Connection is offered via ethernet or USB. Wireless printing is not an option. Using the Xerox 8560dn ink sticks, resolutions as high as 600×600 dpi are possible, and these resolutions will leave documents looking flawless and professional. Duplex printing comes standard, and the first page out time for all prints is under 5 seconds each. The 8560 has a monthly duty cycle of 85,000 pages, making it perfect for mid-level office environments.

All around, consumers tend to really like the Xerox 8560 and all its capabilities. One of the most highly reviewed things about this unit is its simple setup and ease of use. The image quality of produced documents is praised very often, and most find that the 8560 is very durable and reliable too. Its duplex printing features have been applauded for being quick and easy as well. The only real complaint seems to be not with the printer itself, but with the ink sticks that it uses. Many buyers find that the crayon smell can be a little overwhelming in small offices. However, if that’s the only complaint, most find that can easily be overlooked. Overall, the many pros outweigh the one or two subtle cons, making the Xerox Phaser 8560 a valued product for both homes and offices alike.

Up to 40 pages per minute can be printed using black Xerox 3600 toner, and the first page out time is as fast as 9 seconds per page. This speed is competitive, compared to other similar units on the market. Its upfront cost and cost per page using Phaser 3600 toner are affordable and inexpensive.  The printer toner has a page yield of 7,000 pages, and a high capacity version is available that can last 14,000 pages.  Resolutions as high as 1200×1200 dpi are possible with help from the Xerox 3600 toner.

Users tend to be pleased with the Xerox Phaser 3600.  Its great design and easy troubleshooting are often applauded. It also holds a good deal of paper, according to users, and the printer toner used in conjunction with this model is affordable.  Some, however, find that the upfront price is too expensive no matter how inexpensive the toners are. Also, many users have complained that when printing graphics, the unit slows down to sluggish rates.  All in all, though, the complaints are minor, and most users would recommend the Xerox Phaser 3600 to anyone looking for a elite office printer.

For printing, four Xerox 7500 toner cartridges are needed.  Black, cyan, magenta and yellow are the toners that offices will need to operate and print with this model.  The Phaser 7500 toner is relatively inexpensive and is very easy to find in stores and online.

Using black or color Xerox 7500 toner, a first page output time of 7 seconds is possible, which is quite good for a laser printer.  It can also create up to 35 pages per minute using color or black Phaser 7500 toner cartridges. The printer toner can even excel to high quality resolutions of 1200×1200 dpi.  These resolutions will create elite looking documents that are free of grainy images or text. 

User reviews for this unit are unanimously positive. Buyers love its ease of use and easy setup.  Its fast speeds and fast operation are also praised time and time again. Users have agreed that printing photos and graphics couldn’t be a more successful because these documents print with such high quality and sharp colors.  The only thing people tend to complain about is that replacement toner seems more expensive than it should be. However, remanufactured versions of the Xerox 7500 toner are available, making this unit a great buy for any small office.

Solid ink technology uses solid blocks of ink as opposed to the powder-based toner used by laser printers.  These ink blocks or ink sticks are melted into a reservoir and then sprayed onto the drum for transferring to the page. 

One main advantage of solid ink is that it tends to be much less expensive than toner.  This is due in part to the fact that ink sticks do not require a cartridge, so their manufacturing costs are lower.

Solid ink is also more eco-friendly for a number of reasons.  First, since solid ink sticks require no cartridge, there is nothing to be thrown away or wasted when the ink stick is consumed, unlike traditional toner cartridges.  Solid ink is also made from more eco-friendly materials, which are mostly non-toxic, making them less harmful for both humans and the environment.  Lastly, solid ink is often more adaptable to printing on recycled paper than laser toner.

Laser toner has advantages over solid ink technology, however.  Laser prints tend to be more durable than solid ink prints.  In some cases, solid ink prints can be scraped off the page with a fingernail or other sharp object.  Laser toner also requires less warmup time than solid ink, as ink sticks must be warmed for a longer period to ensure they are properly melted before printing.

While comparing print quality between the two technologies is a somewhat subjective process, they are fairly equally matched on this subject.  Solid ink sticks are sometimes perceived as being more vibrant, while laser prints are often perceived as being sharper. 

