Lexmark's toner cartridge options are a bit convoluted, but you do get a lot of choices. The C530dn ships with starter 1,500-page black and color cartridges, while the C532n and C532dn models ship with 4,000-page black and 3,000-page color cartridges. Replacing the cartridges is where your choices may get confusing. Lexmark has a return cartridge program: It offers a price discount to consumers who agree to use the cartridge only once and return the spent cartridges to Lexmark for recycling or manufacturing. For the C530dn, the regular 4,000-page black cartridge costs $131 and the regular 3,000-page color cartridges cost $144 each. Under the return cartridge program, the same units cost $105 and $119, respectively. The situation gets even more convoluted when dealing with the C532n and C532dn models. Lexmark offers the above stated prices for the black and color cartridges (both with and without the return cartridge program) and then adds the option of high-yield color cartridges (5,000 pages, $180 each) and high-yield return program cartridges (5,000 pages, $155). Lexmark does not offer a high-yield black cartridge for these models. Cost-per-page varies greatly due to all the toner options, but overall, the prices are reasonable and in line with the competition. Naturally, the high-yield cartridges result in a lower cost-per-page, right around two cents.
Among the color laser printers we've reviewed in the $400 to $600 price range, the Lexmark C530dn made an impressive showing. It was fast across the board and made high-quality prints. It printed black text at a speedy 17.02 pages per minute, behind the more expensive Oki C5500n (17.92ppm) and Lexmark's own C500n (19.86ppm). It was quick with black graphics prints, too: 16.36ppm, again, behind only the Oki and the Lexmark C500n. It really impressed us with its fast color prints, though. Even printers that excel at mono prints usually slow way down with color, but not so with the Lexmark C530dn. It cranked out color text at 15.94ppm and color graphics at 13.56ppm.
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
 |
Color graphics | |
Color text | |
Black graphics | |
Black text |
Sometimes, you get fast prints at the expense of quality, but the C530dn delivered in both areas. The black text was clean, sharp, and dark--everything we expect from a laser printer. The same goes for the color text. Even better, the color text suffered only minimally from the cross-hatching that often plagues color text. The black graphics print showed excellent grayscale handling, sharp details, and again, minimal cross-hatching. The color graphics print also showed sharp detail and smooth color gradients, though we saw some banding in what should be a smooth grayscale. The colors were also overly red, resulting in a ruddy skin tone among other things, but that was the only issue we found with the print. Overall, we liked the Lexmark C530dn's print quality better than both the HP 2605dn and the Oki C3400n and found it to be on par with the more expensive
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
|
Color graphics | |
Color text | |
Black graphics | |
Black text |
Lexmark backs the C530dn with a one-year warranty. Free and toll-free phone support is available weekdays from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. and on Saturdays from noon to 6 p.m. Eastern time for the length of the warranty. Lexmark's Web site includes a knowledge base, downloadable drivers, and a resource center to help get you started on new printing projects.
- See more CNET content tagged:
- Lexmark
Where to buy
Lexmark C532n:
$389.00 - $492.00
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
|
OfficeGrabs.com
|
$492.00 | No |
|
|
California Computer Center
|
$389.00 | Yes |
|
