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Color Laser PrintersYou are here: Computers >> Color Laser PrintersUpdated October 2007Best entry-level color laser printersEntry-level color laser printers cost as little as $150, but vary in performance and often cost more when it comes to consumables. For example, reviewer opinion of the HP Color LaserJet 2600n (*est. $300) is confusingly varied. PC Magazine has the most enthusiastic review. The magazine selects the HP color laser printer as an Editor’s Choice, citing value, text, graphics, photo quality and networking connectivity as the reasons. Editors at Tom’s Hardware are less impressed with print quality, but say the driver has been improved, resulting in improved print quality. Eric Grevstad of Hardware Central sees excellent quality in text and charts, but not photos. The HP Color LaserJet 2600n has a two-line LCD display. With 16MB of RAM and a 264MHz processor, it has low computing power for a modern color laser printer. HP claims the maximum speed is 8 ppm. The printer has 600 x 600 dpi (dots per inch) resolution and a 35,000-page duty cycle. It works under Windows and Mac operating systems. A second 250-sheet paper tray is optional. TrustedReviews.com and Tom’s Hardware say the major drawback to this inexpensive color laser printer is cost of use, which they claim is unusually high. That applies even more to the HP Color LaserJet 1600 (*est. $150) which uses the same cartridges, but ships with starter cartridges. Eric Grevstad says, "The premature replacement purchase will more than cancel out the [1600’s] price advantage." The cheaper HP Color LaserJet 1600 also lacks networking capability and is not Macintosh compatible. The HP Color LaserJet 2605dn (*est. $375) is a step up from the LaserJet 2600n. It has 64MB of RAM and is a little faster. IT Reviews gives it a "Recommended" award, but other reviews are underwhelming. IT Reviews says the printer is quiet, affordable to buy and use and all-around print quality is very good. Editors at Macworld are less impressed with color and photo quality. User reviews at Amazon.com and CNet.com peg this printer and the cheaper HP color laser printers as average to above average. However, most users either love their printer or hate it. Reliability and print quality are the reasons expressed by those in the latter group. The Dell Color Laser Printer 1320c (*est. $300) is the most direct competitor to the HP Color LaserJet 2600n, but a network adapter is an optional upgrade (*est. $50). It tops PC World’s "Top 10 Color Laser Printers" chart and Computer Shopper also rates it highly. In a July review, PC Magazine’s M. David Stone says the Dell 1320c has "the best combination of speed and quality yet for the price." However, in reviews at PC Magazine, Computer Shopper (U.K.) and CNet.com, editors are not as impressed. The Dell Color LaserJet 1320c has 600 x 600 dpi resolution, 64MB of RAM and a 35,000-page duty cycle. It has a single 250-sheet paper tray, but no other paper-feeding options. It cannot be upgraded. Meanwhile, the HP 2600n has a manual feeder, helpful for printing on heavier paper or envelopes that can jam printers without a bypass feeder or straight paper path. Best color laser printers overallStepping up from an entry-level printer gets you more speed and a greater duty cycle. "Duty cycle" is a term used by manufacturers to specify the maximum amount of pages per month the printer can handle. Exceeding the duty cycle often voids your warranty. Printers that are more business-oriented have larger paper trays than the 200 or 250-sheet paper trays found on home-office color laser printers. They also have more RAM, which enables them to handle larger and more complex print jobs. Reviewers indicate that cost of use usually goes down as the purchase price rises. Many cheap laser printers either come with starter cartridges or can only accommodate low-capacity cartridges. Judging from reviews, print quality is often better with color laser printers that cost at least $500, but paying more than that nets speed and features without necessarily improving quality. This section covers printers with the best quality; the next section covers the fastest printers. Without exception, reviews indicate that quality and speed are tradeoffs when it comes to home and small-office color laser printers. We found seven reviews for the Xerox Phaser 6180N (*est. $515) and all recommend this printer. Yet, reviewers don’t agree about all aspects of performance. All but PC World agree that black text quality is superior. Reviewers often criticize color image quality, however. In summary, graphics and photos are visibly grainy and contrast is subpar. Some reviewers measured slow or average speeds, but CNet.com, Hardware