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Entire Contents © 2006 Prog
ressiv
e Business Pub
lications
.
Copying of Pages Prohibited.To Order: 800 247 2185 or www.betterbuys.com
mor
e than adequatel
y powered. Memory starts at 256MB
and can be augmented to 768MB
. A 40GB hard disk is an
(expensive) option. PostScript 3 also comes standard.
Connectivity is thr
ough USB and Ethernet. A Wi-Fi
interface (IEEE 802.11b) is also available.
The paper supplies, as we have stated, are limited.
These models come with a 500-sheet paper tray and a
100-sheet b
ypass. Ther
e’s an extr
a 500-sheet tray, option-
al on all but the C770dtn model. Output is limited to only
250 sheets. The printer can, however, handle card stock.
Lexmark rates the duty cycle at 100,000 pages a month.
Consumables are on the high side. You’ll spend 2.6¢ per
black-and-white page and 12.8¢ for color. Such prices are,
unfortunately, increasingly typical even for midrange
color printers. They offset the low prices of the machines
themselves.
T
he HP Color LaserJ
et 3800 f
amil
y has a slo
wer speed
(22ppm) a
t a similar price
. The Lexmark C770 family has
a little advantage in the way of paper supply (1,100 ver-
sus 850 sheets), but it’s very hard to choose between the
two. It comes down to which of the two vendors you pre-
fer and which of the extra features they supply you pre-
f
er
.
Both are very good choices.
The C770 family offers good features at a moderate
price. It has strong competition from a number of other
color printers in its speed and price range. Still, this fam-
ily is deserving of our Editor’s Choice Award.
Char
t entries — pa
g
es 96–97
Lexmark C772n
Lexmark C772dn
Lexmark C772dtn
25ppm full color
25ppm black & white
Sum-up: Capable color printers that offer serious production
capacity at a moderate price.
The new C772 series is similar in many ways to the C770
series. The engines, speeds, and most of the configura-
tions are exactly the same as that model family. So what
is the difference?
The family members are:
● The C772n is the base model, with 600 sheets of stan-
dard input, 256MB of memory, and standard
Ethernet ($1,499).
● The C772dn adds automatic duplexing ($1,799).
● The C772dtn adds another 500 sheets of input
($2,099).
In fact, these machines have exactly the same standard
features as the C770 models: 800MHz processor, 768MB
maxim
um memor
y, PostScript 3, optional wireless. What
they do have that’s different is potential to expand.
You have a wide variety of input options. On all the
models, you can ha
ve up to two 500-sheet paper trays in
total, or you can add a 2,000-sheet high-capacity feeder.
There’s also an optional 40-envelope feeder.
T
hese models ha
ve two unique features as well. There’s
an outdoor media tray that handles special media, which
can be used to cr
ea
te signa
ge that can withstand direct
sunlight and other unusual environmental conditions.
Lexmark developed this capacity based on user requests
from companies like retailers that wanted colorful signs
they could place at the front door. There is also a banner
tr
a
y tha
t allo
ws y
ou to f
eed 8.5" x 36" pa
per. These trays
ha
v
e r
ob
ust paper-feed roller technology that can feed
thicker-than-usual media.
On the output side
, there’s a similar choice of devices.
In addition to the standard 250-sheet output tray, there’s
an optional 500-sheet output tray. You can also get a five-
bin mailbo
x unit,
with a total ca
pacity of
500 sheets
.
Finally, there’s a 2,000-sheet finisher that can staple up to
30 sheets, and that also comes with a 3-hole punch.
These models also have the ability to be upgraded to a
multifunctional with the X4500 copy/scan unit, the same
scanner option tha
t w
as used with its pr
edecessor
.
Cost per pa
g
e is less than tha
t of
the closely related
Better Buys for Business
Lexmark C770
Consumables costs at-a-glance
Price
Yield
Full-color cost per page
Black-and-white cost per page
Black print cartridge $111.00 6,000 $ 0.019 $ 0.019
Cyan print cartridge $203.00 6,000 $ 0.034 N/A
Magenta print cartridge $203.00 6,000 $ 0.034 N/A
Yellow print cartridge $203.00 6,000 $ 0.034 N/A
Waste toner bottle/black $13.00 150,000 $ 0.000 $ 0.000
Waste toner bottle/3-color
$13.00 50,000 $ 0.000 N/A
Maintenance kit $582.00 120,000 $ 0.005 $ 0.005
Fuser kit $343.00 150,000 $ 0.002 $ 0.002
TOTAL PER-PAGE COSTS
$ 0.1275 $ 0.0257
12.75 2.57
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