excluding VAT), while toner is available in 13,000-page (134) and 30,000-page (175) packs. The only other consumable is a 90 fuser kit due at around 150,000 pages, giving the range a per-page cost of 0.79p (0.94p inc VAT). This is higher than ideal for a printer likely to deliver moderately high volumes, but we should stress that the range's consumables are new products too, and that consumable prices tend to fall as they become more widely available.
Verdict
We have reservations about the Phaser 4620V/DN's non-contracted running costs, and at this price we'd prefer if it came with more than a one-year warranty as standard, but otherwise it's hard to fault. It's as fast, robust and simple as a workgroup printer should be, yet it has the features and an upgrade path to keep pace with the fastest evolving and most demanding business.
Maximum print resolution 1,200x1,200dpi QUOTED PRINT SPEED Quoted speed, mono A4 62ppm TESTED PRINT SPEEDS First mono page from sleep 32s First mono page from standby 11s 25-page mono document - total time 34s (44ppm) 24-page greyscale graphics document - total time 44s (33ppm) Two 10x8" photos - total time 15s Six 6x4" photos - total time 15s PHYSICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL Standard interfaces USB2, 10/100/1,000 Mbit/s Ethernet, USB Host Optional interfaces Internal wireless networking Dimensions (HxWxD) 420x476x541mm Weight 34.6kg Noise N/A Maximum duty cycle (pages per month) 275,000 pages Power consumption standby 8W Power consumption idle 17W Power consumption active 1,490W PAPER HANDLING Maximum paper size A4/legal Maximum paper weight N/A Standard paper inputs (capacity) 2 (650) Output tray capacity 500 sheets Duplex Yes GENERAL Technology Mono laser Language(s) PCL6, PostScript 3 Supported operating systems Windows XP/Vista/7, Windows 2003/2008 Server, Mac OS X 10.3 or later, Novell NetWare 5.x/6.x Open Enterprise Server (IP only), SUSE, Solaris 9/10, Fedora Core 1-11, HP UX 11/11i, IBM AIX 5, Linux Red Hat Enterprise 4/5, Linux Memory 256MB Upgrades: 550-sheet paper tray, 2,000-sheet high-capacity feeder, 400-sheet four-bin mailbox, 160GB hard disk BUYING INFORMATION Price £914 (£1,097 inc VAT) Cost per mono A4 page 0.79p (excl VAT, ISO/IEC 19752) Capacity of supplied toner (pages) 10,000 pages Capacity of supplied drum 60,000 pages Estimated total ownership cost - three years' light use (3,600 pages) £914 ex VAT Estimated total ownership cost - three years' medium use (27,000 pages) £1,089 ex VAT Estimated total ownership cost - three years' heavy use (108,000 pages) £1,727 ex VAT Warranty duration and terms One-year return to base Part code 095205764376
