Lexmark C543DN Color Laser Printer Review

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(More customer reviews)A paper sensor issue with my ancient HP LJ4L gave me an excuse to look for a new printer. It is used intermittanly so I wanted a laser, it is normally in my basement so I wanted networking and duplex, and color would be a plus if not too expensive. After looking at all the possiblities, my head was spinning and I was ready to settle for a mono-laser with network and duplex.
But then I stumbled on the new Lexmark C543dn color laser on sale that had everything I wanted, a high resolution color laser with networking and duplex. The only review I could find of the C543dn was from [..] which thought the colors were too vivid. PC Magazine gave the similar faster C544dn an Editors Choice and only criticised text smaller than 4 or 5 points. It may not be small, but it is not as tall as some color lasers and I was able to carry and place it myself without any help.
Open Office Writer doesn't even list fonts smaller than 6 points and Word 2007 does not list fonts smaller than 8 points (unless you shrink fonts). French Script may start to lose detail at 4 points, but Arial is fully formed at 3 points and Times New Roman is easy to read (with a magnifiying glass) at 3 points, with only a slight defect in small "e". As far as I can tell, text at any normal size is sharp and well formed.
When I first started printing images, colors did seem too vivid. But the default if you select "Image" from print properties is "sRGB Vivid". If you select "Text" it also uses sRGB Vivid, to make sure that you get solid text. The default "Text/Graphics" uses sRGB Display to approximate your computer display. Those and other color settings can be adjusted from the printer's web interface (or print properties menu while printing).
I still found red and blue a little heavy for my taste (orange too red and green too blue), or maybe just not enough yellow. So I settled on these printer color changes for now:
RGB Brightness = 1 (default 0)
Cyan = -1 (default 0)
Magenta = -2 (default 0)
That works for me using default "Text/Graphics" to print natural looking photos or pdf's. I do select Text if just printing text. The Image setting may be better for colorful brochures or if you expect colors to fade.
The only other criticism from [..] was cost of supplies. But Lexmark implemented a rewards program that gives you any 10th black or color free, and free imager when you need it. So that brings the cost in line typical for this printer class at 3 cents/page for black and 15 cents for color.
The C543dn is rated for 35,000 prints per month, but high yield color cartridges are good for 2000 pages and black for 2500 pages and imagers are rated for 30,000 pages. So high high volume corporate users would need something bigger with larger toner capacity.
But for a casual user, with a few adjustments, I am very pleased with the Lexmark C543dn and cannot imagine what could be better for my needs (other than wireless, which is an option).
Notes: Even if you are one of the rare people who reads and follows instructions, the printer will say check for packing materials when you first power it up. The similar C540 comes with 1000 page starter toner, the C544 is faster and has a USB port to print pictures from memory stick or camera without a computer.

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