Sizing up the Okidata C5100 printer quickly reveals a model from the manufacturer that’s meant to print out in both monochrome black-and-white and color. In addition, it can be connected to a workgroup network or used just as a standalone printer. It will work well within a home environment, and the Okidata 42127404 toner is able to produce graphics-rich documents and presentations with ease. Currently, a refurbished unit costs between $380 and $450.
The C5100 is no slacker when it comes to print speeds, either in color mode or when it’s been tasked to put out monochrome product. Color pages can be produced, in fact, at a rate of 12 per minute. This is better than expected performance when factoring in the relatively low price of this Okidata printer. Adding to the attractiveness of this unit, it can also put out a sterling 20 pages per minute of monochrome product.
The C5100 can also hold up to 400 sheets of paper in two different trays (one is a manual feed tray, while the other is a standard version). Optional trays can increase the storage amount to over 900 sheets, by the way. In addition, this unit can also perform double-sided printing when it’s equipped with a duplex unit that’s available as an optional accessory.
The manufacturer’s obviously designed this particular printer to be able to make use of a wide variety of Windows operating systems as the host server for the printer. What this means is that the C5100 normally has to access the PC’s operating system to process print jobs, though there’s a built-in networking technology suite that allows many more users to make use of the printer, if needed.
Because this is a color printer, four different cartridges will be needed; one of black, another of yellow, still another of magenta and one more of cyan. The printer, though, is an able performer even if one of the color cartridges runs dry. Keep in mind that color printers tend to come with higher-cost cartridge sets, and the C5100′s will start at $150 and go up from there. They do last a long time, fortunately.
There are a number of different ways that this Okidata printer can be connected to a network. This includes modern USB 2.0 and Ethernet 10/100 Base-TX ports. In essence, it’ll be a snap to take the printer and connect it to either a PC or a network workgroup in short order. The C5100 also was designed by Okidata with twice the RAM and twice the speed of its predecessor printer’s memory and processing units.
When it comes to those to capabilities (RAM and processing speed), the memory that comes standard with the C5100 is a more-than-adequate 32 MB. This can be upgraded all the way to 288 MB, which should be more than sufficient for most any network. Additionally, the 200 MHz processor will be able to take in many tasks and then turn them around with little trouble or delay.
This offering from Okidata can be found at a number of online retail and reseller outlets, usually in a good-as-new refurbished state. Expect to pay anywhere from $380 dollars to $450 for a nice unit. The Oki c5100 print cartridges are also available in plentiful numbers and they’re fairly long-lasting. The Okidata 42127403 toner can be found for different prices, running in local stores at around $150 for four. Online retailers often have better toner refill prices, so shopping around is a good idea.

