Konica-Minolta 2550 Toner
magicolor 2550 Toner Cartridges

The Konica Minolta magicolor 2550 color laser printer is designed for the personal user or small office and is an upgrade to the Konica-Minolta 2430 toner printer. Its print quality is good for its price, but slow speeds and additional upgrade costs may make it a poor choice for a small office.

The Konica 2550 color laser printer sits in an awkward spot between a personal model, like the HP 1500 toner printer, and a small office model. On the one hand, its price may put it beyond the reach of a home user or a personal office user, but on the other hand, its small paper capacity and slower speeds may lessen its appeal as a small office model. Upgrade options are available, which can help with its shortcomings. For example, small offices which need more than its standard 200 page capacity can opt for an add-on paper tray with a capacity of 500 pages, but at a cost of $199 directly from the manufacturer. At that price, most buyers will want to consider a model with more capacity out of the box. A duplexing add-on is also available, which adds the ability to do two-sided printing, but its cost of $229 from the manufacturer is also likely to be prohibitive. It is also available in a 2550EN model which adds networking and a 2550DN model, which adds duplexing.

Konica Minolta magicolor 2550 toner cartridges are generous, with standard color laser toner cartridges holding 1,500 pages worth of ink, and high-capacity printer toner cartridges holding 4,500 pages. In contrast to many manufacturers, who ship their machines with "starter" cartridges of less-than-standard capacities, Konica (or QMS) actually includes high-capacity cartridges with the unit. Cartridges are more expensive than similar capacity cartridges, such as HP 2550 toner cartridges, resulting in a higher cost per page.

Print speed is decent, but unremarkable, at 20 pages per minute for monochrome and 5 pages per minute for color. Print quality is generally good. Text prints are sharp and clear, and graphics printing is passable, in line with most color lasers.

Overall, the Konica Minolta 2550 is a good printer, but it neither has the capacity for a small office, nor the affordable price for a personal user. The result is a model that has limited appeal to any market.