The same goes for snapshot photos, although we'll assume you aren't buying a monolaser to support your photography career.ĭell protects the B1165nfw with a standard one-year limited warranty that includes advanced exchange on-site service and remote diagnosis, with the option to extend service for five years after it expires for an extra $80. Like the B1160w, it printed a beautiful page of black text with solid lines and clean edges with uniform character spacing and full-formed figures, but it failed to deliver similar results with a page of graphics. That is, provided that you start the print job with enough toner for the printer to handle the job to its best ability. You shouldn't expect too much in terms of print quality from the B1165nfw, though it performed well enough for use with office handouts and professional documents.
Dell claims that the printer can achieve up to 21 pages printed per minute using a text file with limited graphics, and my tests nearly measured up to those results with just over 18 pages per minute. The Dell B1165nfw performed similarly to its linemate, the Dell B1160w, in both the speed tests and quality examinations. Whether or not these omissions are deal-breakers is up to your particular workflow, though I wouldn't be surprised if they caused some IT pros to look elsewhere when shopping for a new printer. Without the option to automatically flip over a sheet of paper for double-sided printing, you may waste valuable time in an effort to save paper. For example, you won't find a media card reader for printing photos directly from a storage card on a digital camera, nor is there a USB port.įinally, I'm most disappointed to see that there's no autoduplexer available at this price. In this lower price range, I'm not surprised that the front face of the printer also lacks some features that you'll get on costlier devices.
You can even use it in conjunction with compatible Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software programs to automatically import the card data into your address book. This setting makes it easy to duplicate both sides of an ID card on a single sheet of paper.
Perhaps the most convenient side note to this feature is the fact that you don't have to input the network password to gain access, making it an ideal ad hoc solution for offices that need walk-up availability for guests.Īnother useful feature for the business world, both home and in the office, is Dell's ID Copy button, which sits on top of the control panel.
The box also includes a driver disc that walks you through the setup process, but I was up in half a minute using Easy WiFi Installer after just tapping on the name of my network after the printer sniffed out available connections. Contrary to the printer stereotype, setting up the wireless printing functions and creating a connection with your home computer takes minutes rather than hours, thanks to Dell's proprietary Easy WiFi Installer.