Oki B431DN (print server)
Manufacturer: Oki Data Part number: 91659903
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Product series
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- The Oki B431DN is truly a workhorse black-and-white laser printer, with rapid output speed and high print quality. Combined with extra features like an autoduplexer and a large paper input capacity, the Oki B431DN is worth your dollar.
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CNET editors' review
Oki B431DN (print server) price range: $298.86 - $359.05
- Reviewed by: Justin Yu
- Edited by: Rich Brown
- Reviewed on: 11/10/2010
The good: Impressive output speed and print quality; networking with Ethernet port; duplexer for double-sided printing; extra-large 350-sheet paper input tray.
The bad: Lacks desktop companion software; no USB cable included.
The bottom line: The Oki B431DN is truly a workhorse black-and-white laser printer, with rapid output speed and high print quality. Combined with extra features like an autoduplexer and a large paper input capacity, the Oki B431DN is worth your dollar.
The Oki B431DN's drab black exterior and boxy shape make it easily lost in a pile of other monochrome laser printers, but this one deserves your extra attention. Modern laser printers with extra features--like an autoduplexer for double-sided prints, an extra-large 350-sheet paper input tray, and an open Ethernet port that lets multiple users print at the same time--usually cost more than $400, but the Oki B431DN offers all of the above for an affordable $350, the same price as less functional models like the Samsung ML-2851ND. On top of its affordable price, the Oki B431DN also delivers prints quickly and with superior image quality. This printer meets and exceeds our expectations for a small business or home office imaging device and earns our enthusiastic recommendation.
Design
Like most monochrome printers, don't expect to see the B431DN strutting down the catwalk--its matte black design is meant to match the universally drab aesthetic of most office electronics, but what it lacks in elegance, it makes up for in utility. The printer is easy to pick up at just under 26 pounds (average for a laser printer), and at 9.6 inches tall, 15.2 inches wide, and 14.3 inches deep, it's small enough for one person to transport.
You'll interact with the printer primarily through the top of the device: there you'll find the standard output tray with a small plastic tab that flips out to corral finished prints, as well as the control panel and two-line LCD screen. Since the B431DN is only capable of outputting black and white, the operation is very straightforward, and a two-line LCD is all you'll need to control it. Underneath the screen you'll see a directional pad for navigating through the onscreen menus, an online button, a cancel button, and two skinny LED lights that blink to indicate readiness or if there are any problems that require your attention.
The 250-sheet paper input tray pulls out from underneath the printer, with corral clips on each side that adjust to a variety of paper sizes. You can also fit 100 extra sheets in the multipurpose tray above the main tray, boosting the overall input capacity to an impressive 350 sheets. For comparison, the Samsung ML-2851 only gives you a 250-sheet tray for the same price.
Setting up the Oki B431DN is as easy as opening the box, unwrapping the printer, inserting the accompanying driver disc, and following the onscreen instructions. The entire process took less than 10 minutes to complete using a USB cable (not included), but you can also connect it to your computer using an older parallel cable (also not included), and the driver CD also guides you through the networking process. The software will automatically detect the printer and install it on your network using TCP/IP, so an IP address is required. Finally, the B431DN is compatible with a variety of operating systems, including Windows 7, Vista, XP, and older, as well as Mac OS 10.3 and higher.
The appeal of the Oki B431DN lies in its simple setup and ease of use, but we wish the software came with an onscreen dashboard to show information like job progress or toner levels. Still, it's hard to complain about minor details when Oki provides other productivity features, like the internal autoduplexer that lets you save money by printing on both sides of a sheet of paper.
Performance
The Oki B431DN is by far the most efficient of the printers we compared in terms of output speed, and we're impressed by how easily it outpaced the competition. The Oki product page advertises 40 pages per minute (ppm) and our test results for all three categories are just about congruent with those claims at 38.16 ppm for the 10-page presentation test, 33.3 ppm for the graphics page, and 33.86 ppm for a simple page of black text. If raw speed is your purchasing criterion, look no further than the B431DN.