Central, Macworld and Printer Showcase say it is one of the faster printers in its price range. A couple of reviewers found that the 128MB of RAM is a limiting factor with large print jobs or huge files. That’s undoubtedly a reason why the printer didn’t perform well in all speed tests. The RAM is upgradeable. If text is your main priority, the Xerox Phaser 6180N is your best bet. We found varying specifications, but the Xerox color laser printer is certainly big and heavy. The printer has Adobe PostScript Level 3; most printers in its price range just have PostScript emulation. PostScript is the format developed by Adobe for professional printing and having it will enable your printer to properly print PostScript fonts. So this feature is important for professional desktop publishing. The standard tray holds 250 sheets of paper and the multipurpose tray holds an additional 150 sheets. A front panel toner gauge is another helpful feature. The Xerox Phaser 6180DN (*est. $665) adds duplexing capabilities. Reliability may be a concern. Printer Showcase says it’s good, but PC World rates reliability for the 6180DN as below average. Tektronix Phasers always score poorly in PC Magazine’s annual service and reliability survey, but editors speculate that the results were due to heavy usage of high-volume professional printers. Since Xerox bought the Tektronix printer division and time has passed, reliability may have improved by now. Xerox products in this price range lack a track record. According to reviews, the Lexmark C530dn (*est. $550) also has very good text quality. The Lexmark color laser printer earns a "Recommended" award from Computer Buyer and is rated "excellent" by CNet.com. PC World agrees with the other reviewers that the Lexmark printer has exceptional print quality, particularly for text. The majority of user reviews are extremely unfavorable but the sample is small and individual complaints aren’t often repeated. A catch to this printer is that drums and cartridges must be separately replaced. Lexmark says drums should last 20,000 pages. That’s forever for home use, but could be a short time for a small business. Another catch is Lexmark’s use of starter toner cartridges. Computer Buyer’s Simon Handby says the Lexmark C530dn’s cost of use is the reason it isn’t selected as a Best Buy. PC Advisor has almost nothing good to say about the Lexmark C530dn color laser printer. Text quality isn’t addressed, but color is described as blotchy and images have digital artifacts. The bigger issue is build quality, which the magazine rates one star out of a possible five. Testers encounter chronic mis-feeds and jams. The review summarizes that flimsy parts and sub par construction are why this printer can include so many extra features for the price. In reality, the Lexmark is no bargain according to experts at PC Advisor. As you can tell from the model number, the Lexmark C530dn is set up for duplexing and networking. It has an LCD display, 128MB of RAM, a 375MHz processor, a 250-sheet paper tray and a 100-sheet multipurpose feeder. The Lexmark C530 series has four models. According to PC Magazine, features and cost of use distinguish one model from another. The C532n (*est. $555) has more paper handling and cartridge options than the base model. The C532dn (*est. $600) adds duplexing. The top C534n (*est. $740) has a faster processor and a greater duty cycle (100,000 pages versus 65,000). PC Magazine rates the C534n as an Editor’s Choice. M. David Stone says text is easy to read and "photos looked surprisingly good for a color laser printer." The HP Color LaserJet 3600 (*est. $555) deserves mention. PC Magazine, CNet.com and Macworld all give the printer lower ratings than they give most color laser printers. These reviewers down-rate the 3600 for poor image quality. Yet, they disagree about both text and graphics quality. Each reviewer thinks the HP color laser printer produces either very good text, photo or line graphic quality – but rarely all three. Their reviews exemplify the need for visual documentation. Tom's Hardware compares four printers and gives readers that documentation. Vincent Verhaeghe says, "The Color LaserJet 3600 produced remarkable print quality with text, graphics, and bitmap images. Colors were totally accurate, and we noticed no loss even when printing documents with high contrast." The reproduced prints prove that, among the four tested printers, the 3600 has the best output in all regards. The HP Color LaserJet 3600 is certainly worth checking if you live near store that will let you compare its output with competing printers. Bring a magnifying glass. If your budget allows, the massive HP Color LaserJet CP4005n (*est. $1,000) is also worth considering. This printer weighs