A slight step down from the recently reviewed B3442dw, Lexmark's B3340dw is an entry-level monochrome laser printer for small offices and workgroups. Like its beefier, costlier sibling, the $229 B3340dw prints well, and it's fast, but it competes in a printer market flush with low-cost mono lasers and inkjet-based alternatives, including two bulk-ink monochrome models from Epson, the WorkForce Pro WF-M5299 and the EcoTank ET-M1170 Wireless Monochrome Supertank (PCMag top picks, both). Also, while the B3340dw is rated by Lexmark for high monthly page volumes, it's not economical to leverage that page-churning muscle, since it's costlier to use than most models in its class. It's an impressive, capable little printer, but its running costs relegate it to a few hundred prints each month. Lexmark's own MS431dw and the cartridge-less HP Neverstop Laser 1001nw are better laser values.
Small, Quick, and Capable
Measuring 8.7 by 14.5 by 14.3 inches (HWD) and weighing about 20.5 pounds, the B3340dw is the same size as both its MS431dw and B3442dw siblings. It is also similar in size, girth, and price to the Canon imageClass LBP226dw (another PCMag top pick) and the HP LaserJet Pro M404dn. Meanwhile, HP's Neverstop Laser 1001nw is somewhat smaller and lighter than this Lexmark, while the Epson WF-M5299 is about half again as big and weighs almost 14 pounds more.
Since all it does is print, the B3340dw does not require much in the way of onboard controls. Its actual control panel resides on the right side of the top of the chassis (shown in the image below). It consists of a few navigation buttons for finding your way around a series of drill-down menus on a two-line monochrome text display.
Most of the time (such as when monitoring consumables, generating usage reports, and configuring security options), you'll find it easier to use the B3340dw's web interface, shown below. You can even export the configuration from one machine and import the ensuing file into another. The web controls are accessible via most any browser, including smartphone and tablet ones.
Similar Products
Canon imageClass LBP226dw
Epson EcoTank ET-M1170 Wireless Monochrome Supertank Printer
Epson WorkForce Pro WF-M5299 Monochrome Printer
HP Neverstop Laser 1001nw
Lexmark MS431dw
Standard data connectivity on the B3340dw consists of Ethernet, USB, and Wi-Fi. Mobile-device connectivity is available via Wi-Fi through the Lexmark Mobile Print app, as well as Apple AirPrint, Google Cloud Print, and Mopria. The Lexmark Mobile Assistant app simplifies wireless configuration.
Nowadays, most of Lexmark’s printers support a huge selection of operating systems and platforms, including Windows 7 through 10, Windows Server, Apple AirPrint and AirScan, and Terminal Server, as well as various flavors of Citrix, Linux, and Novell. In addition to the company's standard printer drivers, Lexmark throws in emulation for HP's PCL5c, PCL5e, and PCL6, plus Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) and PostScript 3. Among other things, these third-party emulations provide compatibility with typesetting, graphic-design, and page-layout environments.
The B3340dw's paper input capacity consists of 350 sheets split between a 250-sheet main drawer and a 100-sheet multipurpose tray. You can use the tray for feeding checks, envelopes, and labels without having to open and possibly reconfigure the main drawer. If 350 sheets from two sources isn’t enough, you can add a 550-sheet drawer ($139), expanding capacity to 900 sheets from three sources. (It stacks below the main body of the printer.) Other accessories include an adjustable printer stand ($299) and a swivel cabinet ($249).
Lexmark's MS431dw and B3442dw, Canon's LBP226dw, and HP's M404dn all come with the same paper-handling configuration as the B3340dw, and they all support 550-sheet addons (though the upgrade price is $299 versus Lexmark's $139). The HP Neverstop 1001nw holds only 150 sheets and is not expandable, and the Epson WorkForce Pro WF-M5299 holds 330 sheets, expandable to 830.
The B3340dw's maximum monthly duty cycle is 50,000 pages, and the recommended monthly volume is 10 percent of that. The other two Lexmarks mentioned above are rated at a whopping 80,000 prints, with a suggested monthly run of 8,000 pages. Meanwhile, the HP M404dn's figures are 80,000 max and 4,000 recommended, while the Canon's are 40,000 max and 4,000 recommended. The Epson WF-M5299's maximum duty cycle is 45,000 pages, and its recommended volume is 2,500.
