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Top 10 Color Laser Printers

This all-new collection of color laser models ranges from an amazingly low-priced Dell to a hefty corporate Xerox.

Melissa J. Perenson

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5100CN PCW Rating: 66.0PCW Rating: 66.0PCW Rating: 66.0

Last Rated: January 12, 2005

1. Dell 5100CN

Rated 35 ppm monochrome, 25 ppm color, 2400-by-600-dpi maximum color resolution, Legal-size paper, maximum, 650 pages input, 250 output, 16.8 by 22.9 by 18.2 inches; 77 pounds, Street price when ranked: $999

Bottom Line: This workhorse has a built-in duplexer and can expand with optional high-capacity paper trays. However, print quality could be better.

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Color Laser 3000cn PCW Rating: 86.0PCW Rating: 86.0PCW Rating: 86.0

Last Rated: November 02, 2005

2. Dell Color Laser 3000cn

Rated 25 ppm monochrome, 5 ppm color, 2400-by-600-dpi maximum color resolution, Legal-size paper, maximum, 150 pages input, 250 output, 16.7 by 16.5 by 17 inches; 53 pounds, Street price when ranked: $449

Bottom Line: Printer delivered excellent-quality text and solid graphics printing in a small footprint--and at a bargain price, too.

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Laserjet 3550n Laser Printer (16 PPM, 600x600 DPI, Color, 64MB, PC/Mac) PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

Last Rated: January 12, 2005

3. HP Laserjet 3550n Laser Printer (16 PPM, 600x600 DPI, Color, 64MB, PC/Mac)

Rated 16 ppm monochrome, 16 ppm color, 1200-by-600-dpi maximum color resolution, Legal-size paper, maximum, 350 pages input, 150 output, 19.7 by 17.6 by 18.4 inches; 69.7 pounds, Street price when ranked: $999

Bottom Line: Bulky model relies on an external print server for networking, but produces sharp text and line art.

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LaserJet 2550L Laser Printer (20 PPM, 600x600 DPI, Color, 64MB, PC/Mac) PCW Rating: 72.0PCW Rating: 72.0PCW Rating: 72.0

Last Rated: November 02, 2005

4. HP LaserJet 2550L Laser Printer (20 PPM, 600x600 DPI, Color, 64MB, PC/Mac)

Rated 20 ppm monochrome, 4 ppm color, 2400-by-600-dpi maximum color resolution, Legal-size paper, maximum, 125 pages input, 125 output, 19 by 17.8 by 12.8 inches; 48 pounds, Street price when ranked: $499

Bottom Line: This very compact model lacks integrated networking and compromises on paper handling. Print quality was moderate.

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Magicolor 5430 DL Printer PCW Rating: 74.4PCW Rating: 74.4PCW Rating: 74.4

Last Rated: January 12, 2005

5. Konica Minolta Magicolor 5430 DL Printer

Rated 21 ppm monochrome, 21 ppm color, 1200-by-600-dpi maximum color resolution, Legal-size paper, maximum, 250 pages input, 250 output, 16.7 by 20.5 by 17.3 inches; 66.4 pounds, Street price when ranked: $999

Bottom Line: An average product all around, this unit came in last in our performance tests and didn't impress us with its print quality. It has good paper-handling features, though.

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HL-2700CN Laser Printer (31 PPM, 2400x600 DPI, Color, 64MB, PC/Mac) PCW Rating: 74.0PCW Rating: 74.0PCW Rating: 74.0

Last Rated: November 02, 2005

6. Brother HL-2700CN Laser Printer (31 PPM, 2400x600 DPI, Color, 64MB, PC/Mac)

Rated 31 ppm monochrome, 8 ppm color, 2400-by-600-dpi maximum color resolution, Legal-size paper, maximum, 250 pages input, 250 output, 18.9 by 16.5 by 15.2 inches; 69.3 pounds, Street price when ranked: $599

Bottom Line: We saw acceptable line art, but fuzzy text and overly dark graphics, from this compact color printer. Text printing was fast.

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Phaser 7300N (37 PPM, 2400x2400 DPI, Color, 192MB) (PC/Mac) PCW Rating: 82.0PCW Rating: 82.0PCW Rating: 82.0

Last Rated: January 21, 2005

7. Xerox Phaser 7300N (37 PPM, 2400x2400 DPI, Color, 192MB) (PC/Mac)

Rated 37 ppm monochrome, 30 ppm color, 2400-by-600-dpi maximum color resolution, Wide-format banner paper, maximum, 650 pages input, 600 output, 26.2 by 24.7 by 18.1 inches; 149 pounds, Street price when ranked: $3899

Bottom Line: The priciest printer here was the fastest at text and near the top of the heap for graphics printing, though colors looked dark. Has a built-in print server.

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COL LASERJET 5550N 220V 27/27PPM 600X600DPI PCW Rating: 57.2PCW Rating: 57.2PCW Rating: 57.2

Last Rated: January 21, 2005

8. HP COL LASERJET 5550N 220V 27/27PPM 600X600DPI

Rated 27 ppm monochrome, 27 ppm color, 3600-by-1200-dpi maximum color resolution, Tabloid-size paper, maximum, 600 pages input, 250 output, 27.7 by 22.7 by 25.2 inches; 114 pounds, Street price when ranked: $3549

Bottom Line: This fast graphics printer issued good-looking output almost across the board, but printed text at an average speed. Has high paper capacity.

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C762N 25 PPM COLOR/MONO PRINTER 128MB PCW Rating: 85.0PCW Rating: 85.0PCW Rating: 85.0

Last Rated: January 21, 2005

9. Lexmark C762N 25 PPM COLOR/MONO PRINTER 128MB

Rated 25 ppm monochrome, 25 ppm color, 1200-by-1200-dpi maximum color resolution, 8.5-inch banner paper, maximum, 600 pages input, 250 output, 23.8 by 18.5 by 20.8 inches; 105 pounds, Street price when ranked: $1869

Bottom Line: Lexmark offers wired and wireless print servers for this middle-of-the-pack model, which printed sharp, dark text but garishly colored images.

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C7350n Color LED Printer (24/26ppm) 120V PCW Rating: 87.4PCW Rating: 87.4PCW Rating: 87.4

Last Rated: January 21, 2005

10. Oki Printing Solutions C7350n Color LED Printer (24/26ppm) 120V

Rated 26 ppm monochrome, 24 ppm color, 1200-by-600-dpi maximum color resolution, 8.5-inch banner paper, maximum, 630 pages input, 600 output, 16.9 by 24.4 by 16.9 inches; 105 pounds, Street price when ranked: $1984

Bottom Line: With its fairly compact size and fast text printing, this unit is a good choice for a workgroup that prints mostly documents.

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We run time tests for text, line-art, and color and gray-scale photo samples (at normal quality settings on plain paper); then a panel of judges rates image quality. Data based on tests designed and conducted by the PC World Test Center. All rights reserved.

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