Xerox introduced the two new WorkCentre 3210 and 3220 printers in mid-June as brand new models for the individual professional or small workgroup. With print, copy, and scan speeds of up to 30 ppm, built-in fax and e-mail functionality, and monthly downloads of up to 50,000 pages, these printers are an attractive proposition.
We recently got our hands on the WorkCentre 3220DN and decided to test the new printer to test its high performance claims. Read on to find out!
Xerox WorkCentre 3220DN Printer Specifications
Standard features: print, scan, copy, fax and email
Print speed: up to 30 ppm
Print resolution: up to 600x600 dpi
First page out: in 8.5 seconds
Automatic two-sided printing
Monthly load: up to 50,000 sheets
Standard paper stock 250 sheets, up to 500
Automatic document feeder 50 sheets
Front USB port
360 MHz processor, 128 MB memory
PDL: Adobe PostScript 3, PDF 1.4, PCL 5e, PCL 6
Connections: 10 / 100Base TX Ethernet, USB 2.0
Energy Star Compliant
Device and design
The WorkCentre 3220DN is a fairly compact product considering the fact that it is a multifunction laser printer. It has dimensions 445x410x395 mm. It is currently on our desk and takes up about the same amount of space as a laptop and docking station. It is also a fairly lightweight option for laser printers at 13.9kg and therefore not difficult to carry at all.
The WorkCentre 3220 printer stands out from this line of products with its design. The originally designed rounded edges give it a somewhat sophisticated look, but due to the fact that it is made in the traditional gray and blue colors of Xerox machines, it looks quite professional. All its predefined functions are accessible from the control panel, it has convenient "hot keys", including a key for direct access to the USB port installed on the front panel of the printer.
The printer's display is very easy to navigate through a complex menu system with a large number of options, all in spite of such a compact design. Unlike some of the other laser printers we have reviewed earlier, we found a special printout in the box with the printer that gives a summary of all the menu items, which is very convenient.
The tray is located in the center of the bezel with the multipurpose tray above it. The paper cassette has a gauge on the outside that gives users an idea of how full the tray is at any given time. For users who need to print large documents, the paper tray extends to accommodate A4 and other large documents.
Installing the cartridge into the printer is straightforward because the WorkCentre 3220DN is a monochrome device. Just open the front cover and gently slide the cartridge into the slot provided.
The 3220DN has a fax connection and two phone jacks along with an Ethernet port. The USB connector is located on the back of the machine.
Printer performance WorkCentre 3220DN.
Configuring the WorkCentre 3220DN.
The installation process was very quick thanks to the Xerox User Guide and the Installation Wizard. For those who are not well versed in modern technology, Xerox has also included a video in the box, which is located on the accompanying driver CD.
The installation sequence is as follows: install the toner cartridge, load paper into the cassette, determine the required connection (Ethernet or USB), connect the fax and turn on the power. Then users should select a language and set the date and time.
The 3220DN comes with a USB cable for users using this connection, which is not the case for such products at this time. But we went ahead and connected the 3220DN printer to our network.When installing the driver, you will only have to choose one of two connection methods: network or USB, the Xerox Installation Wizard will take care of the rest.
The IP address assigned to the 3220DN will be the same address you will use to access the CentreWare Web server through your Internet browser.
Ease of use
In our testing, we found the 3220DN to be incredibly easy to use. Everything you need is clearly highlighted both on the control panel and inside the cassette. At first, there were minor difficulties with navigating the menus, but after several uses of the printer, they almost disappeared, and working with the printer became a real pleasure.
If you are slow to remember the sequence of settings, then you can use the CentreWare Internet Service to manage the settings. Through the Properties tab, you can access all of the printer settings for changing them, including security, email and fax, emulation, and other general settings.
There is also a dedicated tab for quickly connecting to the online user manual, technical support, updating drivers, and ordering supplies. From the status page, CentreWare can even tell you which menu you are using to access the printer in real time. The only drawback of CentreWare Internet Services is that it can only be accessed when the 3220DN printer is connected to the network.
A front-facing USB port provides additional convenience in using the printer. You can scan one or 50 pages to a flash drive using the ADF automatic document feeder, or print the document hassle-free using your PC.
Print speed and quality tests
Xerox claims this printer has a maximum print speed of 30 ppm with a first page out in 8.5 seconds. The Model 3220DN confirmed these figures in testing when it was running in toner save mode. Print speed averaged 30 ppm, with first page out 8 seconds after we selected the toner save option in the Graphics & Print Settings tab.
In normal print mode, the 3220DN achieved an average print speed of 26 ppm with a first page out in 10 seconds during our tests. In all of our speed tests on the 3220DN, we used the same 38 document pages as in all previous reviews.
The 3220DN slowed down slightly in duplex mode, printing on average at 7 ppm (14 images per side), with the first full page out in 16 seconds. Compared to other models with this feature, the 3220DN is one of the fastest devices we have reviewed.
The 3220DN printer provides high productivity in both Normal and Toner Save modes. The difference between the two is minimal, but the Normal mode is slightly darker and sharper than the Toner Save mode. It is difficult to say how many extra pages you will get from a single cartridge using Toner Save Mode, but given the decent print quality it should be used for all jobs except when you need to print important documents or presentation material.
With this model, you will also get excellent copy quality. We made a copy of one important document using a 3220DN printer and the copy looked even better than the original. Thus, when copying or scanning documents, the 3220DN has shown good text detail.
The 50-page automatic document feeder is relatively fast, taking less than one minute to copy and print 10 pages of the document.
Energy consumption
During warm-up, the 3220DN WorkCentre printer uses 937W of electricity to its maximum, then it hovered around 800W, then dropped to 400W, and finally stabilized at 39W.
When the 3220DN printer enters ready mode, it uses only about 9W of power, if it is in operation, power consumption rises to 800W, but cyclically decreases towards the end of the job.
The 3220DN has a Power Save Mode that can be adjusted or turned off and can be accessed from the Printer Main Menu. We used this power saver mode for a five minute cycle, so if the printer was idle for five minutes, it went into power saver mode. The 3220DN used approximately 8W of power in this mode.
We were impressed with how little power the 3220DN WorkCentre printer consumes when in Ready mode, using only one watt more power than in Power Save Mode.
Per:
Compact design
Good print quality in Normal and Toner Save modes
Decent print speed in both modes
Useful Features (Front USB, Scan & Fax)
Vs:
Not marked
conclusions
The 3220DN is a great professional home printer and perfect for a small office or workgroup. It offers four different functionalities, good speed and excellent print quality, and a wide range of advanced features such as fast automatic duplex printing, front USB port, scan and fax.
