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Lexmark packs a lot of value into the tiny E120n monochrome laser printer. It measures just 9.8 inches high by 15.3 inches wide by 14.6 inches deep, so it will take up little desk space. At $150 (as of 8/4/2006), the E120n is a bit more expensive than competing models, but it comes with built-in networking and has fast performance.

The E120n's auxiliary tray holds up to 15 sheets, which stack on the 150-sheet main tray's dust cover. It also takes up to three envelopes at a time, or you can feed five from the main tray. The output bin holds only 50 printed sheets--competing models from HP and Minolta can hold 100 each.

The E120n comes with a starter toner cartridge in the box that yields a scant 500 pages (according to Lexmark's own figures). Replacement cartridges rated for 2000 pages cost $67. A door at the back of the printer allows easy access to the photoconductor unit, which should be replaced separately for a very reasonable $40 every 25,000 pages. That brings the average page cost to 3.5 cents--about the same as other small mono lasers, but more expensive than the cost per page delivered by larger units.

Our test printer installed easily on the network in the PC World Test Center. Although the control panel has only two buttons and five lights, the E120n is simple to configure and monitor through its embedded Web server, which presents a well-organized array of status information and settings through your Web browser.

The E120n turned in impressive results in our image quality tests. Its text looked mostly sharp and solid, apart from some breaks in the finest italics. Line art also appeared crisp and well-defined, with just a little horizontal banding. Our grayscale image showed numerous moiré patterns in textures and some narrow horizontal banding, but the smooth tonal changes looked impressive. The E120n's print speeds were also very good for a printer in this price range. Text arrived at a sprightly 16.4 pages per minute, while graphics progressed at a respectable 8.7 ppm.

The E120n offers quality laser printing in a unit that can easily fit into a small space. It's a good deal for low-volume printing shared among several PCs, a situation where its relatively high per-page costs likely won't be a major factor.

Paul Jasper