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The 1110 is rated at up to 16ppm, but even assuming draft 300dpi output – default output is at 600dpi – this seems a bit wishful. We managed just under 10ppm, printing our standard text page and, interestingly, slightly more than this printing the text and graphics page. The 15 x 10cm photo image took 12 seconds, giving an impressive graphic print speed of 5ppm.

The quality of the prints we obtained from the Dell printer was unquestionably good. Text print was very clean and belied the printer's 600dpi resolution. Business graphics output was also very clean with well reproduced stipples on areas of tint, though some slight banding was also apparent. When it came to the photo print, things weren't quite as good, though of course this type of output is not what you normally buy a laser printer for. Again there was perceptible banding and even the 600dpi output produced prints where dot stipples were apparent.

The single drum and toner cartridge is the only consumable in the 1110 and comes only from Dell by mail order. The price is therefore fixed at what Dell wants to charge, which in the UK is £46, or £39 ex VAT. Out of interest we went to the US Dell site and checked the cartridge price there. At $65, without local taxes and at current conversion rates, that comes out at £35, so there’s not a lot in it, which is as it should be.

The UK price equates to a cost per page of 2.76p, which is at the high end of the range, but not the top. Dell includes a half-full ‘starter’ toner cartridge with each new 1110, meaning you’ll only get around 1,000 pages at five per cent cover from it, rather than the 2,000 pages you get from each replacement cartridge.

Verdict

Given the price point of Dell’s 1110, at under £100, it may seem churlish to criticise, but there’s an increasing number of machines pitched into this market. It prints well and is easy to set up, but the lack of a paper cover is awkward, the 1,000 page starter cartridge is cheapskate and running costs are on the high side.

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