Small, sturdy and safe color laser printer

The Lexmark C3426dw color laser printer is compact and well-structured, with security features, is very suitable for processing sensitive data, and is suitable for almost any device.

The US$399 Lexmark C3426dw is a single-function color laser printer, right at the border between entry-level and mid-range. It is comparable to our 2017 Editors’ Choice Award Brother HL-L8260CDW and 2019 Editor’s Choice Award winners and the best choice of the year for color laser inkjet alternatives, Epson WorkForce Pro WF-C5290 network color printer. The C3426dw produces clear prints at a reasonable speed (although its duplex printing speed is slower), it can hold two optional paper trays, and is suitable for older operating systems as well as modern Android and iOS. It also has a series of security features usually found on more powerful high-volume printers. The only obstacle: its toner cost per page is too high to print hundreds of pages per month.

The C3426dw measures 9.6 x 16.2 x 15.5 inches (HDW) and weighs 35.5 pounds, which is very small for a color laser printer. Canon's imageClass LBP622Cdw is slightly taller, slightly wider, and slightly longer. Epson's WF-C5920 occupies a lot more space, but the weight is reduced by a few pounds. It is worth noting that the HP Color LaserJet M454dw and Brother HL-L8260CDW are larger and heavier.

Connection options include Ethernet 10/100/1000 BaseTX (RJ-45), Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, connection to a single PC via USB 2.0, and Wi-Fi for direct calls with smartphones or tablets Direct.

Mobile devices can also be connected via mobile printing applications from Apple AirPrint, Google Cloud Print, Mopria and Lexmark. To simplify the wireless connection, you can also get the Lexmark mobile assistant app.

In addition to the standard printer driver, the C3426dw package also includes a PCL 5 and PCL 6 page description language (PDL) emulating HP and a driver emulating Adobe PostScript 3. They provide layout and graphic design applications such as Adobe InDesign and Adobe Illustrator. Illustrator’s native file format is PostScript, making C3426dw an ideal choice for printing prepress composites and even short-run marketing brochures and flyers. 

You can set various options, monitor toner levels, generate usage reports, etc. on the 2.8-inch color touch screen control panel.

Or, you can make configuration changes, monitor consumables, set security options, generate user reports, configure user profiles to restrict permissions, etc. through the built-in Web portal of C3426dw. The portal can be accessed from almost any web browser, including those on smartphones.

Paper handling includes a 250-sheet paper tray and a 1-sheet overlay tray for printing disposable checks, labels and envelopes. If this is not enough to meet your needs, you can add one or two 250-sheet trays. The full monthly duty cycle of the printer is 50,000 pages, and the recommended maximum monthly print volume is 5,000, but considering the cost of toner, I will introduce it in detail below. If you want to pump water, this printer is not a good choice. one tenth.

Among other printers mentioned here, Canon's LBP622Cdw is the only printer that does not support input capacity expansion. It comes with a 250-sheet paper tray and a 1-sheet cover tray. Canon's duty cycle is only 4,000 sheets, and its recommended monthly print volume is 2,500 pages. LaserJet M454dw and HL-L8260CDW are very similar to C3426dw in terms of paper capacity, expansion options, duty cycle and monthly maximum.

Lexmark printers (even low-end models) have more connectivity and compatibility options, so you can’t move. For example, the built-in cloud connector allows you to securely access files from multiple popular cloud services. Lexmark also provides drivers for a variety of different operating systems and platforms, including Windows back to version 7, macOS, multiple Linux, Citrix, multiple Novel OS iterations, and Unix.

Security features abound. If your business needs to comply with HIPAA, GDPR, or other strict data security protocols, C3426dw is a good choice to meet these requirements.

The confidential print setting allows you to set 10 PINs to protect the documents in the C3426dw's memory, so only those who know the document PIN can print it. You can also keep copies of all documents on the printer, set expiration options, restrict access to the printer and embedded Web server after multiple failed login attempts, and more.

I tested C3426dw over Ethernet on a standard Intel Core i5 test bed PC running Windows 10 Professional. Lexmark rates C3426dw at 26 pages per minute in single-sided or single-sided mode. However, since C3426dw defaults to double-sided printing, we also tested the speed at which it can print double-sided pages. (Its duplex level is 13 images per minute, or ipm. Each edge constitutes an image.) Among the other printers mentioned here, only Canon LBP622Cdw and HP M454dw default to duplex; we will not default Test and record the double-sided printing speed on the machine in this mode.

C3426dw produced our 12-page Microsoft Word text document in duplex at 16.1ipm and 16.1ipm, and produced the same document in simplex at 26.4ppm. Both scores are very typical for the printers in this group, and are neither particularly fast nor particularly slow.

