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The Printer
Multifunctional
Guide
• Multifunctional
office printers that
print, copy, scan
and fax
• Black-and-white and
color models, ink
jet and laser with
speeds up to 50ppm
• Updated for 2005
• Editor’s Choice
Awards
Xero
x W
orkCentre C2424 DX
Guide Number: 172
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Buyer’s Guide for Office Equipment
Xerox
Editor’s
Choice
Reprint
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hines,
scan-
Xerox WorkCentre
C2424 DN
Xerox WorkCentre
C2424 DP
Xerox WorkCentre C2424 DX
Up to 24ppm color/up to 24ppm black
& white
Sum-up: Based on Xerox’s strong
solid ink technology, these multifunctionals offer excellent color at a
very moderate price.
The WorkCentre C2424 family is
unique, the only MFPs based on a
solid ink engine. That engine is the
basis for the excellent color printers
in the Xerox Phaser 8400 family. Solid
ink machines have little to do with the
more common, inexpensive thermal
ink jet MFPs for the small- or homeoffice. Instead, solid ink is a printing
technology that competes more with
laser and LED machines.
Xerox’s solid ink technology offers
what we consider excellent image
quality. Even the default lower-res setting seems to produce pretty accurate
color renderings, more than good
enough for office use.
These machines offer very
respectable speeds. The engines are
rated for up to 24ppm, both in color
and in black-and-white, in printing
and in copying.
Numbers don’t tell the complete
story her
e — 24ppm is achieved in the
“fast” mode, whose resolution (at
300dpi) isn’t as high as what we’ve
described above. The standard mode
of 18ppm (at 300 x 450dpi) offers
acceptable quality, however, and that’s
still reasonably fast for a color printer.
You can opt for even finer detail in the
2005 Better Buys f
©
or Business allo
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enhanced resolution of 400 x 563dpi
(12ppm) or photo mode at 525 x
600dpi (7ppm). These speeds are
selected in the print dialog box for
print jobs and on the front panel for
copies.
These models come with a powerful
500MHz processor, ensuring that they
will handle printed pages and copies
with ease.
The WorkCentre C2424 multifunctionals are tightly integrated and easy
to use. For example, when you have to
change consumables, you need only
open the top cover of the machine and
slide in blocks of ink that look and feel
like disk-shaped crayons. Set-up is
simple, too, since the scanner unit is
tightly integrated, requiring no assembly.
Xerox WorkCentre C2424 DX – This
machine comes with extra software
for file management.
Per-page prices have not been announced yet,
but if they are anything like the supplies for the
Phaser 8400, they will be moderate.
Versions: There are three WorkCentre C2424
models, and all of them come with both USB and
built-in Ethernet. They are:
l The WorkCentre C2424 DN (street price $2,999),
which comes with 256MB of memory, a standard
625 sheets of paper supply, and 300dpi scanning.
l The WorkCentre C2424 DP (street price $3,799),
which has 512MB of memory, adds an additional
525-sheet paper input drawer, and scans at up to
600dpi.
l The WorkCentre C2424 DX (street price at
$4,399), which is identical to the C2424 DP, but
adds extra software for OCR and file management. These include a five-user license for
ScanSoft’s OmniPage Pro, PaperPort Pro, and
Image Retriever, all of which have been customized for the Xerox environment.
Note that none of these models offer a fax option.
All can be upgraded to 1GB of memory.
Each model starts with a 100-sheet bypass and a
525-sheet standard paper tray. The two higher-end
models start with an added 525-sheet drawer. All
the units can have up to a total of 1,675 sheets. In
addition, these models handle heavy-duty paper,
up to 80lb. card stock. Output capacity is based on
a simple 250-sheet tray.
PostScript and PCL are standard features. The
C2424 models come with both a platen and a 50sheet two-sided document feeder. All three models
offer automatic two-sided printing. More interesting, they offer two-sided copying as the document
feeder can read both sides of each page simultaneously. They also offer two-sided scanning. A dualscan head is pretty standard in regular copiers, but
only a few printer multifunctionals have this feature.
Note that these machines do not have direct-to-
email scanning. However, they do allow you to scan
directly to computers on the network or to mailboxes. These are based on Xerox’s high-end
CentreWare workflow, and they allow remote users
to access scanned page files across the Internet. As
Xerox explains, this allows any number of users to
access scans whenever they want them. We think
that most users simply want to send the scanned file
to their computers, check that it was scanned correctly, then rename it and attach it to an email.
When it comes to pricing, the WorkCentre C2424
series is very reasonable, considerably lower than
most laser-based color MFPs. True, they are more
expensive than the interesting sub-$1,000 Canon
Color imageCLASS 8170c, but that machine is a true
starter model, not suitable for a robust workgroup
environment. The Xerox models have faster speeds
and full features, including an excellent workgroup
color printer at their core.
These machines were not yet released as we went
to press,so we haven’t yet seen them in action.They
are based on a solid ink printer engine that has an
impressive track record. Given their impressive
features and design, we are sure they are a winners
and breakthrough products. They get our Editor’s
Choice Award.
Xerox WorkCentre C2424 DN – This multifunctional
offers rare two-sided copying.
Contact Better Buys for Business at 800 247 2185, www.betterbuys.com or 370 Technology Drive, Malvern, PA 19355.
© 2005 Better Buys for Business allows both print and electronic reproducton of this document.
Xerox
Rochester, NY
800 832 6079
www.xerox.com
Vendor Profile
Xerox was a leader in the laser multifunctional
printer area until a few years ago. But it dropped its
products and exited the market as the company
tried to focus on more profitable areas. That effort
was a success, and Xerox has gone from near-bankruptcy to profitability and stability.
Xerox has started re-introducing printer-based
multifunctionals to complement its large line of
copier-based multifunctionals. These newer
machines, under the WorkCentre brand, are based
on Samsung originals. These devices and a few
small copier-based machines are used to offer a full
range of solutions for Xerox’s biggest customers.
The models come with different software from that
of the Samsung originals.
Xerox multifunctionals are sold both through
direct sales and through copier dealers.
Excerpted from The Printer Multifunctional Guide,
volume 172, April 2005. © 2005 Progressive Business
Publications, Inc.
No Advertising. No Bias. No Compromise.
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document imaging equipment (copiers, priners, faxes, scanners and duplicators).
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ormation on independent guide ratings for all vendor models,
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