Canon imageClass LBP251dw - Review 2022

A direct competitor to the Dell Smart Printer S2830dn, our Editors' Choice entry-level monochrome laser printer, the Catechism imageClass LBP251dw ($209) comes shut to the Dell model in impress speed, impress quality and features, and its list cost is $lxx less. But it falls a picayune curt in 1 key area—the per-page cost of toner. This may seem insignificant, only if yous print a few thousand pages or so each month, even a 1-cent difference in the cost per page (CPP) will cost you significantly over the life of the printer, far more than than that $lxx price deviation. Otherwise, the LBP251dw is an outstanding low-priced monochrome laser printer, making it an excellent alternative to the Dell S2830dn for depression-to-moderate book output in a home-based or pocket-sized role, or equally a personal monochrome light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation printer.

Pocket-sized, Sturdy, Ready to Go

A pace upwards from the Catechism imageClass LBP151dw, some other top pick, the LBP251dw measures xi.8 by 15.8 by xiv.ix inches (HWD) and weighs 27.2 pounds with the toner cartridge installed, which makes it slightly larger and about 8 pounds heavier than the Canon LBP151dw sibling, and like in size to the Dell S2830dn. The comparably priced Epson WorkForce Pro WF-M5194, a standalone monochrome inkjet light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation alternative, is a few inches wider, but otherwise about the aforementioned size and weight. And HP'due south less-expensive, and less-capable, LaserJet Pro M102w is significantly smaller and well-nigh 17 pounds lighter.

The LBP251dw'south paper input capacity is 300 sheets, split between a 250-canvass cassette and a 50-sheet multipurpose tray. If 300 sheets are not enough, you tin add on a 500-sheet cassette ($199.99), bringing input capacity to 800 pages from 3 split sources. The Dell S2830dn'south default input capacity is 50 sheets higher, expandable to 900 sheets via one 550-sheet drawer, while the Canon LPB151dw holds up to 256 sheets, with no expansion options; the Epson WF-M5194 monochrome inkjet tin exist upgraded from its default 330 sheets to 580.

The maximum monthly duty wheel for the LBP251dw is 50,000 pages, which is one-half that of the Dell S2830dn. It's nonetheless better than the Canon LBP151dw (15,000 pages) and HP's LaserJet Pro M102w (x,000 pages). The Epson WF-M5194 monochrome inkjet'due south maximum monthly rating is 45,000 pages, which is just 5,000 pages lower than the LBP251dw.

Configuration and monitoring, such equally setting security options and checking toner status, tin be handled from either the control panel, which consists of several buttons, a 10-number keypad, and a 3.5-inch monochrome text display, or via a built-in secure website you lot can access from computing devices on your network or over the net.

Connectivity and Security

The LBP251dw's connectivity options include Wi-Fi, 10/100/g Base of operations-T Ethernet connecting to a single PC via USB ii.0, and Wi-Fi Direct. The latter is a peer-to-peer network that allows y'all to connect your mobile device to the printer without either it or the printer being connected to a network.

Security consists of the standard IEEE801.1x, SNMPv3, HTTPS and IPSEC network protocols, as well as Section ID Management for monitoring usage and securing access for specific individuals or groups of individuals (departments). Y'all tin can, for instance, cake specific users from accessing certain features, or from printing at all, or require that certain individuals log in to an account on the printer earlier being allowed to print.

Respectable Speed for the Price

Like virtually Catechism laser printers, the LBP251dw is configured out of the box to default to 2-sided printing as a coin-saving measure; hence, I tested it in both 2-sided (duplex) and i-sided (simplex) modes, over Ethernet from our standard testbed Intel Core i5-equipped PC running Windows x professional. Canon rates the LBP251dw's two-sided print speed at 16 pages per minute (ppm) and its ane-sided manner at 30ppm.

