Great value for a personal or SOHO printer

This printer is in use at one of my clients. An enterprising office manager, tired of ordering several different kinds of toner for several different types of printers, decided that she wanted to standardize their printers. They wanted a low-cost printer. A color laser would suit their needs best, as the consumables of inkjet printers don't take very long to outweigh their initial lower cost of purchase. They were not terribly concerned about photo image quality, as they rarely print pictures and have a color laser copier that can produce good results.

When we sat down and looked at our options and our budget, we had two real choices: the Konica Minolta Magicolor 2400 and the HP LaserJet 2600n. Both of these were low-cost color laser printers.

I've run across the Magicolor 2400 and found it to be a mixed bag. It can be noisy, and one died after only a year and a half of service. In lieu of an expensive repair, it was retired. So the 2600n already had a leg up on the competition.

The network connection was what sealed the decision. The Magicolor didn't offer that option, and I liked the idea of networking printers. We decided to get a few to replace some older printers and see how it worked. All the same, I was a bit leery. The LaserJet 2600n had won by default.

What arrived was a rather tall unit, at 16 x 17.8 x 14.6 in (HWD). It weighs 40 pounds, but the handholds on the sides make it easy to carry. It supports USB and network connections, but does not include a cable for either. (In fairness to it, most of its competitors don't, either.)

Setting it up was a snap. You do have to remove all four cartridges, remove the storage tape, and put them all back. This can get a little unwieldy, but it's not hard to figure out. The 2600n feels like quality inside -- I never worried that any of the plastic guides were going to break. HP provides a CD which does everything pretty much automatically. It's a simple matter to set an IP address and get the printer going and even non-technical people will be getting that first page in a few minutes.

How does it print? The best way to describe it is, 'up to scratch'. Black and white printing is clear, crisp, and easy to read. Colors are fine for things like brochures. Photos are okay. Not great, but okay. Any decent inkjet will produce a better photo print, but that's because of the way they create the picture (spraying ink versus color toner, which is dry.) The 2600n will not replace your inkjet for serious photo work, but neither will laser printers costing much more.

Speed is acceptable, but the 2600n won't be winning any races anytime soon. HP advertises this at 8 ppm (pages per minute.) That's pretty accurate. The 2600n is a one-pass printer; instead of printing one color at a time, it does it all in one pass. This means that color printing is as fast as black and white printing. That's a nice feature, and one you don't see a lot in printers of this price range.

The 2600n does not automatically duplex, and holds only 250 sheets of paper in its tray. A second paper tray is an option available at extra cost. This can get annoying, but considering the SOHO market this is aimed at, it should be enough. There is no envelope feeder, and the manual feed can be hard to use. It's just a slit and can easily grab paper the wrong way.

HP includes its usual toolbox to control the printer. You can also easily manage it through a web browser pointed at the printer's IP address.

Now, the tale of the tape, from HP's website:


Black print speed:Up to 8 ppm

Color print speed:Up to 8 ppm

Black print resolution:Up to 600 x 600 dpi

Color print resolution:Up to 600 x 600 dpi

Duplex printing:Manual (driver support provided)

Print technology:HP ImageREt 2400

Printer memory:16 MB

Processor:264 MHz Motorola Coldfire V4e
Paper

Supported paper sizes:Letter, legal, executive, envelopes (No. 10, Monarch)

Recommended monthly volume:Up to 35000 pages

Connectivity:1 USB, 1 Ethernet


Dimensions:16.02 x 17.83 x 14.6 in

Weight:40.5 lb

Supported operating systems: Windows 2000; Windows XP Home; Windows XP Professional; Windows Server 2003; Windows Vista(TM) Ready; Mac OS X v 10.2.8; Mac OS X v 10.3; Mac OS X v 10.4 or higher

Overall, the 2600n is a solid choice for a SOHO or small workgroup printer. The client who bought this has decided to make it the printer of choice for personal printers, and I support their decision. You get network connectivity and good quality print. For its price bracket and target market, the 2600n is the best of the bunch.