The Aficio SP C242SF is a multifunction laser printer designed for small- to medium-sized businesses that promises small size and fast print speeds, at low cost. Sounds great, but how much of this is true? Answers and more in today's printer review...
Design and Build
This is a relatively large printer, measuring 42 x 49 x 47 cm and weighing 30 kg. The finishing inspires confidence. There's no doubt about it, this is a solid, sturdy machine. The Aficio SP C242SF prints, scans, copies and faxes in simplex and duplex and features network capability. The 256 MB of RAM allow for convenient sharing within a workgroup of fifty. It supports PCL and PostScript and features PageManager software solutions and a fax utility. It's compatible only with Windows and Mac—so, no Linux. It doesn't have Wi-Fi, either, which some companies find reassuring. This printer is well protected with optional safe printing settings that require to you enter a login and password before printing.
The Aficio SP C242SF has no touchscreen; all the commands are made on physical buttons. Brands can tell us that businesses prefer physical to touch commands all they want, but the fact remains that the handling with actual buttons is fair less intuitive than a touchscreen. So you may have to find your way around this printer a bit before it feels natural to use.
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Front panel and USB port
The USB port is located at the top left of the front panel for easy access.
Standard paper tray: 250 sheets
While testing the C242SF we encountered issues with paper getting stuck in both print mode and copy mode.
Speed
The Aficio SP C242SF has good print speeds. We didn't give it the full five stars because it lacks responsiveness (see inset), which weighs in our overall speed rating. There's something rare about this printer: the print speeds are the same in colour, B&W and draft mode. They're similar to the HP LaserJet Pro 400 Color MFP M475dn (22 pages per minute), and faster than the Xerox Workcentre 6015 NI, which prints 12 ppm in colour and 16 ppm in B&W. However, they're lower than the Brother MFC-9970CDW, the fastest colour laserjet all-in-one we've tested, which stays ahead of the game with 30 ppm in both colour and B&W.
Print quality
The Aficio SP C242SF produces quality business documents. Our test graph comes out clear and precise with accurate colour shading. This is a good printer for complex work.
Average Delta E 94 (colour difference): 6.5
The lower the bar, the more accurate the colour.
The average for printers we've tested is 7.
Scanner & Copier
The 1200 x 1200 dpi scanner will scan a range of different formats, from PDF and TIFF to JPEG. Scanning directly to an e-mail address is simple and convenient.
Scanner/copier table
Copy mode includes density options and adjusts the settings according to whether you're copying text, photos or both. To the eye, the difference in quality is minimal. You also have all the classic options like resizing and copying two or four pages onto a single page.
Surprisingly, the quality in copy mode actually makes it out alive, which is rare. Thin lines come out looking precise and the Delta E is extremely low, with an average of 4.8. That's uncommonly good.
Average Delta E 94 (colour difference): 4.8.
Power Use
This multifunction printer is consumes an excessive amount of power in sleep mode: 7 watts. Some printers, like the Canon i-SENSYS MF3010, go below 1 watt. So we recommend turning the machine off rather than leaving it in sleep mode, especially since it only takes 10 seconds longer to turn on and print (see inset). While at work it consumes 500 watts, which is in the lower average for laser printers. The annual consumption (for 1,000 pages) is 7.1 KW.
As noise levels go, the Aficio SP C242SF is loud, at 53 dB. Printers are considered quiet when they stay below 50 dB.
Cost Per Page
Ricoh offers two ink cartridge sizes for two different capacities: standard and high capacity. The cartridges that come with the printer have a lifespan of 1,000 sheets, which is much lower than the standard size of 2,500 sheets available in stores. The high-capacity cartridges are good for 6,000 sheets. This is worthwhile penny-pinching that most brands do to lower prices.
The Aficio SP C242SF's cost per page is 4.7 pence using colour and B&W. This is extremely low as laser printers go. To get a sense of it, the Xerox Workcentre 6015 NI's CPP is 17.9 pence and the Brother MFC-9970CDW, a five-star printer, is 8.9 pence. And if you use black toner only, that's when it really gets interesting: 1.1 pence per page!
Design and Build
This is a relatively large printer, measuring 42 x 49 x 47 cm and weighing 30 kg. The finishing inspires confidence. There's no doubt about it, this is a solid, sturdy machine. The Aficio SP C242SF prints, scans, copies and faxes in simplex and duplex and features network capability. The 256 MB of RAM allow for convenient sharing within a workgroup of fifty. It supports PCL and PostScript and features PageManager software solutions and a fax utility. It's compatible only with Windows and Mac—so, no Linux. It doesn't have Wi-Fi, either, which some companies find reassuring. This printer is well protected with optional safe printing settings that require to you enter a login and password before printing.
