WHAT'S HOT: IBM's Infoprint costs $1387, less than the average on our corporate laser chart.

The Infoprint 1120n produces detailed, clear, but slightly pale text. IBM sells a good assortment of paper-handling equipment for the 1120, including an envelope feeder that costs $286, 500-sheet feeders at $286 each that you can stack three high, and a 2000-sheet paper well for $913. For an additional $130, you can equip the printer with an internal duplexer.

The printer's control panel is simplicity itself, with crystal-clear menus and separate buttons for each level of the menu hierarchy. A help booklet slips into a pouch on the printer and covers such operational details as clearing paper jams and using the menus. Also included is a long on-screen manual that explains how to use the network management software.

WHAT'S NOT: The Infoprint 1120's performance doesn't compare well with those of the speedier monochrome lasers we tested. It produces text at 11.8 ppm--it is the second slowest on our chart and more than 16 pages slower than the current fastest model, Oki Data's B8300N.

WHAT ELSE: IBM normally sells this model with 16MB of memory; PC World tested a souped-up configuration with 48MB of memory, which adds a hefty $305 to the $1082 base price.

To help offices monitor their printing costs, an accounting feature in the driver lets system administrators see how much users print.

UPSHOT: The Infoprint 1120's options and ease of use make office printing easy, but its slow performance may give you pause.

SUMMARY

IBM Infoprint 1120n $