Color Lasers Get Affordable
Products Reviewed
(10 items)
HP Color LaserJet 2600n
The 2600n's paper drawer holds up to 250 sheets of plain paper. For $149 you can add a second 250-sheet tray, which might be handy for printing your letterhead, but hardly turns this unit into a high-capacity workhorse. No optional duplexer is available; however, the 2600dn includes this feature.
The 2600n printed some of the sharpest-looking text we saw, albeit slowly, at 6.8 ppm. On plain paper color images looked grainy with lots of banding. Colors were oversaturated, and skin tones had an unnatural orange tint. Glossy photos looked slightly greenish, a little grainy, and had faint banding.
The four toner cartridges are the only replaceable parts, and they slide easily into individual slots behind the fold-down front door of the printer. The 2600n comes with full-capacity cartridges, though their rated capacities are modest: just 2500 pages for the black cartridge, and 2000 pages for the color cartridges. The 2600n has the highest estimated costs per page of any printer in our tested group: 2.9 cents per monochrome page and 14.9 cents per color page.
At a Glance
High-quality printing and very fast text printing at an excellent price. Small footprint and good design; supports PCL.
At a Glance
This model prints text fast, but letters looked fuzzy and graphics were dark. Compact design has letter-size paper limit.
At a Glance
Very compact model lacks integrated networking and compromises on paper handling. Supports PCL.
At a Glance
Features and performance are similar to the Xerox Phaser 6120n, but graphics output was lackluster. Has PCL and PostScript.
At a Glance
Performance was above average, and estimated costs per page are competitive. PictBridge support is standard.
At a Glance
Delivers high-quality text and fast graphics printing. Toner replacement is easy. Estimated cost per color page is low.
At a Glance
Unit delivered good performance at a low price. Toner cartridges are easy to replace. Supports both PCL and PostScript.
At a Glance
Speedy graphics printer generated slightly thin-looking text. Easy to use and maintain, and offers reasonably priced options.
At a Glance
Graphics quality was better than on most competing models, though pages printed slowly. Supports PCL and PostScript.
At a Glance
Small model is best suited for low-volume printing. Text looked very sharp. Estimated costs per page are high.
Add Your Comment