Epson AcuLaser C2600N

We've been hearing about how a paperless office will revolutionise the workplace for more than a decade now. Even with ever-increasing email usage, irrespective of what tech pundits may claim, the truly paperless office is still a long way away. Epson's AcuLaser C2600N is a flexible colour laser printer designed to keep a small business ticking, and help produce marketing or report material internally.

This hulking grey and beige machine measures 50cm high, around 55cm deep, and 77cm wide with paper trays extended. The C2600N is a bulky printer, weighing in at 37 kg, and side access to the consumables means you'll need a wide desk to support it. A silver panel sits on the front face, and sports an LCD screen along with six buttons for control. Paper trays are present to hold up to 650 pages, with a 250-sheet output tray on the top of the machine.

The C2600N ships with 64MB of RAM by default (upgradable to 512MB), and supports common emulations including Standard ESC/Page Colour, ESC/Page, PCL6 (Mono), and Adobe PostScript 3. Both Mac and PC are fully supported. A 10/100 Ethernet connection is provided as standard (along with parallel and USB 2.0) and is managed via Epson's WebManager application. The app is straightforward and easy to use, and provides access to printer information and jobs.

The machine takes four separate cartridges to cover CMYK toners, and there's a waste cartridge at the side. Installation and setup is a little time consuming, as you have to install each cartridge in turn. The C2600N must first be powered up, and the display prompts for you to install cartridges. Though it takes around 20 minutes, it's a straightforward process as the directions are clear. There's even a help button if you get stuck running through the maintenance procedures.

The Epson printer employs AcuBrite toner, which produces extremely rich and vibrant colours with even coverage across the entire page. The C2600N is pretty zippy - as is expected of a networkable small-business laser - and managed print at speeds of up to 28 pages per minute monochrome, and around seven in colour. This is adequate for most small businesses, and the device boasts a monthly duty cycle of up to 120,000 mono pages or 48,000 colour ones.

The Epson AcuLaser C2600N offers great print quality, an easy-to-use interface complete with a help button, and a two-year on-site warranty that will provide plenty of peace of mind for businesses.