Do network ready printers have built-in ethernet card?

[Ar Q]

I want to buy a color laser printer that can be connected using ethernet. I
notice some printers are network-ready. Do I need buy additional module to
make it really work?

Also, can someone recommend some models? Thanks.

 

[William R. Walsh]

Hi!

Do I need buy additional module to make it really work?

Not in most cases. When a printer claims to be network ready, all you
usually have to do is plug it in to a network and set it up.

The one exception I could think of is an HP printer. Most of their network
capable offerings have an EIO slot that you populate with the card that
connects to the network type you have. (I have a token ring card that I used
with a Business Inkjet model until the printer failed.)

Also, can someone recommend some models? Thanks.

I've been very happy with my Samsung CLP-550n. This printer includes a
preinstalled network card with a wired Ethernet connection.

Samsung also sells the less expensive/less capable CLP-500n...it hasn't got
as much RAM installed and fewer operating systems are supported. You still
get a network card, though.

The CLP-550 and CLP-500 are the same printer sans network card. You can add
it later to those models, if you can find one...

http://greyghost.dyndns.org/clp550n/ is my review of the CLP-550n. I saw a
CLP-600 (?) recently...it's a little bigger and features an engine that does
at least 21 pages per minute in both B&W and color modes. I didn't think the
output quality was as good on that printer.

William

 

[Otto Sykora]

The recent HP junk inkjet stuf is full ready for being plugged into
LAN. Just watch for the Lan connector on its back, there is often some
yellow plastic cap sticking in it. If this is there, it will work. In
fact in my expereince, this is what most likely will work, rather then
the USB connection, which needs lot of autoprobing during boot and did
fail in most cases on installations on w2k anyway.