Color laser printing questions

In My Humble Opinion
1

This has a bit of GQ in it, but I’m looking for opinions as well, so IMHO it is.

I’m looking to buy a color laser printer. The only mechanical requirement I have is duplex printing. Otherwise:

  • Good color quality is a high priority. I’m not printing photos at all. I’m printing solid colors (computer-created figures and diagrams and whatnot.) I don’t want the colors to look hatched or banded, something I’ve seen from color printers.
  • Dark and crisp black text is a high priority.

My main question for you all is this: With this sort of printing, does 2400 dpi gain me any noticeable quality over 1200 dpi? That is, are 2400 dpi printers targeted at folks printing photos (something I won’t be doing)?

Also let me know if you have model recommendations given the above requirements. (Issues like speed and paper capacity are lesser concerns. I suppose large paper capacity would be nice. Mostly I just want my crisp text and good color.)

Thanks for any advice!

(I do plan to try to get some test pages printed at computer-type stores (CompUSA, Best Buy, etc.), but I’m not sure how successful I’ll be. I have trouble picturing Best Buy wonks maintaining print-ready floor models.)

2

I’m pretty sure this is the one I’ve used and liked. Granted, I don’t really have any basis for comparison.

In my experience, if you’re not printing pictures, anything over 800 or so dpi is pointless.

Now, to hijack the thread, maybe you should be more worried about this.

3

I’ve got a 2605dn at home, and I’ve been quite happy with it. If you’re a Costco member, they’re selling it for something like $369, after rebate, right now.

If you want capacity to hold lots of paper, look for a 2605dtn, (they’re uncommon, and not likely to be on sale) or, there’s an accessory third tray that sells for about $150, which will be cheaper than buying the dtn model, which sells for about $700.