Lexmark Optra T614n

This high-capacity laser printer can have up to five paper trays.

WHAT'S HOT: Lexmark's Optra T614n looks as if it were the foundation for a paper-processing factory. It comes with a network card and two 500-sheet feeders (in addition to the 100-sheet auxiliary tray), and you can hook up so much extra paper-handling hardware that the printer itself becomes obscured by the useful extras. An envelope feeder with a capacity of 85 envelopes costs $276; a duplexer costs $314; a mailbox with five bins that hold 100 sheets each costs $440; an output stacker that holds almost 2000 printed pages costs $566; and a 2000-sheet paper well costs $881. You can add all of those options at once, with the exception of the various output accessories. Lexmark also equipped the T614n with a crystal-clear menu structure displayed on an LCD (but it's not backlit, unfortunately).

WHAT'S NOT: The Optra T614n starts at a pricey $1839, and its basic configuration doesn't offer a great deal for the money. It prints pale but clean, legible type at an unimpressive 9.9 pages per minute, and slightly dirty graphics at 2.5 ppm. Most printers can switch to sending prints out a rear door to reduce the chance of card stock getting wrinkled or of labels coming off inside the printer and gumming up the works, but to make room for all the attachments, Lexmark couldn't squeeze a straight path into this model.

WHAT ELSE: The standard toner cartridge is good for 10,000 pages, but to cut printer maintenance down to a minimum you can opt for a 25,000-page cartridge. The larger cartridge costs $327, which makes it very cheap on a per-page basis.

BEST USE: The Optra T614n's support for running so many paper-handling modules together makes it a good candidate for an office that has complex finishing needs.

SUMMARY