more than 100 pounds, so you’ll need a couple of people just to get it out of the box and a strong desk with plenty of space. PC Pro’s Dave Mitchell says, "Text is razor sharp, while mono photos show good levels of detail. Colour photographs have a richness and vibrancy to them, and banding is almost non-existent." To the contrary, TrustedReviews.com’s Simon Williams praises text and graphics quality, but says, "Photo reproduction, never a laser strong point, is no better than average, with colours looking over-vivid and colour gradations not particularly smooth." Resolution is only 600 x 600 dpi. Fastest color laser printersIf speed is your highest priority, no other color laser printer approaches the speed of the Xerox Phaser 6360 series. Four network-capable models are available, starting with the Xerox Phaser 6360/N (*est. $1,370) . The Phaser 6360DN (*est. $1,405) adds automatic two-sided printing. True resolution for all models is 1,200 x 600 dpi; the stock paper tray holds 550 sheets of paper and the multipurpose feeder holds an additional 150 sheets. The Phaser 6360DT (*est. $2,360) adds a second 500-sheet tray. The top model with still another paper tray is well out of small office range. The top two models have 512MB of RAM, while the bottom two models have 256MB. All models work under Windows, UNIX and Mac platforms. PC Magazine and PrinterShowcase.com rate the Xerox Phaser 6360DN as an Editor’s Choice and the CRN test center gives it a "Recommended" award. Xerox claims the 77.4-pound printer can output 42 pages per minute. Testers don’t dispute that. PC Magazine compared it with a couple of similarly priced printers and found the Phaser is 50 percent faster. Even the first page comes out quickly. Speed and versatility are the strengths of the Xerox 6360 series. Quality is the weakness. PC Magazine’s M. David Stone concedes that text quality is adequate, but below average. He says graphics are equally marginal for business, but photos are good. Printer Showcase sees print quality as slightly above average. CRN.com says you can enhance print quality by sacrificing some speed. If you need a fast printer, but the Xerox Phaser 6360 is out of your price range, reviews point to the Ricoh Aficio CL3500N (*est. $500) . Macworld’s test panel thought text looked great, but PC Magazine and PC World demur. PC Magazine reviewer M. David Stone pigeonholes this printer as being ideal for users who value speed above print quality, or who print heavy volume. The Ricoh CL3500N has a 50,000-page duty cycle. Stone says Arial and Times New Roman fonts look fine, even at small sizes, but other fonts aren’t as distinct. Paul Jasper of PC World reports similar results. Both reviewers say color is oversaturated, but the other reviewers saw extreme opposites in graphics and photo quality. The Ricoh Aficio CL3500N has up to 1200 x 1200 dpi resolution. Print speed is up to 22 ppm. It has a 530-sheet tray and a 100-sheet bypass tray. It works with all major operating systems. The CL3500N has 128MB memory. No reviewer mentions this drawback, but it ships with four starter toner cartridges. The OKI C8800n (*est. $2,345) is another color laser printer that reviews say sacrifices quality for speed. PC Advisor recommends the OKI, even though they note that it is a poor value and others rate better purely for output quality. MacUser’s assessment is similar. The OKI C8800n is an LED printer, rather than a laser printer, which means it should be cheaper. Other than speed and a compact size, reviewers don’t explain why this printer costs so much more than the Ricoh Aficio CL3500N, for example. Color laser printers versus inkjet printersLaser printers offer crisp text, faster print speeds, ability to handle high-volume printing and cheaper per-page printing costs. For users that print infrequently, laser printers (which use a dry powder called toner) have the hidden advantage of not drying out. Laser owners don't have to deal with dried-out cartridges clogging nozzles and wasting expensive ink and time -- a common problem for inkjet owners. Due to the way the toner is applied -- using heat to bind the toner to the paper -- laser prints have the additional advantage of being more smudge- and water-resistant than most inkjet prints. Laser printers are also capable of printing finer lines and details in graphics. Many are PostScript and PCL compatible, a must for graphic designers and others who print EPS (encapsulated PostScript) graphics and PostScript files. Inkjet printers are still better for printing photos. Laser printers generally produce mediocre photo output. However, many laser printers can print photos that are good enough for use in newsletters or internal business documents. Laser printers can handle a much higher volume of