HP COLOR LASERJET 5500N PRINTER 22PPM A4 96MB 500 PAPER TRAY (HP (Hewlett-Packard)-C7131A)

WHAT'S HOT: We liked the Color LaserJet 5500n's text-printing quality: The unit produced solid black text with clean details on both small and big type sizes. Its gray-scale photos had lifelike detail and a slightly bluish cast that increased the sense of depth, while color print jobs came out with fine detail and rich textures, though colors were marred by a slightly foggy cast. The 5500n printed near-perfect narrow parallel lines, with almost no blobs or stray marks. It printed graphics at 5.2 pages per minute, about a third faster than the average for recent color lasers. However, it lagged on text-printing speed--which is critical if your color laser is to replace, rather than supplement, a mono laser: At 13.5 ppm (1.6 ppm slower than our test-set average), print jobs might back up in a busy office.

The 5500n is easier than many color lasers to set up and maintain, in part because its single-pass design positions the toner cartridges, imaging drums, and transfer belt behind a single door, where access is easy. Its paper path is vertical instead of horizontal, however, so the printer stands 25 inches tall to accommodate 12-by-18-inch paper. Fortunately, the 132-pound 5500n has strong, well-designed handgrips to help you pick it up--without them, moving it would be very awkward. The logical hierarchy that HP's control panel menus follow makes them easy to navigate. The printer's LCD is backlit (though the 5500n is so tall that short people may have trouble seeing the LCD, especially when an optional paper tray is in place). HP provides a wealth of electronic documentation about using and maintaining the printer and administering it over the network. Using HP's Web Jetadmin software and a Web browser on your PC, you can check the printer's internal Web page, which includes toner-level information and will even let you know if someone has left a paper tray pulled out.

WHAT'S NOT: Few laser printers shine on gray-scale photos, but the Color LaserJet 5500n did worse than most. Our test images printed very dark, with terrible streaking and a dotty texture; not surprisingly, little detail survived. The unit has no auxiliary paper exit, which most printers provide so you can print using a straight paper path. We'd worry that running labels and heavy card stock through this printer would jam it.