Conclusion

Its never easy to pick out an expensive product, especially one that is as fundamental to everyday activity as a printer. The product category which the CLP-510n falls in is very competitive and each company involved is not only battling it out on price, but speed, performance, and features.

The CLP-510n is not the cheapest printer out there- you can get a color laser for a a good deal less than this one, but you will have to make some sacrifices to do so. At first glance the CLP-510n is a solid printer but is not extraordinary: its first page out time, print speed, and similar specs are pretty standard for comparable printers, its resolution is lower than some others. But once you look a little deeper the price of the CLP-510n becomes justified, this is done through things like its processor, large memory amount, and features, like automatic duplexing. The two things that really set this printer apart, aside from those already mentioned are its scalablity and its versatility. If your demands grow this printer can take more memory, more paper, and handle larger and more frequent tasks, which makes it a great printer for the long term. Its versatility can be seen in its quality color printing, its ability to print on many different surfaces, its ability to work with many different operating systems, and its networking ability.

The CLP-510n is a great investment and will do a good job of taking care of your printing needs. I was very happy with its results in all our tests and it seems like the printer should be more than enough to satisfy its owner from anywhere to a home office to a mid-sized professional business environment. The one issue I could see some consumers, especially small office/home users, is that for the cost of this printer they can get a high quality multifunction printer. This MFP will probably not be color laser, but when the budget is tight some people may need a scanner/copier more than they need color laser printing. This is not a necessarily flaw with the CLP-510n but it is going to be an impediment for some people who are looking to make the jump up into the color laser price range.

Punk Rock (+)
- High print quality
- Great speed
- Good bang-for-your-buck

Progressive Rock (-)
- Very heavy
- Lots of add-on accessories
- Only 1200 dpi