Konica Minolta magicolor 2300DL Laser Printer

Slower than commercial grade printers, the 2300 dl does print quality pages. I'm on the second set of replacement ink cartridges after purchasing this one refurbished; get the higher capacity toner cartridges and they will seem to last forever, and at the major suppliers they are discounted well below list price. It prints text cleanly, and pictures on plain paper come out good enough to give away, but you will have to trim them to size if you are used to 3x5 or 4x6. They print out using microsoft's photo editor program to any size you want. Haven't tried the expensive paper for pictures; but using a 5 megapixel camera (the pentax 555) I haven't needed to because the plain paper pics come out so clear. As I use it at home, the speed is not an issue. I got mine at a computer fair for less than $200; bring a long a laptop to test it's quality when buying used, and preload the drivers.

I am going to set the record straight on this printer:

First, I have used this printer extensively for the past 5 years. I can say that is it a bit clunky when it gets ready to print and sounds a bit like a squirrel cage.

Pros: It does print great, better than a lot of more expensive HP color lasers I have seen. I am not saying that it is an overall better printer, but the print is better. Toner and drum are no more expensive than any other printer (Have you ever had an inkjet printer that you paid $40 for and wound up having to pay at least that for the ink, again and again?) We got the printer for $299 after rebate and I's say that with the 10,000+ pages we have printed over the years it is a pretty good deal. Network printer with a very nice web-based access to its toner levels and other statistics. You can use regular PC 100 RAM which is easy to install, unlike the proprietary RAM you will find in other printer brands. I believe you can bump up its memory from the built-in 32MB to 288 using a 256MB DIMM.

Cons: Noisy. Small toner cartridges, but what color laser has them any larger? Not very visible LCD panel, you need a light directly on it to see it.

Recommendations: I recommend this printer for small home office and small business use, but have it wired in another room so you don't have to hear the squealing sounds it makes when it prints. Also, have extra toner on hand and be aware that some colors will get used up more than other due to what you have printed. Keep in mind that laser is way cheaper than inkjet by far and the ink will not run when the pages are damp or wet. This is a great printer with some faults, but it is cheap to purchase.

The quality is amazing for a sub-$1000 color laser. This paid for itself within 2 years; no more trips to Kinko's dealing with people who don't know how to use their equipment. The network setup is easy, linux drivers are available, replacement cartridges are reasonably priced, maintenance is near zero. It finally quit on us after 4 years of hard use, but considering the price of a new one, it isn't worth repairing. We have nothing but good things to say about this unit.

Bought this printer about 2 years ago and ran fine. Excellant for printing on card stock for cd covers. But replacing the parts is more than what the printer costs. Buy 4 printer cartridges and waste bottle and you can buy another new printer for that. But first it started printing red tint about 2 months ago all the time on Photo's. And Minolta can not help !
Now it does not print red at all. To bad, cause when it worked, it was awesome. Life span though is to short at any cost.

I bought this printer for $550 at Sams Club about 2 years ago. It crapped out on me in the 11th month. Fortunately, I had some warranty left. The refurbished one has been worse, paper jams, and the toner on these is expensive, wait 5 minutes for the 1st color page. Trying to get service after the warranty is over is a waste of time, most reputable shops won't work on this model because its junk.

I've had this printer for nearly five years and have never had an issue. I use it for both work and for personal use (I have a home office). It's solid and dependable. We've printed over 11,000 pages.

In the downside, it's slow to warm-up, it's loud and it's big. However, I think in part this is due to it being a heavy-duty unit. In my research prior to purchase I found this unit was rated at a higher capacity. It seems physically well built and does not seem to be typical of many of the lightweight, plasticky, disposable units so widely available today.