Oki C3400n

Different printers are obviously intended for different environments, and this Oki certainly isn't one for a busy office. Its little toner cartridges will print just 1,000 pages each and it works out far dearer to run than any other colour printer as soon as those starter cartridges need replacing.

It's a boxy design with prints feeding onto the top of the unit, which springs upwards to give easy access to the internals. The front also flips open to reveal a single-sheet multipurpose feed slot, but there's little else in the way of features. There's an ethernet port - although that's pretty much standard among these colour lasers - but no duplex unit, and instead of an LCD screen you'll have to use a software utility to access the printer's settings.

That's not to say it's a bad printer, though. The quality of its prints isn't stunning but it's perfectly acceptable, both with plain text and images, and the speed is even more impressive. It churned out our 50-page mono letter in a quick 2mins 44secs, and its DTP document time of 1min 42secs was top of the class. It's also pretty quick to spring into action, taking just 14secs to start printing from both warm and sleep.

The Oki C3400n is a basic printer, with few built-in features and no optional extras to improve it at a later date. It's quick to print and offers decent quality, but we simply can't recommend a laser that's so uneconomical to run: after just 10,000 pages, you'll have spent more than £600 on it, compared to about £485 on the Brother, and the costs will continue to mount the longer you own it.

Author: Darien Graham-Smith