Overall, there is never a single solution for every user.  Users comparing the two technologies should take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of each in order to make an informed decision about which technology suits their particular needs.

The Xerox Phaser 8500N is a color solid-ink printer designed for the small or medium office environment.  It offers good printing speed and a low-waste ink system, but print quality is not quite up to laser standards.

The Phaser 8500N uses a relatively new technology developed by Xerox called solid ink.  Essentially, the Xerox 8500 ink comes in solid, waxy blocks that are melted into liquid and sprayed onto the drum for printing.  The benefits of this technology are generally faster printing speeds and less ink waste than inkjet or laser printers.  Unfortunately, the 8500N doesn’t benefit from these advantages as much as Xerox’s more expensive models, resulting in a relatively expensive solid ink printer with slower speeds and lower quality prints than most of its laser printer competition.

The printer is very easy to set up, and once you get the printer unpacked, connected, and the software installed, you are off and running.  The solid ink sticks are no more difficult to replace than the average toner cartridge and in some ways are easier, as they are notched to prevent users from accidentally placing ink sticks in the wrong slot.  The printer supports all modern versions of Windows, Mac, and even Linux operating systems, allowing for more flexibility than most laser printers.

Print quality is where the Xerox 8500N really suffers, however, as text is not as sharp as a typical laser printer.  Text quality is generally good, but on close inspection it shows a bit of fuzziness.  Graphics prints are mixed in quality.  Some graphics look fairly good, but photos are often uneven and ink dots are sometimes visible.  Print speed is average, at around 12 pages per minute in black and 11 pages per minute in color.  One of the main advantages of solid ink technology, speed, is just not very prevalent in the 8500N, as competing laser printers have the same or better speed for the same price.

Overall, the Xerox Phaser 8500N is a well-designed printer that gives a preview of what solid ink may do in the future.  Unfortunately, its many shortcomings make it difficult to recommend over its superior competition.

The Xerox Phaser 6180/DN is a fast color laser printer geared for small and medium office use. Its relatively low cost might even make it a good choice for home use, but its bulky size may be a challenge in most home environments.

The D and N in the name refer to duplexing and networking, respectively. The unit has a built-in duplexing (double-sided printing) feature, which can save money and paper waste. The printer features a built-in ethernet port for connecting directly to a network. This allows for sharing the printer easily across a network without the need for a host computer. In addition to the ethernet port, there are USB 2.0 and parallel connections available as well. The printer features a 400mhz processor and 128 mb of RAM, which can be upgraded to 1GB if more memory is needed. A 250-sheet main drawer is included, as well as a 150-sheet multipurpose tray for other types and sizes of media.

The unit ships with toner cartridges which have a capacity of 3,000 pages black and 2,000 pages color. High-capacity cartridges are available as well with capacities of 8,000 pages black and 6,000 pages color. Though the high-capacity cartridges are more expensive, the per-page costs are much lower, resulting in significantly lower operating costs. Using high-capacity cartridges, costs are around 2.4 cents per page in black, and 12.2 cents per page in color.

Print speeds are fast for its class, at 17 pages per minute black and 14 pages per minute color. Print quality is excellent, especially black text and graphics, both coming out very sharp and detailed. Color text and graphics suffer from artifacts and color inaccuracies, which is common for color laser printers.

Overall, the 6180/DN is a solid performing printer capable of high-volume use. Its speed and print quality are impressive, and the inclusion of duplexing and networking is a nice bonus. Choose the high-capacity toner cartridge replacements for lower ink costs.

The Xerox Phaser 6115MFP/N is a multifunction color laser printer with print, scan, copy, and fax capabilities built-in. It is designed with a small to medium office in mind, and with its multifunction capabilities, can likely replace multiple pieces of equipment in the office.

At 22 inches wide and 20 inches deep, and weighing 73 pounds, it is bulky for a laser printer. Home users who might be considering upgrading from a laser printer to a multifunction printer will likely find it too large for home use, but an office replacing a large copy machine may find it more compact than their previous machine.

