Despite heavy inroads being made by colour inkjets, laser printers are still the only way to go for high-volume printing in an office environment. The high-speed of output, relatively low running costs, colour fastness and available accessories add up to make laser a much better choice for demanding environments.

Epson's AcuLaser CX11NF is a colour laser multifunction device designed to fit into a small office environment and handle printing, scanning and faxing duties for a workgroup or business unit. At the heart of the system is a 192MHz processor and 128MB of memory (upgradeable to 576MB). The printer supports Standard ESC/Page Colours emulation mode and is rated to operate between 10°C and 32°C.

The grey machine is physically bulky, standing 67cm tall and weighing more than 34kg, but it's packed with features. On the downside, there's only enough space in the supplied paper tray to store 180 sheets. The output tray holds 250 sheets.

The CX11NF ships with cables, software, consumables and a pack of 100gsm paper to get you up and running immediately. Individual toner cartridges are used for C, M, Y and K colours, and are available in both standard size (1500-sheet) and high capacity (4000-sheet). The photoconductor unit is rated to print 10,500 colour pages and 42,000 black and white ones.

The machine sports both USB and Ethernet connectors and ships with both Mac and PC drivers. Scanning and copying takes place at an optical resolution of 600dpi (up to 9600dpi optimised), and the Super G3 fax works over either regular phone lines or a PBX system, so it should fit into just about any office environment.

Print speeds were impressive, with the unit managing to output at 4.5 pages per minute in colour and 22ppm in monochrome, and the menu system is easy to use. A LCD on the front panel keeps the user informed of what the AcuLaser is doing--so there's no sending a print job from one desk and then wondering if and when it will pop out of the printer.

At $1899 with a one-year warranty, Epson's do-it-all laser printer is good value for small businesses. The only things it lacks are a memory card slot and higher-capacity default paper tray.