Color-Laser-Printer: Xerox Workcentre 6515DNI
After my 15-year-old Konica Minolta magicolor 2530DL finally died, I was on the hunt for a new color laser printer. This post outlines my requirements and compares the top contenders, ultimately leading to my choice of the Xerox Workcentre 6515DNI.
I finally gave up my 15-year-old color laser printer, the Konica magicolor 2530DL, due to a failed firmware update. I cannot find out how to reset the firmware via a USB-Stick since most links now go to 404, and the DL model from 2003 does not have a parallel port anymore. USB and Ethernet are dead. Help is appreciated!
In contrast to the perfect Linux drivers, the Windows drivers became frustrating with a Windows 10 update: printing often ended with just one page and the rest hung on “processing”. Sometimes the printer misplaced the layout. Sadly, it was time for a new one!
One thing: Coming from an agency background, print quality is of course king. I spared Samsung, HP, and Co. They may have good quality, but I heard several times that they are not long-living products and get very hot.
I was looking for
- A Laser Printer (ever got wet ink on paper?)
- Good Printing Quality
- A Duplex Printer
- If Combi: A Good Scanner (CCD before CIS)
- WLAN (CloudPrint)
- Scan to USB
- Copy
- Linux Support
Final Round
Xerox Workcentre 6515DNI
- Printing @ 1200x2400dpi with photos and text having great detail
- Xerox Drivers on Linux are not great and bypass CUPS, but you can download the Windows installation and extract the PPD-file from there.
- Android Software looks ok.
- Android Print Service looks ok.
- CCD Scanner
- Tester Reviews and Example Printouts.
- Released 2016
If you are looking for a printer only: Xerox Versalink 500DN.
Kyocera Ecosys M5526cdw
- Printing @ 1200x1200dpi, text quality suffers because of toner diffusion.
- Eco-friendly toner (finally!).
- Mobile Print/Scan App looks OK, though it may crash.
- Print Service for Android
- Released 08/2018
Samsung Xpress C1860FW
- Very good printing quality for the price.
- Not said to last very long.
- Expensive maintenance.
- Print Service for Android
- Mobile Print/Scan App
Brother DCP-L3550CDW
- Printing @ 2400x600dpi.
- Working perfectly except for Print Quality.
- Released 08/2018.
- Print Service for Android.