Win a Xerox Phaser 6010N

We want you to share your experiences with us
Win a Xerox Phaser 6010 and share your experience of this fantastic little printer with other people like you, our valued customers. To win all you have to do is click the 'Enter Prize Draw' button below and enter your details (no purchase necessary). If your name is drawn out of the hat, we will send you a brand new Xerox Phaser 6010, then you send us a review and you get to keep the printer worth over £100. We have 10 Xerox Phaser 6010 printers to be won by our budding reviewers so enter now and bag yourself a great little office-friendly print solution.

We value your opinion
Printerbase and Xerox want real people, just like you, sharing their product and service experiences. Our community of reviewers are a passionate bunch who want to help you discover what is right for you.

The prize draw runs from 16th June until 30th June 2011, so get your entries in now and good luck!

How we test
When we review a printer we firstly make sure, we understand whom the printer is designed for, whether it is for a single user who prints less than 100 pages a month to a busy office with up to 10 users or an enterprise printing thousands of pages per month. We also take into consideration what features are relevant to your needs because the features required for a home user will vary for someone using it within a busy office.

Running costs
When purchasing a printer, consumers tend to look at the price tag in front of them and do not consider other variables that accumulate during the life of the printer such as consumables. Total cost of ownership (TCO) is used to calculate both the direct and hidden costs of a printer purchase. You can calculate a printer's total cost of ownership (TCO) by combining the purchase price, toner costs (cost per page), reliability, and support. Different printers will excel in one or more areas, but all must be considered when defining TCO. The general ‘rule of thumb’ is the more expensive the printer the lower the running costs. This is not always the case but printers designed to handle higher print runs usually have higher yield toners to reduce the running costs.

Print speeds
We always judge a print speed by the necessary quality level you would like to achieve. A printer claimed speed usually refers to the printer’s fastest mode not the higher quality modes.

Print quality
Most printers today are capable of producing sharp text down to smallest font’s sizes so we place more emphasis on colour printers in regards to print quality. Colour accuracy can be vital to some users especially those printing photos, direct mail, packaging or DTP layouts. Colour reproduction will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and is very subjective, some like vivid bright colours others prefer tones that are more natural – this is why we separate image quality from colour reproduction. Inkjet printers still hold the crown when it comes to photographic prints but lasers are closer than ever and are ideal for critical business printing and documents such as letterheads, presentations, sales literature or business cards.

Features
You have taken a look at running costs, print speeds and print quality now its time to consider features. Printers now come with an array of features such as duplex (two-sided) printing, network ports allowing it to be shared by multiple users or LCD panels for easy of use. When reviewing a printers features remember whom it is for and how they are going to use it.

Reviewing Tips

1. What kind of output is it designed to print – Text graphics and photos put different demands on a printer.
2. Judge print speed by the quality level you want to use.
3. Colour reproduction is subjective, describe colours as bright, vivid, natural etc.
4. Running costs – refer to TCO.