Laser printers, especially mono lasers, have long been inextricably linked to the office. But as prices continue to plummet they have come into the home user's price range. And if you all you print is loads of mono text pages then it makes real sense to use a laser printer instead of wasting all that expensive inkjet ink.

Dell's 1710 printer comes in two versions; the standard model, which retails for around £133 inc. VAT, and the reviewed 'n' model. Both have duty cycles of up to 15,000 pages a month.
As you might have guessed, the 1710n is the network-ready model which comes with a 10/100Mbps Ethernet connection built-in. Not only that, but you also get USB 2 and parallel interfaces, and for an extra £70 you can install Dell's 3300 wireless adapter.

A compact design, the 1710n is finished in Dell's Midnight Grey and Silver finish, reminiscent of the old Dimension and Precision desktop cases, and combines ease of use with low running costs.

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Getting at the toner cartridge and imaging drum is easy and hassle-free, just a matter of pressing a button on the side of the printer which releases the front panel; this then drops flat to allow unrestricted access. Dell provides a standard toner cartridge with the printer which is good for 3,000 pages (at 5 percent coverage) working out at 1.5p a page, while a larger 6,000-page cartridge is available.

You can save yourself some money when it comes to replacing the cartridges by using Dell's Use and Return offer. Using this offer a standard cartridge costs £49.35 inc. VAT (usual price £64.63 inc. VAT) while you can save even more with the higher output cartridge; £57 inc. VAT as opposed to the normal £81 inc. VAT. A new media drum will set you back around £30.

As is normal with laser printers, and in contrast to inkjets, the quoted engine speeds are generally borne out under test conditions. Dell claims that the 1710n is a 26ppm (pages per minute) printer and we certainly wouldn't quarrel about that. Print quality at its native 1,200 x 1,200dpi resolution is good for plain text but photos and graphics looked on the dark side with banding noticeable on photos in particular. But then this isn't really an issue, as not many people would use this printer for their holiday snaps.

Easy to set up and use, the printer has just two buttons (for starting and stopping print jobs), alongside five warning LEDs which are for the usual low toner, paper jam and other alerts.

An easy to use, no-nonsense laser printer, the 1710n is ideal for the small office on a tight budget, while the basic 1710 is better suited to the busy home user.