Color Laser S3840CDN

The Dell S3840CDN is a networked color laser built for a whole workgroup rather than one desk, turning out full-color work at around 36 pages per minute with duplexing for shared-floor printing. It feeds on a four-cartridge CMYK set: black is 593-BCBC, while the colors are 593-BCBF for cyan, 593-BCBE for magenta and 593-BCBD for yellow. Each cartridge sits in its own slot and runs out on its own schedule, so a department replaces only the color the machine actually asks for.

On a shared floor printer, toner is a team budget, not a personal one. Reports, handouts, invoices and the occasional full-color proposal all pull from the same four cartridges, and black does most of the heavy lifting because everyday office documents are still mostly text. Keeping one spare of each color on the shelf means a low-toner warning at 4 p.m. never turns into a stalled print queue the next morning.

Toner Cartridges for S3840CDN

Which cartridge should you buy?

Start from how the machine is actually used. If the S3840CDN mostly prints text documents with a color logo here and there, black empties several times before any color does, so the black 2, 3 or 5 packs are the economical way to stock it, with single color cartridges ordered as each one fades. Departments running color work all day should look at the full sets instead: the 4 Color Set refreshes every slot at once, the 5 Color Set adds a spare black, and the 8 Color Set suits a floor that never wants to think about toner mid-quarter. The 3 and 6 Color Sets exist for a narrower case — your black supply is already covered, and only the three colors need restocking. Every compatible cartridge here is backed by a 1-year warranty and 1-year returns.

Chip, toner and everyday use

These cartridges carry the chip the S3840CDN expects, so the printer recognizes them on install and reports toner levels normally. Swap a cartridge with the machine on, match the color label on the box to the label on the slot, and pull the sealing strip before the cartridge goes in. Page-yield figures for cartridges like these are estimates based on 5% page coverage, and a shared workgroup machine burns through that estimate faster than a personal printer because so many different jobs pass through it. When a color starts printing weak, rocking the cartridge gently side to side redistributes the toner inside and usually buys enough pages to finish the day.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which cartridges does the Dell S3840CDN take?

Four of them: 593-BCBC in black, 593-BCBF in cyan, 593-BCBE in magenta and 593-BCBD in yellow. The complete set is listed in the table above, as single cartridges, black multipacks and full color sets.

One color just ran out — do I have to replace all four?

No. Each color lives in its own slot and is replaced independently, so an empty yellow never forces you to buy black, cyan and magenta with it. Sets are simply a cheaper way to restock when several colors are getting low together.

Why is black sold in 2, 3 and 5 packs on a color printer?

Because black does the bulk of the work even on a color machine. Text pages, emails and forms draw only on the black cartridge, so busy departments go through several blacks for every set of colors, and the multipacks price that reality in.

Does the S3845CDN use the same cartridges?

Yes — the S3845CDN runs on this same 593-BCBC family set, which is why the listings serve both models. If your floor has one of each, a single toner shelf covers both machines.

More printers that use the same cartridges

The same cartridge set also fits this related Dell model:

Color Laser S3845CDN