Review: Lexmark C500n colour laser printer

Lexmark's latest laser printer is aimed squarely at the small office environment.

As the 'n' in the name suggests, the C500n comes with networking as standard in the form of a 10/100 Ethernet port. A USB alternative is also offered for direct printing from a PC.

Set up proved to be no problem at all and, thanks to a clear step-by-step guide, we had the C500n up and running within 10 minutes.

The four toner cartridges slide neatly into the front of the chassis, so there's no need to be fiddling round the back when swapping out toner.

We were a little concerned when our second test print resulted in a jam, but the LCD screen indicated where the jam was and we didn't experience any other such incidents during testing.

Laser printers traditionally offer better value for money in the long run when compared to inkjet models, but total cost of ownership can vary with different models.

Standard and high-yield cartridges are available. The standard cyan, magenta and yellow cartridges have a yield of 1,500 pages and cost £74 each with the black toner costing £68 and lasting for 2,500 pages.

The high-yield cartridges cost £102 for the black, which lasts 5,000 pages, and £91 for the colour toners, all of which are good for 3,000 pages.

All prices quoted here are including VAT and all yields presume 5 per cent coverage.

So, when it comes to cost per page, a mix of 40 per cent of black toner and 20 per cent for each of the colours will cost 4.05p per page with the standard-sized cartridges.

If you invest in the high-yield cartridges, this drops quite significantly to 2.64p per page.

Printing in mono costs 2.04p per page with the high-yield toner and 2.72p when using the standard cartridges.

Of course, businesses will be able to save the 17.5 per cent VAT on the prices quoted above.

However, it's important to note that Lexmark ships the C500n with starter toner cartridges that only have a capacity of 1,000 pages each, and that includes the black toner.

So, even if you use it sparingly, you'll be up for your first toner replacement reasonably soon. If you opt for the better value for money high-yield cartridges, that will cost you around £375 including VAT.

The waste toner bottle will need to be replaced every 7,500 pages, but it only costs £5 so shouldn't concern you too much.

Replacement photo-conductor units (£161) and fuser units (£175) are available, but since they last for 30,000 pages and 60,000 pages respectively, it's quite likely that you will never actually need to purchase either.

If you do, it will probably be more worth your while buying a whole new printer.

Print speeds are quoted at 31ppm (pages per minute) in mono and, since it's a multi-pass laser, 8ppm in colour.

In terms of mono print quality the C500n has no real issues. We've seen sharper text output on more expensive models, but it will be perfectly adequate for most users.

Obviously you won't be framing any colour photos printed out by this model, but it's useful to have the colour output when printing out pie-charts and the like.

Overall, the C500n has a lot going for it. It's not often you find a colour laser this cheap that includes networking as standard. However, it does lack a duplex feature and the low-capacity starter toners will soon run out.

If duplex printing is important to you, you might want to consider the Samsung CLP 510 (read a review of the slightly older Samsung CLP 500), which retails for around the same price as this Lexmark.

The colour starter cartridges are twice the capacity of Lexmark's and the black toner lasts three times longer but, unlike the C500n, Samsung's base mo del doesn't include networking.

The C510n would suit those printing predominantly in mono and over a small, low-usage network.

It's disappointing Lexmark has opted to ship such small toner cartridges as standard (something many probably won't find out until the low-toner lights flash up) but the suggested retail price is still pretty low for a colour laser.