With an MSRP double that of the 2550 (street prices from $600-650), you'd expect to get more from the 5440DL than from its less expensive sibling, but even given such expectations, the 5440DL does not disappoint. It offers entirely convincing page per minute speeds of up to 27 for both color and black-and-white, plus a monthly duty cycle of 60,000 pages. It comes equipped with 64 MB of RAM, expandable to 576 MB with the addition of a single 512 MB memory module (available for $300 from the manufacturer - this is the best price we could find). Those who wish to print at the highest possible resolution should plan to max out this printer's memory for best results.

Though it's another monolith, the 5440DL is pretty attractive as laser printers go.

The magicolor 5440DL is a pretty good-sized printer. Its dimensions are 17.9" x 20.5" x 17.3" (45.5cm x 52cm x 44 cm) and it weighs 68.2 lbs (31 kg). As with the 2550, toner cartridges come in high and standard capacity varieties. The high-capacity cartridges deliver up to 12,000 pages and cost $155 for black and $206 for CMY color; standard capacity cartridges deliver up to 6,000 pages, and cost $124 for black and $155 for CMY color.

When it comes to paper handling, the 5440DL also outdoes the 2550. It comes with a 500-page paper tray, and includes a 100-sheet manual tray. Two additional 500-sheet drawers may be added to this printer for $299 each, and the optional duplexer costs $399. The unit outputs very clear text in both color and monochrome, but image output can be subject to minor contrast and saturation issues. This makes it a good choice for those who need to print lots of documents in color or black-and-white, but not so good for those who need to print lots of high-resolution images or artwork.