Canon imageClass LBP6670dn

Similar to the point of seeming nearly identical to the Canon imageClass LBP6650dn ($400 street, 3.5 stars)?the printer it's in the process of replacing in Canon's mono laser line?the Canon imageClass LBP6670dn ($399 direct) offers essentially the same speed, output quality, and paper handling. The one significant difference is the addition of PostScript, which you may or may not need. The good news is that if there's nothing much added, there's also nothing lost, which means the LBP6670dn offers enough to make it well worth considering.

You can find the LBP6670dn on Canon's Web site under its home office section, but given its speed and paper handling, the natural home for the printer is in a micro or small office or workgroup. As with the LBP6650dn, it's a little large to share a desk with, at 11.4 by 15.8 by 14.9 inches (HWD). That said, if you can find room for it, it's certainly suitable for a home office with unusually heavy-duty print needs.

One of the reasons for the large size is the printer's paper handling. The LBP6670dn is big enough to hold a built-in duplexer (for printing on both sides of a page), a 250-sheet paper drawer, and a 50-sheet multipurpose tray. That should be enough for most micro and small offices, but for heavier-duty printing needs, you can also add a 500-sheet second tray ($199 direct), which adds 5.3 inches to the printer height.

Setup and Speed
For my tests, I connected the printer to a network and installed the drivers on a system running Windows Vista. Setup was standard in most ways, with two minor complications. Unlike most network printers, the LBP6670dn comes with network support disabled, and you have to change settings through the front-panel menu before the printer will work on a network. In addition, the printer comes set to duplex by default.

As I've mentioned in other Canon reviews, Canon says it's moving towards shipping all of its duplexing laser printers with the drivers set for duplexing. This is a nice touch for encouraging paper-saving with duplex printing, but it slows down print speed, as indicated by the printer's rating, at 35 pages per minute (ppm) for simplex and 17 ppm for duplex. For obvious reasons, this may not be the setting you want.

On our business applications suite (timed with QualityLogic's hardware and software), the LBP6670dn turned in a reasonably fast 10.3 pages per minute with its default settings, including duplexing. I also ran the tests in simplex mode, and got a convincingly faster 14.8 ppm. That makes it a touch faster than both the LBP6650dn, at 13.8 ppm, and the Editors' Choice OKI B431dn ($349.99 direct, 4 stars), at 11.1 ppm.

Output Quality and Other Issues
Output quality for the LBP6670dn is a touch above par overall for a mono laser. Text quality is at the high end of a tight range where the majority of mono lasers fall, making it more than good enough for any business need, but a little short of what I'd want for serious desktop publishing.

Graphics output qualifies as par for a mono laser, but just barely, with a tendency to show dithering in the form of visible patterns at some shades of gray. Some gradients in my tests also looked a bit like smudges rather than smooth gradients. Most people should consider the output suitable for any internal business need. Whether you also consider it suitable for PowerPoint handouts or other material going to clients and customers will depend on how much of a perfectionist you are.

Photo quality is also at the low end of par. It's easily good enough for business needs like printing a Web page with recognizable photos. Whether you consider it suitable for printing a company or client newsletter will, once again, depend on how much of a perfectionist you are.

One potential issue for the printer is its running cost. The claimed 2.8 cents per page is a little high for a printer in this price range. The less expensive B431dn, for example, claims 1.8 cents per page. Depending on how much you print, the penny per page difference, or $100 per 10,000 pages, can translate to hundreds of dollars more in total cost of ownership over the life of the printer.

If total cost of ownership is the determining factor for you in picking a printer, the B431dn is almost certainly the better printer for your needs. However, the Canon printer delivers better speed and text quality, and a highly attractive balance of speed, output quality, and paper handling. If you don't print enough for the running cost to matter, or you're willing to pay extra for the better speed and output quality, the Canon imageClass LBP6670dn is a strong contender, and may well be your preferred choice.

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