Konica Minolta Konica Minolta Magicolor 2590MF

Changing the toner cartridges is an involved, but not difficult, process. First you press a button on the front control panel to select the cartridge to be replaced. Then you lift the scanner unit and then a top panel, which brings with it a knot of internal mechanics. Under all that you'll find a small opening where the selected cartridge, installed in a carousel, is presented for your attention. If you want to replace another cartridge at the same time, you must start over--close up the machine completely, press the button, and so forth.

The machine ships with a 4500-page black cartridge (the only size available). It costs about $101 to replace, or about 2.2 cents per page--a little high. But the three 1500-page color cartridges that come with the printer cost nearly $83 each to replace, or 5.5 cents per color, per page, which is very expensive. Unless you print color infrequently, the higher-capacity 4500-page versions are a better deal, priced at a little over $154 each, or about 3.4 cents per page.

In our tests, the Magicolor 2590MF printed somewhat thick-looking text at a decent rate of 18.6 pages per minute (ppm), close to the vendor's spec of 20 ppm. Graphics printed slowly--around 2.4 ppm--and appeared yellowish but smooth. Copies also looked good. Color scans were disappointing, however, coming out extremely murky.

I know that multifunction printers are complex and challenging to design. If the Magicolor 2590MF cost less, I'd be more forgiving of its shortcomings.

--Melissa Riofrio