Frequently Asked Questions
How long will 30,000 pages last a department printing to one 1700N?
It depends on the department, but the arithmetic is friendly. This pack holds five 310-5402 cartridges at 6,000 rated pages each — 30,000 pages in total. A department of eight to ten people typically puts 2,000 to 3,000 pages a month through a shared Dell Laser 1700N, which makes this pack roughly a year's supply; a heavier department at 4,000 pages a month gets through it in about seven to eight months. Either way, the purchase converts toner into an annual-or-so line item instead of a monthly chore, which is exactly what a facilities or office manager wants from a shared printer.
What does each cartridge in the pack work out to?
$63.98 — the pack is $319.92 for five. Against five single cartridges at $78.57, which would total $392.85, the pack saves $72.93. Per page, the department's rate falls from the single cartridge's 1.31¢ to about 1.07¢. That per-page figure is the one worth quoting internally: it applies to every page the 1700N prints while the pack lasts, whoever prints it, and it is as low as single-figure pack pricing gets in this family short of the 10-pack.
Why do shared printers seem to burn toner faster than the ratings promise?
Because ratings assume a standard page and departments do not print standard pages. The 6,000-page rating is set at 5% coverage; a department's real mix — reports with charts, forms, shaded spreadsheet printouts, the occasional dense handout — runs heavier, and every heavy page spends the cartridge faster than the yardstick. With many users, nobody sees the fade coming gradually, either: the cartridge seems fine until the week it plainly is not. A 5-pack answers both problems at once — the volume absorbs the heavier real-world consumption, and the shelf stock means the fade is a swap, not a stoppage.
Which printers can draw on this pack?
Any machine in Dell's 1700-series mono family: the Laser 1700N named here, the Laser 1700 and the Laser 1710. All five cartridges are the 310-5402, the single cartridge code the whole platform shares, so the pack can be dedicated to the department's 1700N or shared with other family machines in the office. Check the code on the cartridge you remove; if it says 310-5402, every unit in this pack is a direct replacement.
How do we make sure the department never actually runs dry?
Set the reorder point at the last cartridge. When the fifth cartridge goes into the machine, order the next pack — the 6,000 pages in that final cartridge are your buffer, and they represent weeks of typical departmental printing, far longer than delivery takes. The failure mode this pack exists to prevent is not high price; it is the Tuesday-morning discovery that the shared printer is down and the cupboard is empty. A standing rule of "order when the last one goes in" removes that morning from the calendar entirely.
What warranty and returns stand behind a pack this size?
Each of the five cartridges carries a 1-year warranty against defects, and the pack is covered by 1-year free returns if a cartridge does not perform as it should — full terms on our shipping and returns page. These are compatible cartridges built to the 310-5402 specification rather than Dell-manufactured stock, and the cover applies unit by unit, so one faulty cartridge is resolved on its own. Questions are handled Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM CST.
What should we check when the 5-pack first arrives?
Three things, before the carton goes on the shelf: the count is five, every box is still sealed, and every label reads 310-5402. A delivery check takes a minute and settles the order while it is still easy to raise a question about it. If anything is short, damaged or carrying a different code, keep the seals unbroken and get in touch — an unopened unit is the simplest thing in the world to put right, and the pack's cover stands behind each cartridge individually.
How do we learn the department's real cartridge cycle from this pack?
Write the install date on each box end as its cartridge goes into the 1700N. Five cartridges produce four intervals, and those intervals are your department's actual rhythm — far more useful than any estimate, because they already include your busy months and your quiet ones. By the third cartridge you can predict the next change within a week or two, which turns reordering from a reaction into a calendar entry someone can own.
Is there a sensible moment to audit the pack halfway through?
Yes — when the third cartridge goes in. At that point half the pack's 30,000 rated pages should be roughly accounted for, and a quick look at the printer's page counter tells you whether the department is tracking ahead of or behind the plan. If the counter says the first two cartridges produced well under their 6,000-page ratings, the department's coverage is heavier than the yardstick — useful knowledge before the next order, not a fault in the stock.
One cartridge in the pack prints badly from the start — how do we confirm the fault is the cartridge?
Swap-test it. Take the suspect unit out and fit the next cartridge from the pack: if the fresh 310-5402 prints cleanly in the same machine, the fault sits with the first cartridge, not the printer. Keep the faulty unit rather than discarding it — each cartridge in this pack carries its own 1-year warranty and 1-year free returns, so a single bad unit is resolved on its own without disturbing the rest of the pack or the department's printing.
About This Dell 1700N 5-Pack
A 5-pack of compatible high-yield black cartridges for the Dell Laser 1700N: five 310-5402 cartridges at 6,000 rated pages each — 30,000 pages total — priced at $319.92, which is $63.98 per cartridge and about 1.07¢ per page. The cartridges also serve the Laser 1700 and Laser 1710. The pack ships from one of our four US warehouses in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Georgia or California, and is covered by our 1-year warranty and 1-year free returns. Smaller packs and the wider range are on our Dell toner page.
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