Testing the B3340dw: The Roaring 40s
While the other two Lexmark printers mentioned here are rated at 42 one-sided (simplex) pages per minute (ppm), the B3340dw is rated at 40ppm. Since it (and most other Lexmark machines) default out of the box to two-sided (duplex) mode, I tested and recorded its performance in both modes, over an Ethernet connection, using our standard Intel Core i5 testbed PC running Windows 10 Pro. (See more about how we test printers.)
The B3340dw churned out our 12-page Microsoft Word text document at 41.3ppm in simplex mode and 21.3 images per minute (ipm, where each image is a page side) in duplex mode. Those scores tied the Lexmark B3442dw and came in just behind the MS431dw; they beat the Canon LBP226dw by 2.7ppm and trailed it by 2.3ipm. The other printers mentioned here do not default to duplex, so I can report only their simplex speeds: HP's M404dn was 1ppm quicker than this Lexmark, while the Epson WF-M5299 was 12.8ppm slower. In short: All but the Epson were quite close in speed.
For the next portion of my tests, I clocked the B3340dw as it printed our collection of Adobe Acrobat business documents, Excel spreadsheets and charts, and PowerPoint handouts containing various business graphics and multi-size typefaces in varying colors. I combined the results of these tests with those from printing the 12-page text document to come up with an overall score of 20.5ppm and 10.5ipm for printing our entire suite of business documents.
The two senior Lexmarks, the Canon, and the HP M404dn discussed throughout this review all came within a page per minute (or two) of the B3340dw's results, while the Neverstop puttered along at 13.6ppm, and the WF-M5299 came in at 16.9ppm.
Good-Looking Grayscale, But Too-High Running Costs
As I observed in reviewing the MS431dw, the B3340dw churns out pristine-looking, highly legible text down to the smallest point size that can be read easily without magnification. Its grayscale graphics are acceptable for most business applications, and the test photos I printed were more than good enough for reproducing images embedded in web pages, in-house reports, and handouts, and perhaps for select external distribution. Overall, I've no complaints about the printer's output.
Like its more expensive siblings discussed above, the Lexmark B3340dw is fast and expandable, and it prints well, but its cost per page (CPP) exceeds that of other entry-level and midrange monochrome models. If you purchase the 3,000-page toner cartridge for this printer, you'll spend about 2.9 cents per page, compared to 2.2 cents for the other two Lexmarks. (The MS431dw and B3442dw support 6,000-page cartridges.)
HP's LaserJet Pro M404dn also runs about 2.2 cents per page, but the Canon imageClass LBP226dw halves that, to 1.1 cents per page, and Epson's WF-M5299 drives it down even further, to 0.8 cent. Keep in mind that for every penny per page in cost difference, every 10,000 pages you print will cost you an additional $100.
The point is, of course, that if you actually print anywhere close to the B3340dw's suggested peak volume of 5,000 pages per month, it will cost you a whole bunch more money than you might otherwise pay. (It works out to $1,080 per year more than the Canon imageClass LBP226dw, for example.)
Low-Cost Laser Lifts Your Wallet on Toner
As we noted about the Lexmark B3442dw, as printer hardware, the Lexmark B3340dw is solid stuff. It prints well, and it is fast enough for most offices. The problem is that its running costs mean it's best employed as a low-volume printing solution, despite its high page-volume ratings, and its generous paper capacity and options for expansion.
If your small or midsize office prints just a few hundred pages each month, you can probably tolerate that tradeoff; the CPP isn't as crucial a factor, and this Lexmark is otherwise a reasonable buy. But if your hardcopy output typically exceeds about 500 prints per month, you'd be much better off with the HP Neverstop mentioned earlier, or one of the inkjet-based monochrome Epsons.
Lexmark's B3340dw single-function mono laser churns documents at a fine clip, but its steep toner cost limits it to offices that print just a few hundred pages a month.
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