Konica Minolta Magicolor 2550 Color Laser Printer
The magicolor 2550 is another color laser that's something like the HP 2840 in terms of print performance, except that it goes up to 5 ppm for color output and up to 20 ppm for black-and-white. It lacks MFC capabilities, but its $499 MSRP ($380-390 street price) hurts a lot less than the HP's $600 and up. The 2550 offers a monthly duty cycle of up to 35,000 pages, though its tray capacity is only 200 pages (a 500-page paper cassette is available as an add-on option for $199, and a duplex unit is available for $229).
As color lasers go, the Konica Minolta 2550 is pretty compact
The unit is reasonably compact, with dimensions of 16.9" x 15.6" x 13.4" (43 cm x 39.5 cm x 34.1 cm), and a weight of 38.2 lbs (17.4 kg). Opening the paper tray extends the 15.6" measurement to 19.8", but that is only needed when the unit is active. The 2550 comes equipped with 128 MB of RAM, which can be upgraded to 640 MB by installing 256 MB RAM modules into both of its 100-pin DDR SRAM slots (each of which will set you back about $140).
Toner cartridges for the 2550 come in two sizes: high capacity ones that deliver up to 4,500 pages, and standard capacity cartridges that produce 1,500 pages - to its credit, Konica Minolta ships the 2550 with the high-capacity cartridges already installed. High capacity units cost $88 for black and $134 for CYM color; standard capacity units cost $72 for CYM color (black is available only in high-capacity form). Output resolution is 600x600, but Konica Minolta works some algorithmic magic on color output to deliver the equivalent of 9600x600 on color pages. The results are sharp, readable text and surprisingly sharp and detailed color output (though it doesn't compare to the HP 2840 for photo output).
Though its speed is about on par with an inkjet for color, its price-per-page for output is considerably less. Those who can wait for it to work its magic will undoubtedly be happy with the results, but we'd expect this printer to appeal more to SOHO users than to casual home users.
