The enclosed paper drawer at the bottom holds 250 sheets, and you can add a second 250-sheet drawer for $149. It's a breeze to adjust the paper drawer's width and length guides, and the auxiliary tray for other media and envelopes sports a nifty single-sheet bypass slot. And the printer is easy to set up and use. Plus, the HP driver offers a nice variety of N-up, scale-to-fit, and watermark options as well as guiding you through manual duplex or double-sided printing.

One thing to consider is how fast you need to print. If you need lightning printing speeds, look elsewhere. With its single-pass design, the LaserJet 2600n prints page text at eight pages per minute (ppm) and around 6 ppm for color graphics. That's far from speedy, but probably quick enough for most users.

When you're dealing with black and white text, the LaserJet 2600n's output is exceptional, sharp and clear. On the other hand, photos turn out a bit light and undersaturated. I also saw a slight green shift in some photos and a reddish-brown tint in others. I also experienced an occasional paper jam with 24-pound paper and 4x6 photo paper. Overall, the color output is pretty good, but the 2600n won't replace an ink jet for printing high-quality photos.

The quality of this printer on standard plain paper impressed me. Frequent paper jams with 24 lb paper, with adhesive labels, and with 4x6 photo paper. Color toner smeared on both front and back of photos using either glossy or matte paper stock.

The control panel could be better. Its teeny two-line LCD lacks backlighting and isn't easy to read. And though the control panel's buttons let you move across and down the menu items, you can't move back up. This means that after setting a menu item, you have to jump back to the starting point, which is inconvenient. You should also note that the 2600n has no PostScript emulation; instead it offers host-based GDI, which, like an inkjet, relies on your computer to do the image processing.

The toner for the LaserJet 2600n is relatively expensive. A replacement black cartridge is rated for 2,500 pages and costs $75; the cyan, magenta, and yellow cartridges are rated for 2,000 pages and $83 apiece. Also, HP doesn't throw in a USB cable. On the other hand, the LaserJet does tout an impressive rated duty cycle of 35,000 pages per month.

The HP laser is relatively compact (16 by 18 by 15 inches) with two handgrips in its base to make the 41-pound unit easy to transport. It won't win any awards for its appearance, but its two-tone gray body isn't ugly, just plain.

If you want a simple color laser printer with wired networking, this is an affordable option. If, however, you need a fast printer or top-of-the-line color prints, you'll have to look elsewhere.

Macsimum rating: 7 out of 10