Xerox Phaser 6180/N

Its print output quality was somewhat mixed--and slightly worse than the Dell's. Though text had a slate-gray appearance, it was otherwise sharp and nicely formed. The ink had a glossy sheen, which some people prefer but others find distracting. Line art showed slight interference patterns in blocks of closely spaced lines; we didn't detect any banding. Our grayscale sample came out too dark, with little contrast and no detail in shadows. Color images printed on plain paper looked grainy, and we even saw some halo artifacts, where edges had been oversharpened. Photos printed on glossy paper looked a bit washed out; as a result, darker details such as facial features appeared stamped over.

The front of the 6180/N folds down to reveal the toner cartridges, which stack one above the other. The control panel features a two-line backlit LCD for easy setup.

The 6180/N comes with toner cartridges rated for 3000 black pages and 2000 color pages. Xerox charges more than Dell for its replacement cartridges: $190 for an 8000-page black cartridge, and $196 each for the three color cartridge. The fuser, transfer unit, and feed roller will need less frequent replacement, and the warranty covers those for the first year. During that period, your estimated costs per page are 2.4 cents for each black-and-white page and 12.2 cents for each color page. Those numbers are close to the averages for color lasers we've tested recently, but significantly higher than for the Dell model.

As usual, Xerox's documentation is excellent, and the company includes a plastic pouch for attaching the Quick Use Guide to the side of the printer.

The Xerox Phaser 6180/N makes a good printer for a small office that produces mostly text output, but the similar Dell Laser Printer 3110cn has lower running costs and a less-expensive paper capacity upgrade.

Paul Jasper