Dell Expands Printer Portfolio

Dell has expanded its printer portfolio after it launched eight new black-and-white printers, including several multifunction models, that are targeting large enterprises and small companies, as well as highly specialised sectors.

The eight new Dell printers, which are available 30 March, represent the next step Dell is taking in revamping its printer portfolio to better compete with Hewlett-Packard and Xerox in the enterprise market and against smaller players, such as Samsung and Brother, in the SMB (small and mid-sized business) markets.

In 2008, Dell began revamping its printer portfolio to better compete against HP. Now, Dell has more than 25 printer models, including black-and-white offerings, colour printers and multifunction machines. The prices range from $119 (£79) on the low end to $3,319 (£2,215) on the high end.

While Dell has expanded its offerings during the last two years, Donald Heath, a senior product manager in company’s Printing and Imaging division, said Dell is focused on offering IT managers a way to save 20 to 30 percent in printing costs. With the economy still sluggish, Heath said IT managers are looking for a way to save money in one area and move that cash to a more critical area, such as data storage and critical infrastructure.

“With the downturn in the economy, everyone in IT has to come back to the drawing board,” said Heath. “Where do we save money? In most IT staffs, printers probably don’t even make the Top 10. Where we felt like we can add value as a company is if we can save you 20 to 30 percent on a product line, especially something that you’re not that interested in, you can take that same amount of money and go spend it on unified communications, the new SAN, the line of business applications – all the stuff that you are worried about and it makes sense.”

For IT departments, Dell is also looking to expand its line of multifunction printers to allow IT administrators to consolidate older machines and other peripherals – fax machines, for example – which can save money, offer more security and streamline the business.

Dell offers three-year warranties with its printers, and the product lifecycle ranges from three to five years. In addition, Dell has built embedded technology into the framework of many of its printers, especially the ones that offer touch screens, to meet the needs of speciality markets, such as health care and education.

“Several printers that we offer are equipped to handle EMR [electronic medical record] systems,” said Heath.

The eight new Dell systems are designated with either an “n,” which means the printer offers a built-in network card, or a “d,” which means the printer can handle double-sided printing. The new offerings include:

• The Dell 1130, which handles 19 pages per minute (ppm), and the Dell 1130n, which handles 24 ppm. The Dell 1130 costs $119 (£79), while the 1130n costs $179 (£119).
• The Dell 3333dn, which costs $999 (£667) and handles 40 ppm, and the Dell 3335dn, which costs $1,299 (£867) and handles 40 ppm. Both machines allow for print, scan and copy functionality.
• The Dell 5230n, which costs $899 (£600) and handles 45 ppm, and the Dell 5230dn, which costs $999 (£667) and also handles 45 ppm.
• The Dell 5530dn, which handles 55 ppm and costs $1,929 (£1,287).
• The Dell 5535dn, which handles 55 ppm and costs $3,319 (£2,215). This machine also offers print, scan, copy and fax functionality.

All eight Dell printers are immediately available now.