prints than inkjet printers can. Buyers that do a lot of printing should consider a printer's monthly duty cycle, which determines how many prints a printer can comfortably handle in a month. In general, cheaper laser printers have much lower duty cycles than the higher-end printers. The sub-$500 printers in our Fast Answers have duty cycles of 35,000 pages, versus the Xerox Phaser 6360/N, which can handle up to 100,000 pages a month. Laser printers really shine in cost savings. Experts emphasize that although the toner cartridges used by color laser printers cost more than most inkjet cartridges, they generally provide thousands more pages of output, making their per-page printing costs far less. Manufacturers often offer high-capacity cartridges, which brings down the per-print cost even further. For those that do high-volume printing, even a 1¢ difference per page can save hundreds or possibly even thousands of dollars over the lifetime of the printer. Important Features: Laser printersWhen shopping for a color laser printer, consider:
How a laser printer worksLaser printers work by exposing an electrically charged, revolving drum to a laser, creating positively and negatively charged areas. Positively charged powder (toner) is applied to the drum. The toner sticks to the negative areas and is heated, causing it to become liquid and sticky. Paper is passed through the printer, and the image is transferred from the drum to the paper. The toner cools and binds to the paper. Color laser printers use the standard four printing colors: cyan, magenta, yellow and black, and have a separate toner cartridge for each. Initially, color laser printers required four passes over the drum (one for each color of toner), an obviously slow process that accounts for the speed difference between printing color and black-and-white pages. Printers now use a single-pass technology (usually involving multiple lasers and drums), allowing them to print pages much faster. Not all printers listed as "laser" printers use lasers. LED (light-emitting diode) printers are also included in the category. Like laser printers, these use toner and a drum, but they use a different light source to create the image on the drum. For the most part, experts lump these and true laser printers together regardless of their light source. However, M. David Stone of PC Magazine points out that LED printers are more prone to registration problems than the rest. Because of fewer moving parts, Vince Verhaege of Tom’s Hardware notes that LED printers are typically more reliable. Some of Ricoh's printers use a viscous gel ink, which is sprayed from nozzles; technically, these are inkjets but they are often discussed alongside laser printers because they have a higher duty cycle. Because of the need to heat the toner, laser printers need time to warm up before they are ready to print. Some printers need just a few seconds and others take longer. Users have noticed that printers with shorter warm-up times tend to have greater power demands. Some printers use solid-ink sticks (usually wax, but sometimes resin) instead of powdered toner. These can be easier to refill, but some experts feel that the prints from solid-ink printers have a waxy film. The need to melt the wax causes these printers to take longer to warm up and they can use more electricity throughout the day. General notes on laser printersResolution is important in color laser printers. Higher resolutions produce smoother gradients, cleaner graphics and sharper edges. Older laser printers averaged 300 dpi (dots per inch), but in modern printers, 600 dpi is the low end and 2400 dpi is the high end. The best way to evaluate the significance is to look at sample prints in draft and normal mode. Tom’s Hardware compares prints of photos with some models it reviews. Most printers use resolution enhancement to emulate a higher resolution by interpolating the image to smooth off edges and curves. A difference can be seen in text and in the edges of photos and graphics, but not in the detail of the photo images. For those interested in better quality images, experts recommend getting a printer with true dpi, as opposed to enhanced dpi. For example, a printer with true 1200 dpi will produce better-quality images than a printer with enhanced 1200 dpi. This is a challenge because manufacturers rarely make distinctions between optical and interpolated resolution in their specifications. Experts recommend buying high-yield cartridges to bring down the per-page print costs. Most toner cartridges come with a drum. Some manufacturers sell the drum separately, allowing them to sell the toner cartridges for a little less, though the manufacturer recommends changing the drum every few cartridges. Some brands issue