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
 |
Presentation (PPM) | |
Black Graphics (PPM) | |
Black Text (PPM) |
The Oki B431DN is actually an LED printer that uses a light diode instead of a laser as a printhead source, and is an economical alternative to the typical laser printer we usually see because LEDs require fewer internal parts to operate. The shorter optical path on LED printheads also allows for a smaller physical size than classic laser printers, but you sacrifice quality for convenience, as current LED printers all have fixed resolutions. That said, you won't notice a big difference in print quality, especially from a monochrome printer like this one.
We printed our usual array of test graphics and text pages and the quality will more than suffice for throwaway documents and light graphics, but you might consider a multicartridge inkjet printer or even a color laser if you want to print snapshot photos or presentation-quality documents.
Service and support
The B431ND is covered by Oki's limited warranty on parts and labor for one year, including overnight exchange in the event of a malfunction. Customer support and technical specialists are also available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year by e-mail and phone, and the comprehensive Support Resources page on the Oki Web site provides further customer assistance by way of FAQs, driver downloads, warranty extension opportunities, business document templates, order status updates, and individual resources (manuals, documents) for each printer model Oki sells.
Find out more about how we test printers.
User reviews
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Great Business Printer for Office - Easy Refill
by Trilaworks on June 16, 2011
Pros: - Separate toner and drum makes for higher quality toner refilling
- Printer can email you (IT office) when ink is low
- 10K cartridge (but must purchase separately)
- No Desktop Software!!!
- FAST
- Standard DuplexCons: - No easy way to reset toner chip, must buy new chip if refilling on your own
Summary: -- Reviewing from an IT for business perspective (Using with Windows) --
We use refilled ink in our office, so I decided to try the B431DN since the toner and ...Summary: -- Reviewing from an IT for business perspective (Using with Windows) --
We use refilled ink in our office, so I decided to try the B431DN since the toner and drum are a two piece design. Most printers have an integrated drum built into the cartridge. If you always use new OEM cartridges, this is not a problem. However, on refilled cartridges, the drum gets degraded every time you transport it to refill. This left us with cheaper ink, but lines on the paper. The B431DN solved that!
We purchased seven (7) of these printers for our small office, and they work great. Rather than sending them out to be refilled, I am now just refilling myself. The toner cartridges are very easy to refill. You simply turn the cartridge upside down, turn the toner unlock lever, pour the toner in, lock it back, and wipe with a static cloth to remove any extra. It takes me about 3 min to refill a cartridge, and costs me around $25 for a 10K toner refill and chip. Since the drum is a separate piece, it never leaves the printer.
Another great feature I love is the built-in email server. From the web management page of the printer, I set up each one to email me when the toner is low. This allows me to change out the cartridge without the end users ever having to call me.
While CNET mentioned lack of desktop companion software as a negative, I personally think that is a positive. I cannot even begin to count the number of issues I have seen because of HP desktop printer software. If nothing else, it almost always slows down the PC. Having said that, it should be noted that I am reviewing from a business perspective. As an IT professional, this is the printer I would use at home, not necessarily the printer I would tell my IT challenged friend to buy. As a network printer, the driver installs quickly, works well in a virtual environment, keeps a small footprint, and is everything I look for in a business class printer.
My only complaint is that the toner cartridge does not have a resettable chip. They are very easy to replace, but I could save an additional $9 on each refill if the printer had an option to reset the chip. I would also highly recommend upgrading to the 10K cartridge instead of the pre-installed 2K starter cartridge. Other than that, I am exceptionally happy with my decision to go with the B431DN. It has lots of options, standard NIC and duplex features, is fairly small, very fast, and just works!4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Easy set up, fast, very good monochrome print quality.
by dlstepp on March 30, 2011
Pros: Fast with good paper capacity. Small size is good for desktops.
Cons: None I have seen.
Summary: Outstanding value in its category, comes with duplexing and network.
Summary: Outstanding value in its category, comes with duplexing and network.
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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OKI after 5 months failed to upgrade driver to OS X 7.
by amygdala101 on November 15, 2011
Pros: New unusable printers at great financial loss !
