jamiegor's Full Review: Hewlett Packard LaserJet 2600n Printer
Preface: How I came to this model
I had purchased this printer after disregarding the stigma that entry level printers are not as good and will end up being more expensive in the long run. After reading about comparisons with HP Business Inkjet models (HP 1600 Entry level models), I had initially picked up the 1600 as it would have seemed to be less expensive and easier to run and maintain, never mind the half price to get into it. I had brought it home, set it up and started printing. I was not using this in typical 5% coverage that is the norm when comparing lifespan of consumables, my usage is more like 70% Plus, when you factor in blending and what not. Needless to say, after 7 pictures of high ink usage, the nifty consumable meter said that I had alrady used up 10% of the ink.
Back to staples it went.
Next I had set out (in staples and nearby BESTBUY) to locate its brethern, the HP 2550 color laserjet model. This machine too had decent reviews, an integrated processor, upgradeable memory, etc (note: HP 2600 is a GDI Host based printer for processing, but it seems to work seamlessly well). 2600 as well is not a carousel based printer (the toners rotate like a small merry go round inside), that has circus quality noise eminating from under the hood. The print quality is quite good, however, at par with the 2600. The 2600N has as well the built in network card functionality, as well as front screen panel and the same color toner usability as the 2550. As well, the 2600 has a real paper tray to hold half a ream (250 pages up to legal size, along with a manual feed slot.
The Printer has a commedable footprint, about 20 inches in length, width, and height. It has a pleasant grey exterior, is reasonably quiet, and needs a good space to sit itself. It starts up reasonably quickly, and depending on size and complexity of documents will start printing relatively quickly. The most complex prints may take 30 seconds to start, but as I am only called upon to make 20-25 of these daily that is acceptable. The web based console is intuitive, and although there is the front panel, it is a nice accessory that is shadowed by the web based console that tells you everything and even connects you directly to HP support live chat if you click the right buttons.
Compared to business inkjet once page dries, the pictures from both machines are of good quality. I will say that black and white prints (text and photo) are very good, as can be seen in most any quality laser printer today. The colors are bright and vivid (nicer candy apple reds here then in inkjet as far as I could see), and less residuals then inkjet in the form of vertical lines, although flesh colors seem to be a perpetual problem for these color lasers. A little tinkering and definately picking manual color management with photo quality improves things a lot.
Therefore, I heartily recommend this model for its multiple hats it can wear, and the fact it does all of them at 85% or better, but in the case of printing photo quality items, it does so at 85% with probably a 500% cost savings
The Color LaserJet 2600n features the high quality printing and performance expected from an industry leader. The 2600n offers a high duty cycle of 35...More at GreatPrinterDeals.com
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