Oki C5500n

Pros: Glossy, rich, SHARP prints. Very fast, very quiet, reasonable toner costs.

Optional duplexer makes putting reports together quick and easy, HOWEVER, I would suggest the 256mb or at the very least the 64mb memory upgrade with the duplexer.

Cons: Doesn't like 110lb cardstock, but advertised that it would print on it. (From manual feeder or paper tray).

Summary: I've owned this printer since it was new in 2005. I bought it from Office Depot when it was $799 with a $200 instant rebate. I have since put about 23,000 prints through it, mainly color. The only consumables I've had to replace - other than toner - are the drums (one for each color) and I was able to get them off ebay (all 4) for about $250. Not cheap, but it is something that will not need to be replaced that often.

The service manual states that the MTBF is 40,000 copies, with a useful service life of 420,000 copies. That in itself tells you this printer was built to last.

It seems like it's almost overengineered for a consumer-grade product. I used to own an old $5000 HP Color Laserjet 5M for workgroup printing (see: Tank), and this feels built up to par of said printer. It feels solid because it is. It is an amazing printer and it's such a shame that they quit making it.

Toner is no longer carried by places like office depot, staples, etc. anymore (I bought the remaining toner from them locally when they were on "clearance") but can be easily had on eBay for pretty reasonable.

I would HIGHLY recommend that you NOT use the "compatible" toner in these printers, as my experience with them is that the sharpness of the prints suffers quite a bit then. The OEM/Genuine OKI toners work well in this printer. (I own several other printers which "compatible" toner works fine, like a Samsung CLX-3160FN...just not in the C5500n).