

The text output of the HL-4570CDW is superb, appearing sharp and deep black, with nary a jaggy or other defect. Its speed and features are competitive with those of pricier printers. Its $500 price tag is budget-friendly for small and medium-size workgroups, as are its reasonable toner costs. The Brother HL-4570CDW ( ) color laser printer is a good value. Observe how the printer handles both text and graphics and what the final output looks like. Try before you buy: If at all possible, take the time to visit an office supply store to test out the print quality of any color laser printer you are considering. No longer an absolute necessity, PostScript printing is still important as it takes the load off your computer’s CPU and allows the use of certain types of fonts. PostScript is a print description language that enables color laser printers to handle high-quality graphics alongside text. Ponder PostScript: PostScript capability or emulation is an important ability to consider. As for our jury tests of printing quality-which also include ratings on the quality of image and graphics output-a quality color laser printer scores a rating of “very good” or better in our text-quality test. Color laser printers print about 15 to 25 pages of text per minute. Make sure to judge from all angles when deciding which model to buy. Our lab tests include both time trials and jury ratings in addition to our hands-on evaluations. What to look for: When considering a color laser printer, there are two key factors to focus on-speed and text quality.

On a related note, color laser printers generally cost less per page to print than their inkjet counterparts they’re also more environmentally friendly that way too.

Printing on both sides of a page ultimately saves you money on paper. Two sides are better than one: Printers that offer duplexing can print on both sides of the page-a useful feature for users who want to maximize speed and efficiency. The spare replacements take up more space in your office’s storeroom or home storage closet, too. Maintenance issues: Color printers are more complicated to maintain because they have four toner colors and four drums (one for each color) to replace, as opposed to a monochrome laser’s single drum. However, our recent analysis indicates that the price of a color laser printer is inversely related to its speed: the lower the printer price, the longer you will wait for prints. Many come with longer warranties than typical inkjet printers. They’re also a bigger investment than standard inkjet or monochrome laser printers and require more room to operate. Consider the cost: Most good-quality color laser printers run in the range of $300 and up and are generally larger and heavier than most typical inkjet printers.
