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Color Printing, Office Quality

Most of these color laser printers produce top-quality text documents at office-worthy speeds, though color speeds still lag behind.

Eric Butterfield

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C7300N COLOR LED PRINTER 20PPM COLOR 24PPM MONO NETWRK 128MB (Okidata-62417304) PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

Last Rated: April 01, 2004

1. Oki Data C7300N COLOR LED PRINTER 20PPM COLOR 24PPM MONO NETWRK 128MB (Okidata-62417304)

Rated 24 ppm monochrome; 20 ppm color, 1200-by-600-dpi true resolution, 8.5-by-47.2-inch paper, maximum, 630 pages input, 500 output, 16.9 by 24.4 by 16.9 inches; 105 pounds, Street price when ranked: $1960

Bottom Line: Printed razor-sharp text and line art, but gray-scale photos looked grainy. Color photos appeared crisp, though colors looked slightly oversaturated. Low price, considering its features, and low cost per page.

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COLOR LASERJET 5500N PRINTER 22PPM A4 96MB 500 PAPER TRAY (HP (Hewlett-Packard)-C7131A) PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

Last Rated: April 01, 2004

2. HP COLOR LASERJET 5500N PRINTER 22PPM A4 96MB 500 PAPER TRAY (HP (Hewlett-Packard)-C7131A)

Rated 21 ppm monochrome and color, 600-by-600-dpi true resolution, 12-by-18-inch paper, maximum, 600 pages input, 250 output, 23 by 28 by 25 inches; 132 pounds, Street price when ranked: $3549

Bottom Line: Offered very sharp text and line art. Gray-scale photos showed smooth transitions; color in photos was very natural looking. Cheapest wide-format printer on the chart. Good graphics print speeds.

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C9500DXN PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

Last Rated: April 01, 2004

3. Oki Data C9500DXN

Rated 37 ppm monochrome; 30 ppm color, 1200-by-600-dpi true resolution, 12.9-by-47.2-inch paper, maximum, 650 pages input, 500 output, 26.2 by 23.2 by 18.2 inches; 155 pounds, Street price when ranked: $4600

Bottom Line: Text and line art showed virtually no flaws. Color photos, though detailed, were marred by slight banding. Fast at printing text, but slow at color graphics. Low cost per page, but highest price on the chart.

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LaserJet 3700N Laser Printer (HP (Hewlett-Packard)-Q1322A) PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

Last Rated: April 02, 2004

4. HP LaserJet 3700N Laser Printer (HP (Hewlett-Packard)-Q1322A)

Rated 16 ppm monochrome and color, 600-by-600-dpi true resolution, 8.5-by-14-inch paper, maximum, 350 pages input, 175 output, 19 by 17.6 by 18.4 inches; 73.3 pounds, Street price when ranked: $1600

Bottom Line: Text and line art looked very sharp. Gray-scale photos looked appealing, though color photos lacked subtle shading. Low price for the features, but high cost per page. Text print speeds were below average.

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C752N 20PPM BLACK/COLOR 128MB NETWORK (Lexmark-17J0050) PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

Last Rated: April 02, 2004

5. Lexmark C752N 20PPM BLACK/COLOR 128MB NETWORK (Lexmark-17J0050)

Rated 20 ppm monochrome and color, 1200-by-1200-dpi true resolution, 8.5-by-14-inch paper, maximum, 600 pages input, 250 output, 23.8 by 18.5 by 20.8 inches; 105 pounds, Street price when ranked: $2339

Bottom Line: Line art, text, and gray-scale photos looked very sharp. Color photos appeared grainy, though detailed. Affordably priced for the features. Text print speeds were slightly below average, while graphics speeds were slightly above.

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INFOPRINT COLOR 1354N (IBM-53P7795) PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

Last Rated: April 02, 2004

6. IBM INFOPRINT COLOR 1354N (IBM-53P7795)

Rated 20 ppm monochrome and color, 1200-by-1200-dpi true resolution, 8.5-by-14-inch paper, maximum, 600 pages input, 250 output, 23.8 by 18.5 by 20.8 inches; 105 pounds, Street price when ranked: $2300

Bottom Line: Text, line art, and gray-scale photos looked sharp overall. Grain was noticeable in color photos, though colors looked natural. Text printed a tad slowly, but graphics speeds were a bit above average.

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Phaser 7300DN Laser Printer (Xerox-7300DN) PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

Last Rated: April 01, 2004

7. Xerox Phaser 7300DN Laser Printer (Xerox-7300DN)

Rated 37 ppm monochrome; 30 ppm color, 600-by-600-dpi true resolution, 12-by-36-inch paper, maximum, 650 pages input, 600 output, 26.2 by 24.7 by 18.1 inches; 149 pounds, Street price when ranked: $4199

Bottom Line: Line art and text printed with very crisp edges. Gray-scale photos lacked subtle shading. Color photos looked vibrant, though some areas appeared too dark. Fastest text printing on the chart, and low cost per page.

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HL4200 CN COLOR LASER PRINTER 26 PPM 1200 DPI 64 MB (Brother-HL4200CN) PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

Last Rated: March 31, 2004

8. Brother HL4200 CN COLOR LASER PRINTER 26 PPM 1200 DPI 64 MB (Brother-HL4200CN)

Rated 26 ppm monochrome and color, 600-by-600-dpi true resolution, 8.5-by-14-inch paper, maximum, 600 pages input, 250 output, 17.3 by 23.2 by 17.5 inches; 77.2 pounds, Street price when ranked: $1999

Bottom Line: Text was crisp, though slightly fuzzy at the edges. Gray-scale photos were grainy; color photos looked slightly dark, but details looked sharp and colors seemed natural. Low cost per page.

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PHASER 6250N Color Laser Printer (Xerox-6250N) PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

Last Rated: April 02, 2004

9. Xerox PHASER 6250N Color Laser Printer (Xerox-6250N)

Rated 26 ppm monochrome and color, 600-by-600-dpi true resolution, 8.5-by-35.5-inch paper, maximum, 600 pages input, 250 output, 17.3 by 23.2 by 17.5 inches; 80 pounds, Street price when ranked: $2299

Bottom Line: Text and line art looked fuzzy, reminiscent of an ink jet print. Gray-scale photos appeared dark; colors looked accurate in photos, though some details looked slightly blurred. Very fast at printing graphics.

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C5100N Color LED Printer (Okidata-62418601) PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

Last Rated: April 01, 2004

10. Oki Data C5100N Color LED Printer (Okidata-62418601)

Rated 20 ppm monochrome; 12 ppm color, 1200-by-600-dpi true resolution, 8.5-by-14-inch paper, maximum, 400 pages input, 250 output, 16.6 by 20.7 by 13.6 inches; 57.3 pounds, Street price when ranked: $799

Bottom Line: Slow to print razor-sharp text, though color graphics speeds were better. Low price, but same 24/7 toll-free tech support as offered on Oki's two pricier models on the chart.

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The overall rating for color laser printers is based on print quality (25 percent), price (25 percent), features (15 percent), ease of use (15 percent), speed (10 percent), and service and support (10 percent). For all ratings, higher is better. Data based on tests designed and conducted by the PC World Test Center. All rights reserved.

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