Cons: OKI lies. No driver upgrade to OS X 7, as promised, after 5 months.
Summary: You cannot count on award winning OKI Printers for any support ! The company lies.
A series of dead OKI B431dn Printers sit in my medical office after 5 months.Summary: You cannot count on award winning OKI Printers for any support ! The company lies.
A series of dead OKI B431dn Printers sit in my medical office after 5 months.1 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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poor software service for MacIntosh
by whgoodin on August 13, 2011
Pros: Fast. Excellent black & white printer
Cons: After upgrading all my Macs to OS X7, I could no longer print with my OKI B431 !
I called & emailed customer support. I was told it would be at least 2 months before a new driver would be available ! What can a person or office do with a wonderful cosSummary: I would not buy this product again for the above stated reason.
Summary: I would not buy this product again for the above stated reason.
1 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Buyer beware! Brutally poor software support.
by bdubdad on June 15, 2011
Pros: It's fast and a good price. When it works, it seems to work great.
Cons: After 1 week I'm having major issues. It printed out 50 blank pages and had no button to cancel the job. You could cancel the job on the software but that didn't do stop the printer. The software support is so retarded. Don't believe the editor of CNET,
Summary: Don't believe the CNET guy, this machine isn't worth the hassle. You're on your own when you run into problems... and after 1 week I have problems ...
Summary: Don't believe the CNET guy, this machine isn't worth the hassle. You're on your own when you run into problems... and after 1 week I have problems and lack of support means more wasted time in chasing down solutions. Who has time for that?
1 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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another case of poor driver support.
by radiorobot on March 4, 2011
Pros: good printer
Cons: rosetta install
Summary: Good printer yes... if your not installing it on a snow leopard machine. You need rosetta! An outdated powerpc software... mac doesnt make it easy... nor does Okidata. I am ...
Summary: Good printer yes... if your not installing it on a snow leopard machine. You need rosetta! An outdated powerpc software... mac doesnt make it easy... nor does Okidata. I am sooo mad! You need your install disk
0 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Oki Data
- Part number: 91659903
- Description: If you're looking to improve the productivity and lower the operating costs of your business, the B431 series offers all of that and more. For starters, select series models deliver up to 40 ppm, with the first page printing in less than 5 seconds. They produce output in black and white that's clear and crisp, at up to 1200 x 1200 dpi resolution, using a two-piece consumables system for long-lasting performance and a low cost of operation.
General
- Printer Type Workgroup printer - LED - Monochrome
- Width 15.2 in
- Depth 14.3 in
- Height 9.6 in
- Weight 25.1 lbs
- Enclosure Color Black
Printer
- Print Speed up to 40 ppm - Max speed
- Built-in Devices Status LCD
- Connectivity Technology Wired
- Interface USB,
Parallel,
Ethernet 10/100Base-TX - Max Resolution ( B&W ) 1200 dpi x 1200 dpi
- Duplex Printout Duplex
- First Print Out Time B/W 5 sec
- Language Simulation EPSON FX,
PCL 6,
IBM ProPrinter III XL,
PCL 5E,
PostScript 3 - Fonts Included 94 x Scalable PCL,
Bitmapped PCL,
Barcode,
136 x PostScript - Barcodes Postnet,
Interleaved 2 of 5,
UCC/EAN-128,
Code 128,
Codabar,
OCR-B,
Code 39,
OCR-A,
UPC-E,
EAN/JAN-8,
ZIP,
UPC-A,
EAN/JAN-13 - Media Handling 250-sheet input tray,
100-sheet multipurpose tray Processor
- Processor 330 MHz
RAM
- RAM Installed ( Max ) 64 MB / 320 MB (max)
