Issue #0826/2 – Hewlett-Packard’s new CP2025n and dn models are single function printer versions of the two colour laser MFPs described in the article "New Colour LaserJet MFPs from Hewlett-Packard – easy on the pocket, till you start printing". Using the same engine and same supplies, the printers represent a mid-market purchase but high cost overall, while the Total Cost of Printing for printers in the group varies by more than 100%!
Hewlett-PackardCLJ CP2025n
Purchase Price - A4 Colour Laser Printer
Note that all prices used to create charts this article are based on the lowest street price in Euros (including tax) - sourced in Germany.
So, again we have a very wide range of prices in the class, from Brother and Lexmark at the low end (around €225) to Canon and Kyocera at the top end (€600-€700). The maximum differential is not quite as high as the differential seen in the MFP class but is still over 2x.
And again, we cannot rely on the hardware purchase price to give a realistic and reliable indication of the Total Cost of Printing over the life of the printer, meaning that potential users are totally in the dark as to what to expect long-term from their purchase. The chart below shows just how dramatic the differences in running costs and Total Cost of Printing can be in this market sector.
Total Cost of Printing - A4 Colour Laser Printer
Note that for this level of machine, the mixed mono/colour CPP over three years shown in the accompanying chart is calculated on the basis of 2,500 pages per month; 70% pages in mono and 30% pages in colour; is based on the use of maximum capacity supplies; takes into account any standard, or starter, supplies shipped with the device; and also includes the cost of purchase. All prices are lowest street price in Euros (including tax) - sourced in Germany.
Kyocera Mita FS-C5025NWe still see a variance of 100% between the least costly machine and the most costly, but we also see the dramatic influence of the cost of consumables on Total Cost of Printing and the irrelevance of the purchase price.
Konica Minoltamagicolor 5430DL
Lexmark’s cheap C530dn turns out to cost far more over three years than most of the printers in the line-up (exceeded only by Konica Minolta’s magicolor 5430DL), while Kyocera’s FS-C5025N, although looking horrendously expensive at purchase, will only cost users about half as much over three years as the Lexmark and Konica Minolta models.
Hewlett-Packard’s new Colour LaserJet CP2025n, although priced relatively close to the average for buyers, turns out to cost almost as much in the long-term as the Lexmark and Konica Minolta machines because the consumables are priced at the high end – same consumables and same pricing as the Colour LaserJet CM2320nf MFP reviewed in the article "New Colour LaserJet MFPs from Hewlett-Packard – easy on the pocket, till you start printing".
Because the purchase price and consumables prices for the CP2025n are at the upper end of the pricing scale, the machine remains as one of the most expensive printers in the class regardless of the page volume put through it. Eight of its competitors cost significantly less to run long-term.
Total Cost of Printing - A4 Colour Laser Printer
There is also, of course, the technical side of the printer to consider, including hardware and productivity features.
Lexmark C530nIt is difficult for a colour laser printer to stand out against the crowd from a hardware perspective in a class where network interface is now pretty much standard. Some printers (such as the Lexmark C530dn) are duplex ready at a low purchase price. In some small way, the CP2025n does so by ensuring that manual duplexing, through the driver, is available for those who are not able to buy the auto-duplex-ready CP2025dn and through the provision of n-up printing and an embedded web server – always a useful feature.
Of more interest, though, are a couple of the printer setup options, accessed through the printer’s control panel. These revolve around the way in which the printer handles the ‘Toner Out’ situation.
Most printers operate with one of two systems: ‘Toner Out’ stops the printer at a pre-determined point so that print quality is never compromised; or, a ‘Toner Low’ message is triggered, relying on the user to respond to the resulting degradation in print quality. Hewlett-Packard’s CP2025 allows the user to decide what action should be taken.
At the point where the ‘Toner Out’ message is delivered, the printer can either stop printing or the user can over-ride the cut-out to allow the toner cartridge to continue printing until the point where print quality degradation is visible.
In addition, most colour printers will stop printing if one colour toner is exhausted. With the CP2025, the user can choose whether this should be the action taken or whether the printer should continue printing in black only.
Continuing to print in black automatically can be either a blessing or a curse to users, depending on the type of print jobs involved. At least if the printer stops printing entirely there are no wasted prints and no wasted paper, whereas if the printer just keeps printing in black only, without any notice or warning (when the print job is a customer facing colour document), paper, toner and time are all wasted because the job will need reprinting.
To conclude, Hewlett-Packard’s CP2025n comes in at 20ppm when there is the 21ppm Colour LaserJet CP3505n already in the line-up, costing only about 15% more than the CP2025n. It is difficult to see where the differentiation lies.
With no high capacity cartridges, the CP2025 loses out to the CP3505, which has 6,000-page high capacity cartridges in comparison to the 3.500-page black and 2,800-page colour cartridges of the CP2025.
What this means is that, although the CP3505n costs 15% more to buy than the CP2505n, in terms of running costs over three years, it actually works out 35% less expensive to own – a significant saving for a machine that, from a pragmatic standpoint, appears to be very similar.
Indeed, there is only one printer in the line-up presented here that costs less to run than the CP3505n over three years (2,500 pages per month) – and that is the ultra low-cost Kyocera FS-C5025n. That puts the CP3505 in a very strong position and raises questions about the value of the CP2025 in the market!
~End~
Models in comparison:
Brother HL-4040CN; Canon LBP-5300; Dell 3100cn; Epson AcuLaser C2800N; Hewlett-Packard Colour LaserJet CP2025n; Konica Minolta magicolor 5430DL; Kyocera FS-C5025N; Lexmark C530dn; Oki C5650n; Samsung CLP-610ND; Xerox Phaser 6180N