low-toner warnings, which can be a mixed blessing. Experts warn that some printers with low-toner warnings will not print when the toner gets low even though there is some toner left in the cartridge. Sometimes removing the cartridge and giving it a little shake will help to squeeze out a few more prints or stir up toner that has settled in a cartridge that has been sitting idle for weeks. Experts warn that if toner spills on a counter or in a printer, wipe it up with a paper towel moistened with cold water (hot water might cause the toner to become sticky). Do not try to vacuum it, as the particles are too fine to be caught by the filters of most household vacuum cleaners and could end up clogging your vacuum or being blown about the house. Banding is a problem that occurs in gradient images when the image prints with distinct bands or steps, instead of as a smooth gradation. Sometimes the problem can be avoided by adjusting the image in a program like Photoshop, such as by adding a tiny bit of noise to the gradated area. A just-released study by the Queensland Institute of Technology finds that laser printers emit microscopic toner particles into the air. This might be a concern for a high-volume office printer, but probably not for home use. In the worst case, the study says emissions are equal to cigarette smoke. Even so, the emissions may not be harmful to health.
Our Consensus Report shows how many times products are top-ranked by reviewers included in our
* Also see our Comparison Chart.
Most of HP’s color laser printers receive mixed reviews, but a number of printers are top-rated by just one reviewer. The HP Color LaserJet 2600n was a reviewer favorite in its youth in 2005, but judging from a 2007 review by Tom’s Hardware, it has been surpassed in speed and cost-of-use by newer printers. Even so, it’s a good budget pick. The Ricoh Aficio CL3500N also tops several reviews, but receives less favorable reviews as well. Xerox Phaser color laser printers consistently receive favorable reviews. They use different technology than other brands and reviewers often regard output quality as better. However, reliability history is a question mark. So in the end, no model emerges as an absolute consensus favorite in reviews, but several color laser printers have strong recommendations from at least a couple of reviewers. At least one of those models fits into low, medium and high price ranges.
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Many home users don't need the speed or high-volume output of laser printers. Inkjets dominate the home market and traditionally produce smoother continuous tone images and more vibrant color than lasers. Although inkjets are slower, speeds have been improving that might make them acceptable for home office users that don't do high-volume printing. The text quality in inkjets has also been improving and some have crisp text that rivals the output of laser printers. Every reviewer says that a good inkjet printer is a better choice for printing digital photos. See our report on inkjet printers for top-rated models. Small businesses or home offices may find that they don't have a strong need for color printing because they mostly print black text. Monochrome laser printers are cheaper and faster than their color counterparts, outputting sharper text, and might be a better choice for an office trying to keep costs down. Consumer Reports recommends them for their speed, print quality and low cost. See our report on monochrome laser printers for top-rated models. The publications and websites cited in our All The Reviews Reviewed section are the best places to find the latest information on color laser printers, especially PC World, PC Magazine and Consumer Reports. Because not all printers are Mac compatible, Mac Addict and Macworld are good sources of product information for printers if you have a Mac. Computer Shopper has a good comparison article -- "Print Wars: Inkjets Vs. Laser Printers." PC Magazine offers a good primer on how to buy a printer, comparing both laser and inkjet printers. Although some information is dated, the review offers solid advice on everything relating to printers and includes a helpful glossary. PC Magazine's article, "The True Cost of Printing" shows the cost-conscious reader how to calculate the long-term cost of a printer. For more information on how laser printers work, Webopedia has a good explanation. In addition, the following manufacturers' websites offer detailed specifications and model information. Advertisement
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* Pricing information is approximate as of the time this report was written and is based on observed market selling prices and/or list prices. Actual selling prices may differ.