When printing a 2-sided version of our 12-page Microsoft Discussion text document, the LPB251dw managed 14.8ppm, or but 1.2ppm shy of its 16ppm rating. The Dell S2830dn managed 21.6ppm when press duplex pages. The Canon LBP151dw was tested with a previous methodology, thereby making using its results hither unreliable. And, since neither the HP M102w nor the Epson WF-M5194 default to 2-sided printing, nosotros didn't tape their duplex results during testing. When printing our 12-folio Word document in simplex style, the LBP251dw showed a throughput of xxx.1ppm. The Dell S2830DN came in only over 7ppm college, but the LBP251dw outpaced both the Epson WF-M5194 and the HP M102w by 10ppm, or more than.

To exam the LBP251dw'southward printing oomph on more circuitous documents, I clocked it as it churned out several discrete colorful graphics- and photo-laden Acrobat, Excel, and PowerPoint documents, and and so combined those impress times with the results from the previous Discussion document exam, to come up upward with an average for printing our unabridged suite of test documents. The LBP251dw managed 1 infinitesimal 44 seconds on this part of our examination, which is 4 seconds behind the Dell S2830dn, iii seconds faster than the Epson WF-M5194, and more half a minute slower than the HP M102w.

You wouldn't normally employ a monochrome printer to print photos; nevertheless, I tested the LBP251dw'southward photograph printing prowess anyway. Between the device itself and its drivers, it converted our test 4-by-6-inch snapshots to grayscale and printed them at an boilerplate of vii seconds. That'south at least 4 seconds behind the other printers discussed here, with the slowest, the Dell S2830dn, falling behind by well over 10 seconds.

Good-Looking Output

Like most Canon laser printers I've looked at, the LBP251dw'south overall output quality was above average for a monochrome light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation printer, particularly such a depression-cost one. Text output is higher up average—very shut to typesetter quality, with well-shaped characters down to about 4 or 5 points. Charts, graphs, and PowerPoint handouts with dark fills and gradient backgrounds (though all in grayscale) printed without any discernable banding or blotching in our tests, and hairlines (ane betoken and smaller) came out well-delineated.

Photos, likewise, printed with good detail in attractive grayscale that did the full-color originals justice. Granted, the images weren't as impressive as when they're printed in color, but they're more than suitable for inclusion in handouts, newsletters, and other blackness-and-white promotional material.

Day-to-Day Operational Costs

Given all there is to like about the LBP251dw, its 3-cent CPP, while mostly competitive with several other entry-level monochrome laser printers, is too loftier compared with the Dell S2830dn's 2-cent CPP. Go along in mind that a 1-cent divergence in running costs will, for every 5,000 pages you print, cost (or save) you $50. Non and so much, y'all say? Say that you ain and use the printer for four years, and in that time, you print 100,000 pages (that's slightly more than 2,000 pages per month). A 1-cent CPP difference volition cost you $500—more enough to buy two more LBP251dw models, with money left over for toner.

In other words, the more you lot impress, the more than the CPP matters. That said, the HP M102w's running costs are only shy of 1 cent college than the LBP251dw; the Canon LBP151dw costs a half a cent more than per folio to use; and the Epson WF-M5194 inkjet light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation alternative delivers running costs of i.4 cents lower than the LBP251dw's, making that inkjet laser alternative'due south CPP 0.four-cent lower than the Dell S2830dn's. (At that rate—printing 50,000 pages—the Epson WF-M5194 is $700 cheaper to use than the LBP251dw.)

A Highly Capable Monochrome Light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation

Catechism'south relatively small imageClass LBP251dw prints text, and grayscale graphics and photos too as or better than most other monochrome light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation printers, and it does so at a practiced clip and a competitive cost per folio. But Dell's Smart Printer S2830dn delivers comparable quality, faster print speeds, twice the monthly duty wheel, and lower running costs, for non a lot more than coin. Even so, there'south very little to dislike about the LBP251dw. It'southward a fine entry-level monochrome laser printer, and a feasible solution for home-based and small offices and workgroups that require high-quality output at relatively fast speeds.

Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/printers/17318/canon-imageclass-lbp251dw

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