This weekend I was getting pissed off at the laser printer in Dan's office. It's an ancient Laserjet 4 - totally serviceable but for some reason the thing keeps jamming. We use 24lb paper rather than 20lb to minimize jamming (it cured it in the inkjet printers) but the Laserjet keeps jamming anyhow. Every time I have to fix the jam I have to disrupt Dan, move his phone out of the way, etc. and every time I need to print I have to interrupt him.

Last night I decided enough is enough. I'm buying a new laser printer. At first, I was looking at personal monochrome printers, then I realized: it's foolish to get a monochrome laser when all the proposals I send to clients are in color, and I spend a fortune in inkjet cartridges, so I'm getting a color laser. Also, if I need duplex printing, I need a printer designed for it because some laser printers not designed for duplex printing can be negatively effected by feeding the paper through after one side has been printed (I'm sure that problem has been largely mitigated in recent years so why take the chance). Lastly, Linux support is a requirement for my office. This printer is coming home eventually (I really want a workgroup printer for the office, not a small office printer like this one but we haven't the room for the printer I want until we move)

So, I came up with this list of requirements:

• Linux support
• Tolerable toner costs^* (more on this later)
• Windows and OS X support (the former can be guaranteed, and MOST of the time the latter is assured) since my designer is stuck on Windows, and I keep Macs around at the office.
• Duplex printing
• Ethernet support
• Postscript (most printers over $300 or so seem to support Postscript nowadays)
• LPT (IEEE1284) support in addition to USB

I started shopping online, was going to read reviews, and decided to check out Newegg first. I found the Xerox Phaser 6180DN listed for $499.00 (I did not end up paying $499, see below). Excellent price, but a lackluster review. I investigated the cost of toner, and it's a little bit higher than the competition. I read alternate reviews, and it seems the Newegg review is a bit of a fluke. The 6180DN is not going to produce the same quality photos that our Canon inkjets produce, but on the other hand, I do not expect ANY laser printer selling for under $7,000.00 to touch inkjet photo quality. Reviews remarked that text and graphic quality was excellent, and in the sub-$1,100 range, it's one of the fastest printers testing. I was sold - almost.

Problem: the printer comes with only 128MB of RAM installed. I started pricing out the memory expansion, and found a 512MB expansion kit for $700+. Holy cow! I thought to myself, "I thought all printers nowadays use standard RAM boards. So, I downloaded the specs on the memory expansion, on the printer, etc. and the only hint to the form factor they provide is that it takes DDR2 RAM. This could mean anything as far as the boards are concerned. So, I put off ordering for a day, hoping to make time to research it today.

Well, this evening after I finished my work, I had a few minutes to investigate. I decided to check Newegg, and saw the price was still $499 - much cheaper than any other vendors. I almost decided to wait, but I did some extensive searching and I found a generic ram expansion board for this printer, and found that it stated that the "512MB expansion kit" is a 200-pin DDR2/533 SO-DIMM. Just a standard laptop DIMM. Excellent. Hopefully it's keyed correctly and the pinout matches. I wouldn't put it past Xerox to use a nonstandard DIMM but that it's described as a 200-pin SO-DIMM is encouraging.

Wanting to double check on something else, I went back to Newegg - the price dropped to $424.00 with FREE shipping. That clinched it. I IMMEDIATELY purchased it. After I got home I debated whether or not I should buy the Xerox 128MB expansion kit, or if I should go for the standard SO-DIMM. A 512MB DDR2/533 SO-DIMM is under $30.00 now, so I figured what the heck - it's brand new, so if it doesn't work in the brand-new printer I can install it in a brand-new customer notebook. Either way, it's a brand-new board so it's not like I'd be selling a secondhand board. So, I went ahead and bought the SO-DIMM.

Link to the printer:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16828118198

I'm anxiously awaiting the printer's arrival. I paid for the rush order processing, and they stated guaranteed three-day shipping, so I expect the printer to come in Friday. If it comes in early enough Friday I'll set it up and start testing it, if not, I'll set it up and test it Sunday and write up a little review, but you'll have to consider my review weighted by the fact that I do not expect quality photo prints from small business or workgroup laser printers.

^*The toner cartridges for this printer are a little pricier than I'd like, but toner cartridges can be refilled. The chance of damaging the cartridge is next to nil, they can generally be refilled at least five times before wearing out or clogging, and if I damage it, toner cartridges are designed to be replaced anyway. I found an inexpensive toner refill kit vendor and if they offer a Phaser 6180 refill kit I'll try it out in a few months when I need the refill and report back here. The refills are $54.00ea and for that $54.00 you get the equivalent of the Xerox high-capacity toner cartridge load.