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Laser Printers Review, Best Laser Printers

Related Guides: Desktops, Inkjet Printers and Multifunction Printers

Economical Color Laser Printers Rated Speed.

Print speed, measured in ppm (pages per minute), is the holy grail of the cheap color laser printers category. There are two sets of speeds, one for black-and-white printing and the other for color. Color is much slower than black-and-white, but still much faster than you'll get with most inkjets. Of course, speed is relative to what you're used to, so if you're switching from an old inkjet printer you'll probably consider even the slowest budget color laser printer to be speedy enough. At least that's what this Buzzillions.com user found following his purchase of the HP Color LaserJet CP1215. Experts from CNET and ComputerShopper.com, on the other hand, consider the 12ppm for black-and-white text of the HP CP1215 sluggish. Perhaps. The Samsung CLP-315 prints text at 16ppm and the Konica Minolta Magicolor 1600w spits out pages at a frisky 20ppm, a speed that lets experts at PCMag.com call it the fastest personal laser printer on the market. (They discount the Brother HL-4040CN, which is a bit faster, but not, in their estimation, a 'truly personal' printer.) For most people, however, 12 ppm is fast enough. If you're printing 100 pages at a time, there's a noticeable difference between 12 ppm and 20 ppm, but if you're printing low-volume jobs, like a Web page, a report, or email, you probably won't care too much.

Inexpensive Laser Printers Photo Printing.

Budget color laser printers aren't designed to print photos as well as their inkjet counterparts. Unfortunately, this is a little-known fact and when many consumers replace an old inkjet with a cheap color laser printer, they are disappointed with the photo output. A few user reviewers of inexpensive color laser printers on Dell.com discuss the Dell 1230c, noting they plan to keep their old inkjets around for the sole purpose of printing photos. PCMag.com experts say the Konica Minolta 1600w delivers decent photo output for use in newsletters and in printouts from Web pages, although the image falls short of looking like the real thing. But not everyone's disappointed with the photo quality from these value color laser printers. A user on Buzzillions is thrilled with the photo output he gets from the HP Color LaserJet CP1215. And a user posting on CNET reports being pleased with the photo quality of the Samsung CLP-315.

Inexpensive Color Laser Printers Print Quality.

Laser printers are best known for turning out laser-sharp text. Experts and users are generally satisfied with the text output from budget color laser printers. As PC World notes, any laser printer should be able to print crisp text -- the real test is whether it can produce acceptable color. The new Dell 1230c is a case in point: black-and-white text is sharp and clear, according to the expert review, but color disappoints. Simple pie charts can look grainy and blotchy, and underneath the color itself you can see an annoying pattern. Several users, commenting on Dell.com seem to agree.

Still, several cheap color laser printers garner more positive reviews from owners. Users of the HP CP1215, posting on PCWorld.com, attest to the vibrant color quality. Even experts at CNET acknowledge the color quality of the HP CP1215 is very good and up to the task of printing small business documents. Users and experts are also satisfied with the color quality from the Brother HL-4040CN, and PCMag.com says the color graphics on the Konica Minolta Magicolor 1600w are good enough for business use. Some users, like this one commenting on Amazon, are content with the quality of the color and text output of the Samsung CLP-315.

Budget Color Laser Printers Noise.

Noise may not be the first thing that comes to mind when buying a printer, but anyone who's suffered through loud print runs on an old inkjet or sat next to the workgroup printer in the office knows how irritatingly loud a printer can be. Many laser printer manufacturers actually list the measured decibel (db) rating for laser printers in print mode. The workhorse Brother HL-4040CN has a 54db rating, for example, and the Samsung CLP-315 hits a quieter 45db. Users notice. When posting about the Samsung CLP-315, several Pricegrabber reviewers comment on its quiet operation. Samsung uses a special NONOIS technology to muffle the sound, and given users' reactions, it has the intended effect.

Remember, color laser printers are built differently than inkjets. A color laser will give you faster printout speeds, better text printing, and acceptable to very good color printing. But pay attention to the printer's size to be sure you have enough space for it, and check its paper-handling capabilities in light of the type of paper you usually use before making your choice.

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Dell 1230c
Konica Minolta Magicolor 1600w
Brother HL-4040CN
Samsung CLP-315 / Samsung CLP-315W
HP Color Laserjet CP1215 Printer

 

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