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Next, I printed a complex set of color PDF, XLS, and PPT documents, which contained embedded charts, graphics, photos, and fonts in different sizes and colors. I combined these scores with the results of a 12-page monochrome text document to calculate the score for printing our entire set of business documents. Here, C3426dw has a simplex score of 11.3ppm and a duplex score of 9.2ipm. In both aspects, C3426dw is slower than all the other machines mentioned here, sometimes significantly; HP's M454dw is the fastest in its class, with a simplex score of 18.4 ppm and a duplex score of 13.8 ppm.

Although the C3426dw is not a photo printer, I also timed it when it printed the 4 x 6 inch snapshots we tested. The average time per image is about 37 seconds, which is two to three times that of most color laser printers. 

C3426dw Sometimes slow speed is important to you depending on your print volume. If you only need one or two pages at a time, you may not notice. However, if you want to print a long two-sided document, you need to tap with your toe and wait for the last page to appear.

It has been 25 years since Apple released the first color laser printer, and this technology has made considerable progress. However, in terms of output quality, not all lasers are the same-especially when printing documents that contain colored fonts, graphics, and photos. All Lexmark printers that I have tested recently do a great job in this regard. The images they print have accurate, vivid colors and vivid details, as well as text that is close to typesetting machine quality.

C3426dw provides a clear-looking type, and the minimum size we tested is 4 points. Even some decorative and display fonts are above average in readability. The shape and spacing of the characters are very attractive.

This little Lexmark also handles our full-page Excel and PowerPoint charts and graphs very well, with almost no streaks in dark solid fills and complex gradients. The embedded and stand-alone photos I printed look above average and are ideal for marketing materials such as product catalogs or real estate announcements. I have no complaints about the print quality of C3426dw.

As I have pointed out many times, entry-level and mid-range laser printers are difficult to compete with inkjet printers in terms of cost per page. If you buy Lexmark's highest-yield black toner cartridge (4,500 pages) and tri-color toner cartridge (4,500 pages each), the cost of C3426dw monochrome pages is approximately 2.3 cents, and the cost of color pages is 13.3 cents. 

(I should point out that to get a toner cartridge at a low enough price to achieve these cost-per-pages, you must purchase and return the toner cartridge through Lexmark's recycling program. Otherwise, your operating costs will be higher.) 

Compared with similar laser AIOs, these numbers are not bad. The cost per page (CPP) of Brother HL-L8260CDW is 2.5 cents for black pages and 12.7 cents for color pages; the running cost of HP M454dw is 2.2 cents for monochrome and 14.2 cents for color; Canon LBP622cdw is the most expensive in this group , 3 cents for black and 15.4 cents for color.

The use cost of large-capacity laser printers and inkjet printers is much lower. Epson’s WF-C5290 is one of the company’s many inkjet laser alternatives. The price is about 1.7 cents for black printing and 7.7 cents for color printing. Several Epson EcoTank and EcoTank Pro, Canon MegaTank, Brother INKvestment Tank and HP Smart Tank Plus machines cost less to print black and white and color pages—sometimes even lower.

If you are single-minded about laser printers, you can also reduce operating costs by purchasing large-volume machines. For example, Brother's HL-L9310CDW prints black pages about 1.2 cents per sheet, and color prints about 7.5 cents per sheet. Every laser printer manufacturer provides at least one high-volume solution, usually several. 

The more you print, the more important CPP is. As mentioned above, the recommended maximum monthly print volume for C3426dw is 5,000 pages, or 60,000 pages per year. But for every 60,000 pages printed, a CPP difference of 1 cent will cost you $600. If you print 60,000 pages per year in five years, then... that's a lot of money. Spending a few hundred dollars upfront can save you thousands of dollars during the entire life cycle of the printer, so before making a purchase decision, please evaluate your printing needs and focus on the entire life cycle cost.

Lexmark's C3426dw is a compact and compact color laser printer with good and reliable printing results. It is not particularly fast, but it is scalable, secure, and can easily serve small offices of up to about five users. It can handle various printing tasks calmly. At the time of this review, its selling price is much lower than the already low suggested retail price, so it will not occupy your budget. If you print a few hundred pages every month and make sure to replace empty ink cartridges through Lexmark's recycling program-simple and environmentally friendly-then the cost per page is reasonable, and C3426dw is a good choice.

The Lexmark C3426dw color laser printer is compact and well-structured, with security features, is very suitable for processing sensitive data, and is suitable for almost any device.

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William Harrel is a contributing editor, focusing on printer and scanner technology and reviews. He had been writing articles about computer technology long before the Internet appeared. He has authored or co-authored 20 books-including the popular "Bible", "Secret" and "Fool" series-on digital design and desktop publishing software applications such as Acrobat, Photoshop and QuarkXPress, and prepress imaging technology. His latest work is HTML, CSS and JavaScript Mobile Development for Dummies (a manual for creating websites for smartphones and tablets). In addition to writing hundreds of articles for PCMag, over the years, he has also contributed to several other computer and business publications, including Computer Shopper, Digital Trends, MacUser, PC World, The Wirecutter and Windows Magazine, and he has served as Printer and scanner specialist on About.com (now Livewire).

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