Panasonic KX-P6500

Panasonic uses the same mini-tower style design for the KX-P6500 that's prevalent throughout its range of desktop printers. The only visual differences to the KX-P6300 are an extra display LED for low toner or an absent process unit, and a small reset button. The latter is used to print a configuration page, but it won't cancel the current print job. Resident memory has been doubled to 512Kb, and a 72-pin SIMM socket behind a small metal panel will take further upgrades up to a maximum of 4Mb. We installed a standard 4Mb SIMM to check compatibility, and while the KX-P6500 accepted it without problem, it made only minor improvements over the standard configuration.

As with the KX-P6300, the KX-P6500 has a 600dpi « 600dpi print engine. In the case of the 6500, the specification is improved by EET (edge enhancement technology), which aims to improve output to a simulated 1,200dpi by smoothing out jagged edges, but this seemed to make no significant difference. The cheaper KX-P6300 beat it consistently for output quality.

The KX-P6500 also features a toner-saving option, allowing you to choose between three different levels of density. Paper handling capabilities are impeccable. The paper tray positioning is strange, but all paper weights are dealt with. The extra memory in the KX-P6500 gave it a slight edge over the KX-P6300 in print speeds. The KX-P6500 produced a solid 6ppm for text prints, with the DTP and Report tests dropping only slightly to a slower 5ppm.

Rather than using the more popular Windows Printing System, Panasonic supplies its own proprietary version which works just as well. A tidy Console utility provides access to all the printer settings, queue information and a log of the last ten jobs printed. A status window gives real-time activity details and duplicates the printer display panel. The current print job can also be cancelled from software. Some features, such as reverse order printing and manual duplexing are only available when you're using Panasonic's Print Manager utility, but this has an adverse effect on the print speed. Documentation is particularly good and the driver software can be installed in server mode for a workgroup environment. This is an impressive product, but the improvements over the KX-P6300 don't really justify the £80 price difference.

Author: labs