Lexmark’s new C522n color laser printer recently won the Editor’s Choice award from PC Magazine. We know this because Lexmark put out a press release the other day stating this. While it is a nice honor, the HP Color LaserJet 2600n, the Konica Minolta magicolor 2400W and the Ricoh Aficio G700 all won them as well. Technically, the C522n is the newest Editor’s Choice, so that does mean something. Any time a machine can unseat the legendary Ricoh Aficio G700 from atop its throne, it is worth noting.

The C522n is designed for network use and has a list price of $499, which makes it relatively affordable but still more than the HP 2600n. Of course, the first time you replace all the cartridges it will cost you around $540 if you buy the Lexmark brand, but that is another story. The only downside to the printer that PC Mag makes note of is that the graphic output of the machine is “a little low”, but even with the advances in printing over the years, people still likely have pretty low expecations for how well pictures will come out on a laser printer. According to the review, the C522n is best when it comes to printing text, both in terms of quality and speed. This is one of the reasons why they give it the slight edge over the HP.

You can check out PC Mag’s review.
And their comparison of similar models.

Lexmark’s new C522n color laser wins prestigious PC Magazine Editors’ Choice award [Press Release]

From a recent CNET story:

Lexmark International Group on Tuesday said quarterly profit fell by almost half, hurt by tough price competition and a slump in computer printer sales

We think that stories like this will become more common as more people grow tired of the high cost of ink. The home printing market has exploded recently, but may be starting to cool down just slightly. Ironically, the slowdown in sales resulted in Lexmark beating profit expectations for the quarter:

The higher-than-expected profit came as a result of lower operating expenses and weak printer sales, Lexmark said. Printer makers typically sell hardware at a loss in hopes of reaping long-term recurring sales of ink and toner, which are highly profitable.

Does anyone find it a little strange that they actually saw some benefit from selling fewer printers, supposedly their chief product? This shows the curious and now tenuous business model that the printer companies employ these days: lose money making the hardware, make it back with the ink. Only if people stop buying more and more printers that require more and more ink while at the same time using alternative ink products, printer manufacturers like Lexmark aren’t left with much to fall back on.

Lexmark profit falls; job cuts planned [CNET]