OKI MC342dnw review

OKI rates this printer for a comparatively modest 22ppm in mono or 20ppm in colour, but it comes closer to its stated speed than many rivals, helped in part by a quick time-to-first-page of just 12 seconds from standby. Our 25-page text test appeared at 20.3ppm, and our complex graphics test at an impressive 14.1ppm. Black text was excellent, with extremely precise outlines and no spattering of toner.

This printer’s unusually glossy toner lends graphical prints a characteristic rich sheen, but otherwise they aren’t great. The illustrations and presentation slides in our test looked OK, but had a warm red-brown colour bias, and in places seemed to have a subtly grainy finish. Photos were similarly warm, flattering skin tones, but the brown bias made some other prints look aged. We experimented with all the driver’s colour balance options, trying to produce more neutral prints; the best results came using the PCL driver’s Graphics Pro option, but they still weren’t ideal.

Toner supplies for the MC342dnw are rated only for 2,200 black and 1,500 colour pages, giving high toner-only running costs of 2.3p per black page and 13p for full colour – factor in longer-life consumables such as the drum kit and the black and colour total rises to 13.7p per page. That’s among the highest figures we’ve seen for a colour laser, and it’s simply too much to pay for an MFP with too little else to recommend it.