Frequently Asked Questions
What does a page printed on our Dell 1700 actually cost with this cartridge?
Do the simple division: $78.57 for a cartridge rated at 6,000 pages comes to about 1.31¢ per page. That is the honest headline number for this Dell 1700 listing — no asterisk, no best-case scenario. Your real figure will move a little with what you print, because the 6,000-page rating is measured at the 5% page coverage the whole industry uses as its yardstick. A page of plain text sits close to that coverage; a page with bold headings, logos and shaded tables uses more. But as a planning number for a workgroup mono printer, 1.31¢ a page is the figure to budget against.
Is the 6,000-page figure a standard rating or the high-yield one?
It is the high-yield rating — that is what the 310-5402 cartridge is. The 1700 family was sold with smaller standard cartridges as well, and this listing is the bigger fill: 6,000 pages before you are changing anything. In calendar terms, a desk printing 500 pages a month gets roughly a year from one cartridge; a busier workgroup machine at 1,500 pages a month gets about four months. Either way, the high-yield cartridge means fewer interruptions and a lower cost per page than the standard fill, which is why most offices settled on the 310-5402 as their default.
Which printers does this cartridge actually serve?
The 310-5402 is the shared cartridge for Dell's 1700-series mono lasers: the Laser 1700 this listing is named for, the Laser 1700n and the Laser 1710. Dell built the three machines on one supply platform, so a single part number covers all of them — if your printer's supply list shows 310-5402, this is the cartridge, whichever of the three model badges is on the front. That shared platform is worth knowing about if your office runs more than one of these machines: one cartridge on the shelf covers every printer in the family.
Our 1700 is years old — does it still make sense to feed it toner?
Usually, yes. These machines earned their keep as simple, durable workgroup printers, and a working 1700 with a fresh cartridge in it prints as well as it ever did. The economics are hard to argue with: $78.57 returns the printer to full service for another 6,000 pages, which is a fraction of the cost of replacing the machine and re-buying supplies for a different platform. The honest exception is a printer with mechanical wear — repeated jams, worn rollers, squealing — where you would be feeding toner into a machine that is failing for other reasons. For a mechanically sound 1700, toner is the cheap option.
How will I know the cartridge is genuinely finished?
The signs build gradually: text goes gray instead of black, one side of the page fades more than the other, or a light background haze appears behind the print. Rocking the cartridge gently side to side can redistribute the remaining toner and recover a few dozen acceptable pages — enough to finish an urgent job — but it is a stay of execution, not a refill. When the fade returns after rocking, the 310-5402 has given you its 6,000 pages and it is time. Ordering when the fade first appears, rather than when the machine stops, is the habit that keeps a workgroup printer from ever sitting idle.
What protection comes with a compatible cartridge like this?
Two things stand behind it. The cartridge carries a 1-year warranty against defects, and it is covered by 1-year free returns if it does not perform as it should — the full terms are on our shipping and returns page. This is a compatible cartridge built to the 310-5402 specification, not a Dell-manufactured one, and the warranty and returns window are what make trying it a low-risk decision. If anything is unclear, our support team is available Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM CST.
About This Dell 1700 Cartridge
This is a single compatible high-yield black toner cartridge for the Dell Laser 1700, built to the 310-5402 specification and rated at 6,000 pages, priced at $78.57 — about 1.31¢ per page. It also serves the Laser 1700n and Laser 1710, which share the same supply platform. It ships from one of our four US warehouses in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Georgia or California, and it is covered by our 1-year warranty and 1-year free returns. The rest of our compatible range for these machines is on our Dell toner page.
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