Looking for the best color laser printer is arguably a very hard task to follow, considering that hundreds of models are out in the market.
To make an intelligent observation, each model must be tested based on output quality, print speed and cost to operate. These three features are obviously what is required by small or startup businesses, which deems to be practical with the limited financial capability.
- Output quality – is a primary consideration and it is about text quality and color blending. Texts must be clear and legible with no glaring errors in color interpolation and inking details. Results are usually a product of series of printing tests, involving dozens of pages of documents, before a fair conclusion is reached.
- Print speed is regularly a product of meticulous testing of pages by observing how long it takes to print each document. That is timing the moment the print command was made and clocked when the document is ejected from the printer. Total time used to print is divided by the number of pages in the document to arrive at the average time to print per page. Both color and black and white documents follow the same process of determination. In an ideal print environment, print quality and speed must work hand in hand, sadly however this never happens because faster print speeds is often associated with some loss of print quality.
- Cost to operate the color laser printer is another area that needs to be considered since the cost of replacement toner or ink is really expensive. This is expected because toner is a meticulously engineered substance. It is a fine powder manufactured to meet specific electronic transfer processes to precisely bond to paper according to the color requirements and fine details. To determine the average cost of a printed page, the cost of the cartridge is divided by the expected yield in printed pages as determined by the printer manufacturer. While this may not be accurate, because each page has differing toner requirement, at least the figures present a clear estimate on how it will cost to use the color laser printer over a period of time.
Of minor importance is the longevity of the printer, and it could take time to test the usable life of a printer. Manufacturers provide users with varying degrees of TCO (total cost of ownership) and any test conducted is just to validate the veracity of the results.
The verdict, based on the above mentioned assumptions are the Samsung ProXpress, Brother MFC L6700dw and the Xerox WorkCentre (Top Ten Reviews.com). These three color laser printers meet the features associated with running a small business.
Remember, the choice of a perfect color laser printer, is a personal choice and assumptions featured above are just guides to make an intelligent observation.
