What is the Ricoh Aficio SG2100n?
About five years ago, Ricoh released its gel print technology in an economical printer aimed at the small office. Now it’s having a second go, with a second-generation gel print engine it’s calling GelJet. The Aficio SG2100n is aimed at the home or possibly home office and comes in at just under £60.
Ricoh Aficio SG2100n - Design and Features
With its black and white, boxy, ‘loaf of bread’ design, the Aficio SG2100n looks more like a desktop laser than a typical inkjet printer and this more business-like approach to its design is emphasised by a higher-than-usual capacity, 250-sheet paper tray.
Paper feeds out to a telescopic paper tray above the feed tray and there’s a window in the feed tray’s front to enable you to see the paper level. It doesn’t go to the bottom of the stack, though, so you can’t tell how many sheets are left when you get below 50.
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The control panel is set into the vertical front face of the printer, and has a simple button set and a 2-line by 16-character LCD display. There’s no backlight on this display, making it difficult to read, and the default ink level indicators show half full, even when new cartridges have just been inserted.
Ricoh Aficio SG2100n - Connections and Installation
There are USB and 10/100 Ethernet sockets fitted under a removable hatch at the front left of the machine, with a mains socket further back on the side panel. The idea is that you can back the printer up against a wall, or slide it up either way against a side wall, but although there’s a duct for the USB/network cable from the socket to the desktop, there’s no further duct to take the cable backwards, leaving it trailing across the desk.
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Installation is very straightforward, with a comprehensive driver and a user guide being the only substantial software. The four ink cartridges slide easily into slots behind a cover on the right hand side of the paper tray.