Media Handling
- Media Path Type Straight,
Curved - Media Type Bond paper ,
Proofing paper ,
Envelopes ,
Plain paper ,
Water resistant paper - Min Media Size (Custom) 3.4 in x 5.5 in
- Max Media Size (Custom) 8.5 in x 14 in
- Media Sizes A6 (4.13 in x 5.83 in),
B5 (6.93 in x 9.83 in),
Executive (7.25 in x 10.5 in),
Legal (8.5 in x 14 in),
A5 (5.83 in x 8.25 in),
A4 (8.25 in x 11.7 in),
Letter A Size (8.5 in x 11 in),
3.4 in x 5.5 in - Envelope Sizes International C6 (4.5 in x 6.38 in),
Monarch (3.87 in x 7.5 in),
International DL (4.33 in x 8.66 in),
International C5 (6.38 in x 9 in),
Com-10 (4.13 in x 9.5 in),
Com-9 (3.5 in x 8.9 in) - Media Weight 60 g/m2 - 163 g/m2
- Total Media Capacity 350 sheets
- Media Feeder(s) 1 x Manual load - 100 sheets - Legal (8.5 in x 14 in) weight: 60 g/m2 - 163 g/m2,
1 x Autoload - 250 sheets - Legal (8.5 in x 14 in) weight: 60 g/m2 - 120 g/m2,
1 x Optional autoload - 530 sheets - Legal (8.5 in x 14 in) weight: 60 g/m2 - 120 g/m2 - Max Media Capacity 880 sheets
- Output Trays Capacity 150 sheets
Duty Cycle
- Monthly Duty Cycle 80000 pages
Telecom
- Modem None
Networking
- Networking Print server
- Network Controller Name OkiLAN 10/100 Base-T Print Server
- Connectivity Technology Wired
- Data Link Protocol Fast Ethernet,
Ethernet
Scanner
- Type None
Copier
- Copier Type None
Expansion / Connectivity
- Expansion Bays None
- Expansion Slot(s) 1 (total) / 1 (free) x Memory
- Connections 1 x Hi-Speed USB - 4 pin USB Type B,
1 x Parallel - IEEE 1284 (EPP/ECP) - 36 pin Centronics,
1 x Network - Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX - RJ-45 Miscellaneous
- Consumables Included 1 x Toner cartridge ( Black ) - up to 2000 pages
- Microsoft Certifications Compatible with Windows 7
Power
- Power Device Power supply - Internal
- Voltage Required AC 120 V
- Power Consumption Operational 580 Watt
- Power Consumption Stand by / Sleep 70 Watt
Software / System Requirements
- OS Required Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition ,
Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition ,
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition ,
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition ,
Microsoft Windows 2000 SP4 or later ,
Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server SP4 or later ,
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 ,
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional SP4 or later ,
Microsoft Windows 2000 Server SP4 or later ,
Microsoft Windows Vista (64-bit versions) ,
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Datacenter x64 Edition ,
Apple MacOS X 10.3 or later ,
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition ,
Microsoft Windows 7 ,
Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit Edition ,
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition ,
Microsoft Windows XP Professional ,
Microsoft Windows Vista ,
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Environmental Standards
- ENERGY STAR Qualified Yes
Manufacturer Warranty
- Service & Support 1 year warranty
- Service & Support Details Limited warranty - Parts and labor - 1 year,
Limited warranty - Printhead - 5 years
Product series
-
Manufacturer: Oki Data
Specs: Workgroup printer - LED - Monochrome,
A4 (8.25 in x 11.7 in),
Legal (8.5 in x 14 in),
Wired,
40 ppm,
USB,
Parallel,
15.2 in x 14.3 in x 9.6 in,
4 pin USB Type B,
36 pin Centronics -
Manufacturer: Oki Data
Specs: Workgroup printer - LED - Monochrome,
A4 (8.25 in x 11.7 in),
Legal (8.5 in x 14 in),
Wired,
40 ppm,
USB,
Parallel,
Ethernet 10/100Base-TX,
15.2 in x 14.3 in x 9.6 in,
4 pin USB Type B,
36 pin Centronics,
RJ-45
Manufacturer info
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Oki Data products on Shopper.com
-
- Manufacturer:Oki Data
- Address:
3 University Plaza, Hackensack, NJ 07601 - Phone: 1-800-654-3282
- Email: comments@okidata.com
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