Filter
Top Products
14
Entire Contents © 2006 Prog
ressiv
e Business Pub
lications
.
Copying of Pages Prohibited.To Order: 800 247 2185 or www.betterbuys.com
Hewlett-Packard Color LaserJet 5550n
Hewlett-Packard Color LaserJet 5550dn
H
ewlett-Packard Color LaserJet 5550dtn
Hewlett-Packard Color LaserJet 5550hdn
27ppm full color
27ppm black & white
Sum-up: Affordable ledger-size printers with good speed.
The ledger-size Color LaserJet 5550 family runs at
27ppm in both black-and-white and color. These power-
ful machines are suited for large departments that need
color printing.
There are four members in this family:
● The Color LaserJet 5550n ($3,549) comes with
P
ostScript and PCL, along with Ethernet connectivi-
ty. It starts with 160MB of memory, a 100-sheet
bypass unit, and a 500-sheet paper tray.
● The Color LaserJet 5550dn ($3,749) adds automatic
duplexing.
● The Color LaserJet 5550dtn ($4,999) adds more mem-
ory (288MB) and a second 500-sheet pa
per tr
ay.
● The Color LaserJet 5550hdn ($6,299) adds a 20GB
hard disk (optional on the other models). It also
comes with four 500-sheet pa
per trays
, for a total of
2,100 sheets of input. While the printer series can
handle paper stocks up to 53lbs., it cannot handle
110lb. card stoc
k,
which might be a concern for some
users.
All of these models are driven by a 533MHz processor,
and they can be expanded to a maximum of 544MB of
memory. All of the models can be upgraded to the full
2,100 sheets of input that comes standard with the
5550hdn. HP claims that its ImageREt 3600 image
enhancement is even better than the ImageREt 2400 soft-
ware available on most of its other color printers.
Like other HP printer products, this series has nice
management features, including an embedded Web serv-
er that works with HP’s Web Jetadmin program. There’s
a four-line interactive display that allows you to check
supply levels and diagnose and fix problems. The sup-
plies consist of four all-in-one cartridges that are easy to
replace through a front door. Consumables costs of 1.9¢
in black and 9.8¢ in color are moderate.
This is a strong ledger printer family. It does, however,
lack finishing equipment, even as an option. If you want
finishing, you should look at the Ricoh Aficio CL7200, a
less expensive ledger printer with both a finisher and a
booklet maker as options. Another strong competitor is
the Lexmark C920 family, which also has a finisher. Or
you can look at HP’s own Color LaserJet 9500hdn. If
you don’t need finishing but do need ledger-size printing,
the Color LaserJet 5550 series looks like a solid buy. It’s
ear
ned our Editor’
s Choice Award.
Chart entries — pages 81–82
He
wlett-Packar
d Color LaserJet 9500n
Hewlett-Packard Color LaserJet 9500hdn
24ppm full color
24ppm b
lack & white
Sum-up: Ledger-size printers with good finishing options
(9500hdn onl
y).
The Hewlett-Packard Color LaserJet 9500 is a family of
ledger-size color printers. They are durable machines
with solid f
eatures and, at least on the high-end model,
excellent output capabilities. Note that this is no desktop
model.
Full
y equipped,
it is f
our f
eet tall.
T
hese laser mac
hines r
un a
t 24ppm both in color and
black-and-white. That speed is supported by a fast
500MHz processor. Note that they are bested in speed by
HP’s newer 27ppm Color LaserJet 5550 family. Both are
rated by HP for an impressive 200,000 pages a month.
P
ostScript is a standar
d f
ea
tur
e, as is Ethernet support
through an internal server. These models do not, howev-
er, offer a USB interface, though parallel connectivity is
standard.
In other ways, the two members of the family, the
9500n and 9500hdn, are quite distinct. As you might sus-
pect fr
om the hdn suf
fix,
the 9500hdn of
fers a standard
hard disk and automatic duplexing. While the 9500n
Better Buys for Business
Hewlett-Packard Color LaserJet 5550
Consumables costs at-a-glance
Price
Yield
Full-color cost per pa
g
e
Blac
k-and-white cost per pa
g
e
Blac
k print cartridge
$225.99 13,000 $ 0.017 $ 0.017
Cyan print cartridge $315.99 12,000 $ 0.026 N/A
Magenta print cartridge $315.99 12,000 $ 0.026 N/A
Yellow print cartridge $315.99 12,000 $ 0.026 N/A
Ima
g
e transf
er kit
$200.00 120,000 $ 0.002 $ 0.002
TOTAL PER-PAGE COSTS
$ 0.0980 $ 0.0194
9.80 1.94