Brother HL-3400CN

WHAT'S HOT: The Brother HL-3400CN is built on the same engine as the Minolta-QMS Magicolor 6100N and prints text considerably faster. In fact, at 10.4 pages per minute, the HL-3400CN is as fast as a midrange corporate monochrome laser. That's impressive for a printer designed to accommodate 13-by-19-inch paper, and a benefit if you plan to have only one printer in your office.

WHAT'S NOT: The HL-3400CN prints graphics at a somewhat slow 1.1 ppm, but if your office isn't heavy on graphics, that shouldn't be a problem. Our main complaint is its print quality. The HL-3400CN produces presentable black text and line art, but graphics--both gray-scale and color--look dark and grainy, and lack detail. What's the point of a color printer if its color print quality doesn't make the cut? The HL-3400CN also suffers from one of the most difficult control panels we've ever encountered, with buttons whose functions seem to shift as mysteriously as the pea in a New York sidewalk shell game.

WHAT ELSE: After dealing with the confusing control panel, we were surprised to discover Brother's clear, concise online documentation; we especially like the animations that help you perform common maintenance tasks. (The printed manual is mostly an outline that refers you to the online documentation.)

BEST USE: Text may print quickly, but until Brother figures out how to improve the HL-3400CN's graphics quality, you may as well buy a monochrome laser. You can find better large-format color lasers for the same price.

SUMMARY

Brother HL-3400CN Rated 24 ppm monochrome/6 ppm color, standard 64MB of RAM, 2400-by-600-dpi maximum resolution, 250 sheets input and output. $3499 800/276-7746 www.brother.com