Dell C1765nfw Review

Verdict

Pros

• Simple LED print engine
• Low maintenance, lifetime drum
• Small footprint for class

Cons

• Very high colour page cost
• Android print app doesn’t work
• No duplex

Introduction

When Dell first introduced its range of LED printers and all-in-ones, we were impressed by the size and print quality they shared, but disappointed by their price and running costs. Now the company has introduced the C1765nfw, which looks very similar to the 1355cnw, but has a much lower launch price (though it’s more than the 1355cnw’s current one).

Dell C1765nfw – Design

The C1765nfw follows Dell’s usual angular lines, with the black-box of the LED engine under a rectangular, dark grey platform, which holds the control panel. The whole thing is topped off by a scanner and 15-sheet Automatic Document Feeder (ADF), with equally square-cut lines.

The all-in-one has a small footprint, but it increases quite a bit when you fold down the front panel, which then becomes the 150-sheet feed tray. A dust cover slides out from within the printer and has a 10-sheet multi-purpose tray built into its top.

The full-width control panel has quick-dial buttons for fax, a number pad and job start and cancel keys, as well as navigation controls. The backlit, mono LCD display can show five lines of text or graphic display.

The printer has a lifetime drum, so the only thing you need to maintain is the toner. The four toner cartridges plug in very simply behind a cover on the right-hand side panel of the machine.

Sockets for USB and Ethernet networking are at the back and the C1765nfw also supports wireless connection. WPS setup makes it very easy to link into your wireless network and you should also be able to print to the machine directly.

It’s supposed to work from Dell’s Mobile Print Android and iOS apps, but we couldn’t get it to work properly when used with our Samsung Galaxy Mini smartphone.

The app downloaded, installed and ran fine, but when set to search for the printer, it waited endlessly, showing a busy icon. Reinstalling from scratch made no difference. Looking on the Google Play site, there were messages detailing identical problems from people with this and other Dell printers. Hopefully this will be resolved with a software update.