Brother HL-2600CN
Brother priced the HL-2600CN so that any office can afford a basic color laser, but extras cost a lot.
Dan Littman
WHAT'S HOT: A color laser at $1500 makes a very attractive deal--though Brother's HL-2600CN is not the only color laser at that price. The 12.1-ppm text-printing speed isn't the fastest, but it's speedy enough for an office printer. PC World's print-quality jury liked the 2600's clean, black text output and top-notch ability to print crisp narrow lines. Though there is no printed manual, Brother provides excellent on-screen documentation that includes animated tutorials on many common set-up and maintenance tasks. The driver installer also walks you through getting the printer to run.
WHAT'S NOT: The 2600CN's color graphics looked somewhat off, with a purplish cast throughout. Even without the odd purple hue, the 2400-by-600 resolution appeared grainy and produced blocky transitions in shaded areas. The paper tray holds only 250 sheets, which might be inconvenient for a busy office. The lack of an auxiliary paper feed means you can load only one kind of paper at a time. However, you can add the optional 500-sheet feeder for $649. Brother also charges $1000 to equip the 2600CN with a duplexer.
WHAT ELSE: Brother's driver allows manual duplexing if you don't buy the mechanical duplexer--that's a capability many vendors don't offer for printers that have a duplexer available. The HL-2600CN's graphics printing speed of 1.8 ppm is average among our current batch of color lasers.
UPSHOT: For cost-conscious small businesses, the 2600CN's great price and fast performance may offset its limited paper capacity and marginal color graphics.
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