One of the most appealing characteristics of the 2300W is its price. At $499, this color laser printer is practically a steal. Although it has a couple of notable failings, the 2300W shines at what counts most: print quality and per-page printing costs.

The 2300W is easy to set up. The toner cartridges are already installed, so all you need to do is install the drivers, supply a USB or parallel port printer cable (about $25), and plug in the power cable.

Control buttons, available on the top right side of the printer, provide easy access to all print functions. The paper output area can hold up to 200 sheets of paper. The paper input tray can also hold up to 200 sheets of paper. There's no option to add another paper tray, which makes the 2300W a bit of a nuisance for high-volume small business and home office use.

The paper tray can handle a variety of paper sizes and stocks, including letter, legal, bond, letterhead, postcards, transparences, and label stock. An optional duplexing unit ($399) is available for two-sided printing.

The 2300W ships with a fairly generous 32MB of memory; there's no option to add or upgrade memory.

The 2300W isn't the fastest printer on the block, but its printing speeds are above average (up to 16 pages per minute for black-and-white printing, and up to four pages per minute for color printing). Print quality is excellent, with resolutions of up to 1200x600, crisp text, even at small font sizes, and brilliant color images, even on plain paper. Per-page printing costs are far below those of inkjet printers and lower than usual for a color laser printer, so you don't need to worry that what you save in the upfront cost will come back to haunt you when it comes to buying toner.

The package includes black, cyan, magenta, and yellow ink cartridges, a drum cartridge, a waste toner pack, a user's guide, and a power cord.

Pro:  An almost bargain-basement price (for a color laser printer). High-quality output. Relatively low per-page printing costs.
Con:  Memory isn't expandable. Limited paper capacity and no option to add another paper tray.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Konica Minolta
1 Magnum Pass
Mobile, AL 36618
251-633-4300
http://konicaminolta.us/

Warranty
1 year (exchange)