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The Color Laser Printer Guide: Vendor & Product Profiles
Entire Contents © 2006 Prog
ressiv
e Business Publications. Copying of Pages Prohibited.To Order: 800 247 2185 or www.betterbuys.com 27
The C530dn/C532n engine comes with a 375MHz
processor, while the C534 models have a 625MHz
processor
. Along with a few other v
endors, Lexmark has
made sur
e that getting into color printing at the entry
level no longer means making big sacrifices in speed.
PostScript is a standard feature through the whole line,
which is not always the case with low-priced color laser
printers.
These models have decent memory capacity. They start
with 128MB, upgradeable to 640MB. That much memo-
ry may be helpful, because unlike some of their low-cost
competitor
s
, these are Postscript-based machines, making
them useful f
or a wide v
ariety of
graphics applications.
The models print at a resolution of 1,200dpi. A 40GB
hard disk is an option on the C534 models.
Paper capacity is limited, based on the standard 250-
sheet paper tray, a 100-sheet MPF feeder (except for the
C534n, which has a manual MPF feeder), and an option-
al 550-sheet pa
per tr
a
y (standar
d on the C534dtn).
There
is a 250-sheet output tray. Duplexing is standard on all of
these models except for the C532n and C534n.
USB is standard, as is Ethernet. Wireless 802.11b
Ethernet is an option as well.
Le
xmar
k hasn
’
t pub
lished suppl
y costs f
or these new
models y
et,
b
ut we anticipate they’ll be on the high end:
around 2.8¢ for black pages and 14.7¢ for color. The good
thing about these machines’ consumables is their higher
capacity: black cartridges print 5,000 pages, while the
three color cartridges last for 3,000 pages.
Le
xmar
k belie
v
es w
hat sets its machines off from com-
petitor
s’
is a more extensive set of color-printing controls,
m
uch like those found on higher-cost printers. This series
also allows the administrator to lock out some users from
use of color, a good feature for a workgroup in which
only some users really need color and where you want to
keep costs down. Like other Lexmark models, there is an
extensive suite of software available, with support for bar-
codes, and for forms creation and printing.
But where these machines have everyone else beat is in
sheer speed for the price. Other low-cost models print at
a relatively slow speed in color, from 4ppm to 8ppm in
color. At 22ppm color printing, this family has remark-
able speed, setting a new standard for low-cost color
lasers. Plus it has standard PostScript, a unique feature in
this price class.
As such, it competes very well with a slew of low-cost
printers from Dell and others. The C532n is particularly
a standout, while the C534 models are quite solid as well,
if a little less unique.
Making a workgroup color printer for under $1,000 that
has decent color control software is a nice plus. What’s
remarkable is that its 22ppm color speed makes it a cred-
itable workg
roup printer on its own. This family gets our
Editor’s Choice Award.
Chart entries — pages 94–96
Lexmark C770n
Lexmark C770dn
Lexmar
k C770dtn
25ppm full color
25ppm b
lack & white
Sum-up: A strong small-workgroup printer family, but with
tough rivals.
The new C770 family is one of two similar color laser
printer families. At 25ppm in both color and black-and-
white, these models are very affordable mid-range color
lasers. The printers have relatively modest paper han-
dling
,
but they otherwise have a solid but standard set of
f
eatures.
T
he three models in this family are:
● The C770n is the base model, with 600 sheets of stan-
dar
d input and 256MB of
memor
y
,
along with stan
-
dard Ethernet connectivity ($999).
● The C770dn adds automatic duplexing ($1,299).
● T
he C770dtn adds another 500 sheets of input stan-
dar
d and holds up to 256MB of memory ($1,549).
Based on an 800MHz pr
ocessor
,
these mac
hines ar
e
The Le
xmark C532n prints color a
t 22ppm speed a
t 1,200dpi
resolution.