EmailBest Reviewed
Color Laser Printers
- Budget color laser printer Dell 2130cn *Est. $350
- Best black text quality and small office printer Xerox Phaser 6280N *Est. $500
- Fastest color laser printer Xerox Phaser 6360DN *Est. $1300
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- Text quality
- Good for light use in small office
- Fast (for its price range)
- PostScript compatible
- Upgradeable RAM
- Mixed graphics quality
- No duplex printing
If your need in a laser printer is mostly for text but with color capability, reviews say the Xerox Phaser 6180N is your best bet for PCs and Macs. Reviewers disagree about the color quality – some say it's "stunning" and others say it's disappointing. But they agree the Xerox Phaser 6180N is one of the faster printers at this price and the text quality is as good as you could want. Among the features are PostScript compatibility and upgradeable RAM (it comes with 128 MB). For about $150 more you can get two-sided printing (the Phaser 6180DN). Printers in this class are not designed for heavy office use – exceeding 60,000 pages in a month could void the one-year warranty. If you need a printer for even lighter duty, reviews say the HP Color LaserJet 2600n (*est. $300) may suffice, but its tone cartridges cost as much as the printer itself.
Better Buys For Business reviews just about every name-brand printer on the market after heavy testing. You'll need at least a free online trial subscription to have access, though. PC Magazine and PC World also review lots of printers, and Government Computer News is thorough and includes the Xerox Phaser 6180N in a roundup of eight "executive" printers. User reviews are scarce – we found none at Amazon.com and only about a dozen at NewEgg.com.
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Our Sources
This website tests just about every major-brand printer on the market, including the Xerox Phaser 6180N. You'll need a free online trial subscription to see the report, however.
Review: Printer Reviews, Editors of Better Buys For Business
The Xerox Phaser 6180N gets an Editors Choice award as" a good choice as a color-laser workhorse in a small office." Reviewer M. David Stone says it produces "high-quality text and reasonably high-quality graphics."
Review: Xerox Phaser 6180N Review, M. David Stone, Feb. 12, 2007
The Xerox Phaser 6180N ranks eighth overall in this top-ten chart. It gets good marks for speed and text quality, but the color graphics are a bit lacking. The "similar Dell Laser Printer 3110cn has lower running costs and a less-expensive paper capacity upgrade."
Review: Top 10 Color Laser Printers, Melissa Riofrio and Paul Jasper , July 9, 2008
This comparative review of single-user printers for government employees says text quality is "good though not great" and the Xerox Phaser 6180N was fourth-fastest among the eight printers tested, but curiously gets an A-plus for graphics quality.
Review: Leadership Style: Executive printers stress quality over speed, with attention to value and size, John Breeden II, March 19, 2007
5. CNET
CNet's Felisa Yang rates the Xerox Phaser 6180N 3.5 out of five stars but ultimately says while speed and text quality are fine, the graphics reproduction could be a smidgen better and that the Lexmark C530dn (*est. $490) is a slightly better value.
Review: Xerox Phaser 6180N Review, Felisa Yang, Feb. 20, 2007
6. CRN.com
Reviews here are geared to those who sell technology products. This eight-printer roundup review has the Xerox Phaser 6180N in second place because of "stunning" color, although it is toward "the lower end" on speed.
Review: Bake-off: Eight Color Printers Put Through The Paces, Edward F. Moltzen, May 19, 2008
7. NewEgg.com
About a dozen owner reviews give the Xerox Phaser 6180N a very high average score with no negative ratings at this writing. A couple of reviews note that photo quality isn't great.
Review: Xerox Phaser Series 6180N Reviews, Contributors to NewEgg.com
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Dell Color Laser Printer 3130cn - Printer - color - laser - up to 31 ppm (mono) / up to 26 ppm (color) - Parallel, USB, 10/100Base-TX
 from Amazon.com New: $539.00 In Stock.
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Brother HL-4070CDW Color Laser Printer with Built-In Duplex Printing and Wireless Interface
from Amazon.com New: $389.56 In Stock.
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OKI C6150dtn - Printer - color - duplex - LED - Legal, A4 - 1200 dpi x 600 dpi - up to 32 ppm (mono) / up to 26 ppm (color) - capacity: 930 sheets - Parallel, USB, 10/100Base-TX
from Amazon.com New: $1010.59 In Stock.
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