Dell launches sub-$100 laser printer

Dell has unveiled a black-and-white laser printer priced at $99--low enough, possibly, to kick off a price war in the home and small-office printer market.

The computing giant introduced its Dell Laser Printer 1100 on Tuesday. The device handles up to 15 pages a minute with a resolution of 600 dpi. Analysts predict competitors ranging from Hewlett-Packard to Lexmark will feel the pressure to offer something comparable, given that their low-end monochrome lasers start at roughly twice that price.

"Dell's laser is a disruptive price," said Charles Wolf, an analyst with Needham & Co., adding, "This could cause more consumers to shift over to laser."

Over the years, laser printers have lost market share to their cheaper counterparts, inkjet printers. During the first quarter, U.S. shipments of inkjet printers reached 6.5 million, compared with 1.6 million for laser printers, Wolf said.

That shift has come despite the relatively high speed with which laser printers can churn out documents of superior clarity. Laser printer toner cartridges also need to be replaced less frequently than cartridges for inkjet printers.

"Laser printers are not big in the home, but this could cause consumers to shift over to laser for big print jobs," Wolf said.

Dell is also aggressively pricing the toner for its new printer at $65 per 2,000 pages. Lexmark's cheapest E series monochrome laser printer, the E 232, carries a toner price tag of $94 per 2,000 pages.

"Dell is going to screw everybody," Wolf said.

Ink and toner serve as important, ongoing sources of revenue for printer manufacturers, who find they can sell the hardware at a discount and then more than make up for it later on in supply sales.

"Dell's intention is to consistently bring better prices to customers?I'm not sure whether this will trigger a price war," said Maggie Beery, a Dell spokeswoman.

Dell's move into printers over the past several years is part of its strategy to move beyond carrying only PCs. And with its direct sales channel, the computer giant is often able to undercut the prices of close competitors such as Hewlett-Packard and Apple Computer, which rely heavily on resellers and retailers.

Samsung have been in the sub $100 zone for a while

Samsung sells a laser for less than $80 after rebate. The toner is around $60 for 3000 pages. Dell is hardly breaking new ground. But I am sure it will have a significant impact on the major manufacturers.

Samsung cheap laser, but....

...Samsung's laser cartridge does 1000 pages and costs a tad more than what Dell's will. The consumables price then will be more than double on the Samsung.

75 EUR for P&P ???

Well, I've never bought from Dell because for computers they want 75EUR for packaging. Add this to their prices and they aren't that cheap anymore.

Now I looked at the 1100 printer:
110EUR for the device itself + 75,40EUR for P&P!
I don't think many people will buy this...

sorry, forgot: I'm in germany

I'm in germany, BTW

penny wise, pound foolish?

From what I have read of online comments of such bargain printers as the Samsung, this may not be the way to go.

I suspect that the life of the print head or drum is very short and pricey to replace as it seems to be with the existing bargain laserjets on the market now!

This is what stopped me from buying one of the existing 'bargain' laser printers. You are buying a new printer in effect every six months or so.

Its still, "you pay em now or you pay em later".

Time will tell as to how long those print drums will last and how much the replacement cost is. I just bet that these printers will be a dissappointment. I have owned Lexmark Inkjets before and have smartened up and purchased an HP.

I clicked on the ads for the refurb HP LASER PRINTERS accompanying the article and on first glance this seems to be a much more reasonable way to go.

There'S still no free lunch, it seems!

[wazzledoozle]

STOP THE DELL ADS!

OMG c|net STOP taking their funny money!

[jacksons98]

RE: STOP THE DELL ADS

No kidding, these site is getting major Dell biased. It's getting ridiculous. Did they mention that using their own shopping engine you can get the HP toner for their equivalent printer for $38 or $50 from a reputable company? No, they mentioned the highest priced brand from Lexmark. Did they mention Brother, Samsung, or any one else who also has had printers in this price range for a long time? Did they mention the Dell is using older technology and has a horrible warranty? No again, and to top it off it's front page news. So much for unbiased accurate news. Oh well I guess I'll still come here for the robot stuff :)

[4nchip]

Free printer with every Dellamac

Is there gonna be a free Laser Printer with each new Dellamac?
Find out at Dellamac.com

[Opined]

Who cares?

Look: the printer costs $100 or less. The toner catrtidges cost $65 each for 2000 pages. That means the effective price of a replacement print head and drum is $35. Why would you replace them when you could just by a new printer?

Or, look at it another way:

Assuming a worst case scenario - where the drum and print head last as long as a single cartridge: I need to buy a brand new printer instead of just a new cartridge - and I pay 5c/page.

Assume the imaginary alternative - the print head and drum never wear out. So my net cost is 3.25c/page ($65 for a 2000 page cartridge).

Do I care? No.

I'd be more interested in the comparative price per page of toner cartridges for 'more robust' printers. Except that I'm more than happy with my current ink jet printer.

[jimboman78]

How much to print out 2,000 bw copies on an inkjet.

Does anyone know the approx cost of printing out 2,000 bw copies on an inkjet printer. It would be useful to know a range for comparison for the average home user.

[ntrlsur]

Average Per Cartridge

I have seen numbers from 80 to 750. Taking the best case of 750 pages and an average cost of $35 USD for an inkjet cartridge you are looking at about 5 cents per page. Which is kinda pricey.