[PeteWK]

I was probably asking too much when I posted a thread seeking advice on a just announced Color Laser Printer, the color Laserjet 2500L by HP. After reading a bunch of comments and reviews from sites and individuals on the web, I found one of the machines in Tustin CA (Micro Center) and bought it.

I spent a fair amount of time printing tonight and have a few comments for anyone thinking about getting a 1000 dollar Color Laser Printer.

1. It's not blazingly fast at 16 / 4 ppm black / color. And when you're printing graphics, it slows it down as well. I printed 100 color advertisement bulletins at once on the thing and it took 48 minutes. This included about 7% black coverage and one picture from my digital camera that covers 15.65% of the page. The picture is about 400K in size. I used my DVI 667 G4 Powerbook with 1024 mb of ram and printed from InDesign for OS X. I will expect a better result when I upgrade the memory from the standard 64 to the max of 320mb.

2. The picture quality is great. The max dpi is 600 and ideal for light print runs with graphics. If you want to print photo quality, spend more money or use your InkJet printer. Even so, the quality is better than I expected.

3. The machine easily handled the 70 lb Cotton paper I ran through it. It's rated for hard card and cover stock. That's important for the type of work I'll be putting it through.

4. It runs under OS X beautifully. I'm running 10.2.1 and was a little gun shy given the problems with my HP scanner. So a sigh of relief there. The paperwork says it will do OS 8 & 9 as well but I won't be using that.

5. Optional drawers up to 875 sheets of paper, though I got the entry level model that holds 125 sheets of 20 lb. That's fine for me now, but it's nice to know I can change that if I need to. The large 500 sheet drawer is 400 bucks. I don't know how much the 250 sheet drawer is.

6. Optional 10/100 base-t ethernet card for about 300 dollars. I'll probably shell out for it at some point and hook it up to my Airport network. It'll be nice to replace my 5 Epson inkjet printers at some point in the future.

7. The black cartridge costs 83 dollars from HP. The three color ones run 100 dollars each. And the Imaging Drum is around 175 dollars. They claim the ink cartridges get about 5000 pages at 5% coverage and the Drum 20,000 pages at the same coverage. I'll have to put that off into the future until I know for sure.

Bottom line is I'm in love. The cost of these things has come down to the point where I just couldn't resist getting one. If you need one, include this one on your list of possibilities. I read some really bad things in consumer reviews about the Motorola printers, so be warned about that. Hope this helps anyone thinking about making the jump to Color Laser. Wow, Powerbook G4 and a Color Laser Printer, I think I'm in love.

Let me know if you have a question I haven't addressed.

PeteWK

[wubrew]

I posted a similar quiery concerning Okidata c 7400 dxn. I went ahead and got it a few weeks ago. I have been using it since then under os x 10.2.1 and it functions flawlessly through network connection to my G4 DP 800 and my Pismo 400. I will highly recommend this printer eventhough initial acquisition cost will set you back 3 grands but this is a printer that will last you 10+ years and it is fast @ 20+ page / min color or B&W. Per page cost is supposed to be less than any color printer on the market!? 1200dpi quality doesn't hurt either.

[PeteWK]

Originally posted by wubrew:
I posted a similar quiery concerning Okidata c 7400 dxn. I went ahead and got it a few weeks ago. I have been using it since then under os x 10.2.1 and it functions flawlessly through network connection to my G4 DP 800 and my Pismo 400. I will highly recommend this printer eventhough initial acquisition cost will set you back 3 grands but this is a printer that will last you 10+ years and it is fast @ 20+ page / min color or B&W. Per page cost is supposed to be less than any color printer on the market!? 1200dpi quality doesn't hurt either.

My research on the web made me aware of the higher end printers that are out there. My budget was basically to get one of the 1000 dollar varieties. I read good things about the Okidata machines as well as the higher end HPs and even the Ricoh (didn't check that one out too much because they're very pricey). If my budget was $2500 I probably would gave gotten a Brother or a different HP. I'm one of those people who own way too many ink jet printers (Epson 740, 980, 880, 1280 and C80). I've always wanted to make the jump but 2 grand was too rich for my blood. My next machine will probably be one like yours after they've come down to around 1500 bucks.

PeteWK

[MUGlover]

How about 900? I also looked at the HP 2500L (more memory than the newer 1500L, plus PostScript 3 and more connection options) alongside the Oki C5300n. The Oki blew me away with its single-pass color performance and fewer moving parts. There was also a strong, but not conclusive, argument in favor of low Okidata consumables cost. But the C5300n had a list price of $1299. Now some vendors are lowering that price, and Okidata has a $100 rebate on top of that. So I will be ordering one soon.

[escher]

Originally posted by PeteWK:
Bottom line is I'm in love.

PeteWK: Thanks for your review of the 2500L. It's an awfully tempting printer. I've been looking for a networked duplexing b/w laser for over a year. I want to keep my budget below $1000 and I am close to settling on the HP 2300DN. But having color is very tempting. However, with the 2500L, I'd have to forego the network and duplex options. I guess I need to figure out what my needs are to decide. Any thoughts on deciding between a fancy b/w laser (i.e. Ethernet, duplex, web admin) and the 2500L (color, but no fancy featuers otherwise)?

Escher

[PeteWK]

Well, you used to be able to get the 2500 in 4 different configurations including with a 10/100 port, three different paper drawers and maybe even a hard drive. I got the el cheapo model. We've been using it as a printing press basically.

PeteWK

[omacdaddy]

Sorry to bring this old thread back to life... but I am very curious as to whether PeteWK has run into any problems or has any issues with the laser printer yet.

The reason I ask is that I have been eyeing the same printer (2500L) for a couple of months now. I will also be using it with a PowerBook in a home office environment and was really pleased to read your review. At my work I have an older, more full featured model (4550N) and have been putting it through hell for 2 years now; Mylar, Laid, Vellum, Coated and Uncoated card stock, solid coverage duplexing, you name it, I have done it! And let me say that for someone who has been using all kinds of different laser printers for the past 10 years, this thing just keeps on keeping on!