Lexmark C746dn

The Lexmark C746dn , a color laser printer geared to mid-sized workgroups, is a close relative of the Lexmark C748de that I recently reviewed. The C746dn lacks the latter's massive touch screen and can't handle quite as large print volumes, but it costs less and printed better graphics in our testing. If your business is looking for a workhorse printer that can output high-quality graphics, the C746dn should be on your short list.

The gray-and-white C746dn measures 17.9 by 17.1 by 15.7 inches (HWD) and weighs 56 pounds?this tall and hulking printer is best moved into place by two people. Set in the middle of the front panel is a 2.4-inch non-touch color LCD, which is controlled by a 4-way rocker with central button. Other buttons include Back, Home, Sleep, and Cancel. To the right of the screen is an alphanumeric keypad. A front USB port lets you print from a thumb drive, though you can't preview the documents.

The C746dn has a standard paper capacity of 650 sheets, split between a 550-sheet tray and a 100-sheet multipurpose feeder. You can add an optional 2,000-sheet tray ($599 direct) plus up to 3 additional 550-sheet trays ($299 each) to bring the maximum paper capacity to 4,300 sheets. Another option is a 160-GB hard drive ($479 direct).Its maximum monthly duty cycle of 85,000 pages is slightly less than the C748de's 100,000 pages. This printer comes standard with an automatic duplexer for printing on both sides of a sheet of paper. The Lexmark C746n ($699 direct) is the same as the C746dn but lacks the auto-duplexer, while the Lexmark C746dtn ($1,199 direct) adds another 550-sheet paper tray for the same price as you'd pay if you bought the C746dn plus the tray separately.

The C746dn connects via USB or Ethernet (optional Wi-Fi is available); I tested it over an Ethernet connection with its driver installed on a computer running Windows Vista.

Printing Speed
The C746dn, rated at up to 35 pages per minute for both color and monochrome printing, printed out our business applications suite (timed with QualityLogic's hardware and software), at an effective 7.5 pages per minute (ppm). That?s in line with its rated speed, and should be about the speed you?d get if you were to print text only. The Lexmark C748de, also rated at 35 pages per minute, was timed at 7.1 ppm, as was the OKI C711dn , rated at up to 34 pages per minute for monochrome printing, 32 for color. The three printers are essentially tied, as we don't consider differences of less than 1 ppm as significant at these speeds. We clocked the Editors? Choice Xerox Phaser 6280DN at 4.5 ppm when we tested it in 2009.

Output Quality
Overall output quality based on our tests was par for a color laser, with below-par text, above-par graphics, and par photo quality.? Text quality was suitable for general business use, but not for documents like resumes in which you seek to convey a good visual impression, nor for desktop publishing or marketing materials.

Graphics quality was very good, with bright colors and only minor flaws, namely dithering (graininess) and trouble printing some thin, colored lines. They're good enough for PowerPoint handouts or graphics in formal reports, including ones going to people you're seeking to impress, or for graphics-heavy marketing materials. Photos were of a quality suitable for use in client newsletters.

Lexmark's claimed cost per printed page for the C746dn is 1.8 cents per monochrome and 12.8 cents per color page. The Lexmark C748de has the same claimed 1.8-cent monochrome running cost but a lower color cost at 9.8 cents per page. The LED-based OKI C711dn?s running costs were lower still, at 1.1 cents per monochrome page and 7.9 cents per color page. The Xerox Phaser 6280dn's costs were somewhat higher, at 2.7 cents per monochrome page and 13.8 cents per color page.

Businesses looking for a workhorse printer for mid-sized workgroups to output color graphics should take special note of the Lexmark C746dn. It costs less than the Lexmark C748de yet has comparable speed and showed better graphics quality in our testing. The C746dn falls short on text quality, though. Although slower than the two Lexmarks, the Editors' Choice Xerox Phaser 6280DN excels in output quality, with text quality fully the equal of its exemplary graphics. Xerox has discontinued the 6280DN, but it's available from a number of etailers at steep discounts. If print speed is more important than text quality, though, the C746dn can also print out magnificent graphics, and at a much faster clip.

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