 |
||||
|
|
|
||
|
Contents 
HL-6050DN
DocuPrint 240A-AP
PagePro 9100
EcoSys FS-1920
Lanier LP025n
Lexmark E332n
Specifications
How we tested
Case study
Look out for...
Editor's choice
About RMIT |
|
||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
This month we have reviewed black-and-white printers from Brother, Fuji-Xerox, Minolta-QMS, Kyocera-Mita, Lanier, and Lexmark. We also invited other big-name vendors such as Canon, Ricoh, and Epson but unfortunately those companies chose not to submit this time.
After purchasing your printer, there are two main driver types you need to consider: PCL and Postscript. The PCL driver is the workhorse; printer speed tests are done in this mode. The PostScript driver is used when top quality is your priority. For example, you would use it to print PDF files or wherever a detailed professional finish is important. For testing purposes, the printers were set as network machines.
Colour conversion varies with the printer driver -- for example, I noticed that the sky in our sample picture was far darker in PCL mode than in PostScript mode. The result is remarkably good since you won't see the individual dots without using a microscope -- 1200dpi is about 10 times the resolution discernible by the naked human eye (thus even 600dpi is quite adequate for most purposes).
If you are really interested in super-high resolution, some of these printers will claim 2400dpi capability using tricky dithering techniques -- personally I don't see the need. In truth, resolution is rarely an issue in printed material; of more concern is the evenness of ink spot placing and darkness. Often lines will appear -- particularly noticeable in photo and other pictures. However lines tend not to appear when using high-resolution paper, so you might consider using this for booklet front covers or other critical pages. A bit of experimentation will soon tell you what printer settings are most appropriate for your application.
Economics of printing
You will find that your printer has a toner saving mode. When using this mode, printing will not be as black, but it should be more than adequate for most purposes. Staff should be trained to use such features, particularly for draft documents that may never be seen by anyone but the original author. You can expect savings of around 30 percent when using economy mode.
While the toner itself is one aspect of printer economics, it is not the only consumable to consider. Drums and rollers also need periodic replacement. For example, the Brother HL-5060 requires a new drum after every 30,000 pages (at around AU$175 a pop). The Minolta-QMS PagePro 9100 requires AU$150 worth of rollers every 150,000 pages and a new fuser unit after 300,000 pages (at AU$265).
Allowing for toner price, this makes the Minolta's running costs roughly 30 percent cheaper per page than the Brother. On the other hand, the Minolta printer itself costs twice the going rate of the Brother. If you expect to have a very high volume of paper usage, the Minolta becomes very attractive, whereas the Brother would be better for relatively low printer use.
In other words, after about 400 reams of paper have been used the overall cost of printer and consumables will be similar for these two machines.
The medium-priced Kyocera EcoSys FS-1920 is even more frugal with consumables than the Minolta, though it's print quality is not as good.
Before you purchase a printer consider how much paper your office uses, and shop around -- you'll find a wide range of prices for consumables (and printers) if you hunt around on the Internet.
In the end, return on investment will be influenced by your usage rates.