The scanner includes a 50-page automatic document feeder, a great feature when scanning multi-page documents, as you can scan 50 pages at a time while you step away from the machine. It also includes a legal-sized flatbed scanner for scanning larger documents, and the hinges on the lid can expand somewhat to accommodate large books. Network scanning is available, allowing users to scan directly to their PC as long as the included software is installed.

The control panel is lacking somewhat in that it only has a two-line LCD display. With a multifunction unit with multiple features, modes, and settings, this seems inadequate. Often, you are forced to look through the manual to find definitions to cryptic codes. With a larger display, this would have been resolved. In an office environment, most employees will not take the time to locate the manual when a problem comes up, making this a stumbling block for many.

Copying and faxing are simple and straightforward, no more or less difficult than an average fax machine of copier. The copy function includes many useful features such as resizing from 50 to 200 percent and adjusting darkness and lightness from the front panel.

Overall, the Xerox Phaser 6115MFP/N is a solid performing multifunction printer that will replace multiple machines quite well. A cryptic front panel and slow color printing are its only major downsides.

The Xerox WorkCentre C2424 is a multifunction solid ink work group printer with a wealth of options and features and sells for around $3000.00, but prices will vary.

Printing with a 500 MHz processor and 256 MB standard RAM, 512 on the DP and DX models, the WorkCentre C2424 provides ample memory and processing for large documents. A standard 40 GB hard drive enables secure printing, saving frequently used documents and color schemes and the units are compatible with Linux, Mac and Windows systems. In addition the printers come equipped with networking via 10/100 BaseT Ethernet connections and USB 2.0 ports. Printing on a variety of media the C2424 from Xerox has a maximum of 1,675 sheets of input which is average for this class of printers. The printers also have standard collation and scanning resolution of 600 dpi on the C2424DN and 1200 dpi on the DX and DP models.

Print quality is above average, but photos need a bit of work. Printing at 24 pages per minute in black and white and color and copies are out about as fast. The Xerox WorkCentre C2424 has a monthly duty cycle of 85,000 impressions allowing it to be used in medium to large work groups. Xerox has included some of the best software in class for these printers; from printing statistics to email alerts and secure password enabled printing which can be interfaced with directly from your desktop. In addition to the great color prints cost per printed page is low due to the solid ink technology being used and is close to $.07 per color page; monochromatic prints are less than a cent. Xerox also has one of the highest rated customer service programs around, which is reassuring.

The Xerox WorkCentre C2424 delivers high quality multifunction color and monochrome documents at fast speeds, although it needs a little help with color photos, and has a lower price tag with loads of features for a work group that needs to work within their budget.

The Xerox Phaser 860 is a color solid ink printer that delivers quick prints at affordable pricing for the home office or small work group although a medium sized work group with smaller printing demands could easily utilize it; the Xerox Phaser 860 is higher priced at around $2,000.00.

The Xerox Phaser 860 doesn’t support much in the way of media size, only A4, A4 long and legal sizes are supported, which limits its usefulness in a more demanding office. The total media capacity for the Xerox Phaser 860, however, is 1,200 sheets which makes up for the lack of supported media styles. To power the solid ink printer Xerox has equipped a 250 MHz PowerPC processor and a base memory of 64/128 MB depending upon the model, in line with other printers of its class. Unfortunately the base model does not have networking standard; higher end models like the 860N, 860DP and 860 DX have 10/100BaseTX Ethernet connections. Optional features include duplex printing, hard drive, and pipeline printing at an additional price.

The color is presented in vivid detail and the first printed page is out faster than most laser printers; sometimes as fast as 3 seconds depending upon resolution. Cost per printed color document is close to 4 cents per page and dropping quickly; black and white documents can cost less than a cent per page and are presented quite well to 8 point fonts. The Xerox solid ink printing costs are lower than some laser printers. The 65,000 page per month yield is a little low for medium work groups but they may choose it for the 3.5 pages per minute speed for photo prints and 16 pages per minute for color documents, although this is somewhat slow comparatively speaking. Color correction and special features abound on the Xerox 860 with Intelligent Ready, TekColor Correction, Watermark, N-Up Printing, and Auto Tray Select options.

A fully loaded Xerox Phaser 860 solid ink printer will cost a pretty penny, but the savings from low cost color prints will pay for the initial investment and provide world class color prints.