Oki C5100n review

We're not sure how Oki has managed it, but the C5100n crams a single-pass LED engine into a smaller space than Lexmark and Tally's four-pass devices. The C5100n has four drums as well as four toner cartridges in order to print colour pages in one fell swoop.

Although LED technology isn't known for its outstanding print quality, the C5100n - with its true resolution of 600 x 1,200dpi - isn't only fast, it delivers great quality as well. Mono images had excellent detail and contrast, while fades and transitions were smooth with barely noticeable half-toning. Mono and reverse text were excellent as well. Colour images were vibrant and business graphics in the Excel test crisper than most. The photomontage didn't match Epson's, though - skin tones were too red and half-tones were much more obvious.

In colour, the C5100n trashed the competition for speed. It printed our 25-page letter at 10.5ppm - almost twice as fast as the Lexmark and Tally - and close to the claimed 12ppm. The 16-page PDF took just 94 seconds to emerge, while Lexmark and Tally took more than three minutes.

Mono documents didn't match Oki's claims, but were fast nonetheless. The 50-page test was printed at 18.4ppm - slower than Lexmark and Tally. From warm, a single mono page took 15 seconds and we had to wait only 22 seconds for a colour page. Warm-up time was a distant second to the 'instant' HP - we had to wait 80 seconds for the first page.

Alongside the 200MHz CPU, 32MB of RAM and the USB 2 interface, there's also integrated 10/100 Ethernet - amazing considering the price. Costs mount once you add extras, though. Two extra 530-sheet paper trays cost a hefty £309 each, while a duplex unit adds £239 to the price. Thankfully, manual duplexing is easier than most, since the printed side is placed face up in the tray. With other printers, you have to reverse the order of pages to print the second side. Plus, there's a 100-sheet multipurpose tray - useful for printing non-standard stock.

Four CD-ROMs are provided and include useful network-monitoring utilities. IT managers can also prevent certain users from printing in colour. Running costs - 1.4p and 6.4p for mono and colour pages respectively - are competitive even though there are four drums, a fuser unit and transfer belt to replace.

Users will appreciate the LCD status panel, and the single-year warranty is only beaten by Tally. You won't find a faster printer with integrated networking cheaper than this. It's a bargain.