Consider one of the models ranked here if you require high-resolution printers that can handle 11- by 17-inch paper for large schematic drawings or page layouts. These printers are considered the luxury models of the laser-printer market. All the laser printers that we ranked here support resolutions of from 800 to 1800 dpi and come with at least 4 MB of base memory (the LaserMaster Unity 1800XL-O carries 24 MB of memory standard and can support up to twice that amount).
These printers can operate in many environments. In almost all cases, they have built-in ports or low-cost options for Ethernet and LocalTalk, in addition to standard serial and parallel connections. All these laser printers include emulation sensing, which enables them to switch on the fly into an appropriate mode depending on the data received.
Performance and quality vary consid
erably, because the engines in this category cover a wide range of resolutions. The NewGen Imager Plus 12 and LaserMaster Unity are rated at 8 ppm, with resolutions of 1200 and 1800 dpi, respectively. The trade-off for high resolution is slow speed: The LaserMaster Unity was almost five times slower than the 800- by 400-dpi Xerox 4520ps in our PostScript speed tests and about 2.5 times slower in PCL speed.
High price is another characteristic common to these specialty laser printers. The lowest cost among the ranked models is $6483, and the high-resolution LaserMaster Unity has is the highest-cost printer in this report at $8995. Because prices for the laser printers clustered in the $6500 to $9000 range, we limited our Low Cost rankings to ink-jet printers that offered excellent print quality and the ability to handle 11- by 17-inch formats. All of them cost well under the price points of large-format laser printers (the two ranked printers sell for below $1000) and provide a good alternative to laser
printers for inexpensive proofs of layouts and drawings.
Rankings for This Category Considered
PERFORMANCE 60%
Speed 60%
Quality 40%
FEATURES 25%
EASE OF USE 15%
Do you need high quality for large formats?
BEST OVERALL
Xerox 4520ps
The Xerox 4520ps was faster than any other printer in this category in our PostScript tests. Although its 800- by 400-dpi print engine competes in a class dominated by higher-resolution printers, the Xerox's quality score of 8.89 was the highest of the printers ranked here. The 4520ps comes with HP PCL 5 and Adobe PostScript Level 2.
Speed (PPM)
PCL PostScript Mac
BEST Xerox 4520ps # 10.48 9.48 9.25
RUNNER-UP Xante Accel-a-Writer 8200 # 8.15 8.24 9.31
RUNNER-UP NewGen Imager Plus 12 # 3.56
3.83 N/A
RUNNER-UP LaserMaster Unity 1800XL-O # 4.03 2.00 2.72
Quality Features Ease
Index score of Use
BEST Xerox 4520ps 8.89 *** ***
RUNNER-UP Xante Accel-a-Writer 8200 8.35 **** ***
RUNNER-UP NewGen Imager Plus 12 7.09 **** ***
RUNNER-UP LaserMaster Unity 1800XL-O 8.04 *** ****
Price DPI
BEST Xerox 4520ps $6483 800 x 400
RUNNER-UP Xante Accel-a-Writer 8200 $6995 1200
RUNNER-UP NewGen Imager Plus 12 $6695 1200
RUNNER-UP LaserMaster Unity 1800XL-O $8995 1800
KEY
Excellent ****
Good ***
Fair **
Poor *
PRINTER TECHNOLOGY:
Lazer # Ink-jet ##
N/A = not applicable
The best large-format printer for proofs.
LOW COST
Epson Stylus 1000
This is the leader among ink-jet printers that can handle tabloid-size paper. The Stylus 1000 can't match the speed of lasers ranked in Best Overall, but for drafts and proofs, this inexpensive printer posted solid performance and quality that surpassed some laser printers we tested.
Speed (PPM)
PCL PostScript Mac
BEST Epson Stylus 1000 ## 2.23 N/A N/A
RUNNER-UP CalComp TechJet Personal ## 2.50 N/A N/A
Quality Features Ease
Index score of Use
BEST Epson Stylus 1000 7.50 ** ***
RUNNER-UP CalComp TechJet Personal 6.36 *** ***
Price DPI
BEST Epson Stylus 1000 $599 720 x 360
RUNNER-UP CalComp TechJ
et Personal $699 360
KEY
Excellent ****
Good ***
Fair **
Poor *
PRINTER TECHNOLOGY:
Lazer # Ink-jet ##
N/A = not applicable
For flat-out Mac speed
MAC
Xante Accel-a-Writer 8200
Unexcelled for Mac speed, the Xante came in a close second to the Xerox 4520ps for output quality. This printer was also the easiest model to use in this group, thanks to a simple and intuitive control panel that speeds setup. This printer also lets you switch resolutions from the host computer.
Speed (PPM)
PCL PostScript Mac
BEST Xante Accel-a-Writer 8200 # 8.15 8.24 9.31
RUNNER-UP Xerox 4520ps # 10.48 9.48 9.25
RUNNER-UP LaserMaster Unity 1800XL-O # 4.03 2 2.72
RUNNER-UP NewGen Imager Plus 12 # 3.56 3.83 N/A
RUNNER-UP Dataproducts LZR 2080
# 6.81 6.59 1.23
Quality Features Ease
Index score of Use
BEST Xante Accel-a-Writer 8200 8.35 **** ***
RUNNER-UP Xerox 4520ps 8.89 *** ***
RUNNER-UP LaserMaster Unity 1800XL-O 8.04 *** ****
RUNNER-UP NewGen Imager Plus 12 7.09 **** ***
RUNNER-UP Dataproducts LZR 2080 8.29 *** ****
Price DPI
BEST Xante Accel-a-Writer 8200 $6995 1200
RUNNER-UP Xerox 4520ps $6483 800 x 400
RUNNER-UP LaserMaster Unity 1800XL-O $8995 1800
RUNNER-UP NewGen Imager Plus 12 $6695 1200
RUNNER-UP Dataproducts LZR 2080 $7580 800 x 400
KEY
Excellent ****
Good ***
Fair **
Poor *
PRINTER TECHNOLOGY:
Lazer # Ink-jet ##
N/A = not applicable
CAD/DTP