The Aficio SP C242SF has no touchscreen; all the commands are made on physical buttons. Brands can tell us that businesses prefer physical to touch commands all they want, but the fact remains that the handling with actual buttons is fair less intuitive than a touchscreen. So you may have to find your way around this printer a bit before it feels natural to use.
Front panel and USB port
The USB port is located at the top left of the front panel for easy access.
Four separate ink cartridges
Easy access: that's the best word to describe the four ink cartridges nestled in the machine. They're big and relatively heavy, yet easy to grab and replace.
The paper tray has a capacity of 250 sheets. If that isn't enough you can add a second 500-sheet tray (sold separately).
The paper tray has a capacity of 250 sheets. If that isn't enough you can add a second 500-sheet tray (sold separately).
Standard paper tray: 250 sheets
While testing the C242SF we encountered issues with paper getting stuck in both print mode and copy mode.
Speed
The Aficio SP C242SF has good print speeds. We didn't give it the full five stars because it lacks responsiveness (see inset), which weighs in our overall speed rating. There's something rare about this printer: the print speeds are the same in colour, B&W and draft mode. They're similar to the HP LaserJet Pro 400 Color MFP M475dn (22 pages per minute), and faster than the Xerox Workcentre 6015 NI, which prints 12 ppm in colour and 16 ppm in B&W. However, they're lower than the Brother MFC-9970CDW, the fastest colour laserjet all-in-one we've tested, which stays ahead of the game with 30 ppm in both colour and B&W.
Print quality
Measured with our sensor, the average colour deviations are lower than those we've found on other laser printers. This is a good thing; it means that the colours printed on the page are relatively accurate compared to the colours intended in the document.
Average Delta E 94 (colour difference): 6.5
The lower the bar, the more accurate the colour.
The average for printers we've tested is 7.
Scanner & Copier
The 1200 x 1200 dpi scanner will scan a range of different formats, from PDF and TIFF to JPEG. Scanning directly to an e-mail address is simple and convenient.
Scanner/copier table
Copy mode includes density options and adjusts the settings according to whether you're copying text, photos or both. To the eye, the difference in quality is minimal. You also have all the classic options like resizing and copying two or four pages onto a single page.
Surprisingly, the quality in copy mode actually makes it out alive, which is rare. Thin lines come out looking precise and the Delta E is extremely low, with an average of 4.8. That's uncommonly good.
Average Delta E 94 (colour difference): 4.8.
Power Use
This multifunction printer is consumes an excessive amount of power in sleep mode: 7 watts. Some printers, like the Canon i-SENSYS MF3010, go below 1 watt. So we recommend turning the machine off rather than leaving it in sleep mode, especially since it only takes 10 seconds longer to turn on and print (see inset). While at work it consumes 500 watts, which is in the lower average for laser printers. The annual consumption (for 1,000 pages) is 7.1 KW.
As noise levels go, the Aficio SP C242SF is loud, at 53 dB. Printers are considered quiet when they stay below 50 dB.
Cost Per Page
Ricoh offers two ink cartridge sizes for two different capacities: standard and high capacity. The cartridges that come with the printer have a lifespan of 1,000 sheets, which is much lower than the standard size of 2,500 sheets available in stores. The high-capacity cartridges are good for 6,000 sheets. This is worthwhile penny-pinching that most brands do to lower prices.
The Aficio SP C242SF's cost per page is 4.7 pence using colour and B&W. This is extremely low as laser printers go. To get a sense of it, the Xerox Workcentre 6015 NI's CPP is 17.9 pence and the Brother MFC-9970CDW, a five-star printer, is 8.9 pence. And if you use black toner only, that's when it really gets interesting: 1.1 pence per page!
| Cartridge | Price (starting at) | ISO lifespan | Cost per page |
| Toner Ricoh 406479 (black) | £74 | 6500 | 1.1 pence |
| Toner Ricoh 406480 (cyan) | £71 | 6000 | 1.2 pence |
| Toner Ricoh 406481 (magenta) | £71 | 6000 | 1.2 pence |
| Toner Ricoh 406482 (yellow) | £71 | 6000 | 1.2 pence |
Pros
- Ethernet
- Duplex
- PCL and PostScript
- Quality (printing & copying)
- Fast print & copy speeds
- Cost per page with high-capacity cartridges
- Sturdy
Cons
- Consumes too much power in sleep mode: 7 W
- No touchscreen
- No Wi-Fi
- Paper frequently gets stuck
- Slow to turn on / come out of sleep mode
- Included ink cartridges only half full
Conclusion
The Aficio SP C242SF keeps its promises, offering both quality prints and fast print speeds for a low cost per page. It's a good choice for businesses that have no need for Wi-Fi or a touchscreen on their printer.
OUR SCORE
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