Dan Littman

Oki Data B4300

Oki Data's B4300 is an LED printer, which means that it uses a fixed array of LEDs--rather than the scanning laser beam used in a laser printer--to charge its drum's photoconductive surface. Our experience with other LEDs has been that they produce somewhat muddier prints than lasers do, but this Oki model delivered impressively crisp and accurate, albeit a bit light, text. It also generated clean, narrow parallel lines (though some banding was noticeable), and even printed gray-scale images with reasonably good detail. If you work in tight quarters, you'll appreciate its compact footprint; measuring only 14 inches across by 16 inches deep by 9 inches high, it can easily occupy a shelf near your PC. Oki Data's warranty covers the printer's mechanical and electronic components for one year, about standard in the industry; the LED array gets five years under warranty. The 4300's control panel comes with an LCD and four sets of buttons--one for each level in the menu hierarchy, which makes operating the printer nearly mistake-proof--and Oki Data provides a good printed set-up guide and thorough on-screen manuals.
The 4300 runs significantly more slowly than other SOHO printers--its 8.1-ppm text speed is 3.2 ppm slower than the average of small-office lasers we've tested lately, and its 4.7-ppm graphics speed trails the average by 1.3 ppm. Also, the 4300's auxiliary paper feed accepts only one sheet at a time, and its paper support isn't long enough.
The 4300 costs $419--making it the second-costliest small-office printer in our test set--but that price includes an ethernet adapter, so it's a good choice if you plan to share the printer with a small workgroup.
This compact model with networking capability could fit the bill for a one- or two-person home office.

Buying Information

Oki Data B4300 $ http://