Ricoh Aficio SP C222DN color laser printer review

With the SP C222DN, Ricoh has entered the market of low cost color laser printers. However with the cutting of post, the quality has also gone down. The print performs decently but not up to the mark.

The problems start as soon as you begin the installation process. There is a huge guide which has all the necessary details. The instructions are pretty clear. At first, you are asked to move to the –‘Software Installation guide’ for network connection.

You are supposed to get the next set of instructions here, however these instructions are difficult to understand and inadequate. Some very important steps and key points are missing. Along with the printer, you get a CD which contains details about the USB installation. This make things tough as the USB details are only in the CD and thus not easily available. The remaining documents are adequate and available in both PDF and HTML format.

The design is also not very user friendly. There are few buttons on the control panel through which different functions can be performed; though some the key combinations are vague. The printer does not have any LCD screen; which is one of its major drawbacks.

There is a 250 sheet input tray which doesn’t have a handle and appears to be quite delicate, just like the front panel. To accommodate the legal size paper, one needs to pull the tray. This is done by pulling the handle which is located at the same place as the slot for the manual feed. There is also a 150 sheet output tray.

An additional 150 sheet tray can be added. Duplexer for double printing can also be added. It can also handle envelopes and labels. It supports almost all the operating systems like Microsoft windows, Apple MacOS X and more.
The printer has a good speed. It prints texts at a rate of 17.4 pages/ minute. At its best, SP C222DN produces graphics at a rate of 2.4 pages/ minute. The printed text appears clear, crispy and dark. However the graphics appear to be bit faded. The patters are also not clear. Things improve a bit when graphics are printed on the glossy laser paper, but it’s still far away from being the best.

SP C222DN comes with one black and three colored toner cartridges (yellow, magenta and cyan). All the cartridges last for 1000 pages each. You will to replace the cartridges once the ink is over. The standard ones last for 2000 pages each.

The black costs $55; which comes up to 2.7 cents/ page. The color cartridges cost $100 each; which is around 5 cents/ color/ page. The cartridges can be replaced easily. The toner capacity is not very high and hence the price of the consumables is on the higher side.

The printer does not do too well in the reliability department. The ‘Reliability and Service Survey’ gives it’s a reliability rating of average. SP C222DN works well for small groups and offices. However the inadequate installation documentations limit its popularity. The design elements are also not up to the mark. Users may find a better printer than this one in the same price range!

Ricoh Aficio’s SP C222DN color laser printer is cheaper than many of its contemporaries. The printer has good speed and also comes with a one year warranty period. Twenty four hour customer service is available for this printer; throughout the year. The printer is easy to maintain and its running cost is low.