Canon lists its imageClass LBP6300dn ($300 street) on its Web site as a home office printer. Indeed, it's a reasonable choice for a busy home office with heavy-duty printing needs or as a power user's personal printer in any size office. However, I'd argue that it's a better fit for a micro or small office or workgroup, any of which are more likely to need the printer's fast speed and ample paper handling, not to mention the Ethernet connector for easy sharing on a network. That said, if high-quality text is a key consideration, you may want to consider the printer no matter how large your office is or how much you print.

In many ways, the LBP6300dn outshines the Editors' Choice in its category, the OKI B431dn ($349.99 direct, 4 stars). In particular, the LBP6300dn is faster, offers better text quality and is cheaper too. What keeps it from being Editors' Choice is a relatively high running cost, at 2.6 cents per page. But given the speed and quality, you might well consider the running cost an acceptable price to pay.

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Basics and Speed
Measuring 10.3 by 15.8 by 14.9 inches (HWD) and weighing 26.1 pounds, the LBP6300dn is right on the cusp of being too large to share a desk with. Its footprint is smaller than many inkjets, but it feels more massive, because of its height.

As tested, the printer offers ample paper handling for most micro or small offices, with a built-in duplexer for printing on both sides of a page and a 300-sheet capacity divided into a 250-sheet drawer and a 50-sheet multipurpose tray. For those offices that need more capacity, Canon sells a 500-sheet second tray ($200 street) that adds 5.3 inches to the printer height.

Setup is typical for a mono laser. For my tests, I connected it to a network and ran the tests from a Windows Vista system. I clocked it (using QualityLogic's hardware and software for timing) at an effective 14.5 ppm, which is surprisingly fast for the 30 ppm rating. The OKI B431dn, for example, is rated at 40 ppm, but came in at only 11.1 ppm on our tests. Similarly, the Dell 2350dn ($299.99 direct, 3.5 stars) that I reviewed recently is also rated at 40 ppm, but came in at only 8.8 ppm.

Output Quality and Other Issues
Output quality for the LBP6300dn is slightly above par overall because of the high-quality text. Graphics quality is at the low end of the very small range where all mono lasers fall, and photo quality is dead on par for a mono laser.

The text quality is just a half step below the very best lasers, making it suitable for any business use, even if you have an unusual need for small fonts. I'd also call it good enough for demanding desktop publishing applications.

Graphics quality was good enough for most internal business needs. Depending on how demanding you are, however, you might or might not consider it good enough for things like PowerPoint handouts for important clients or customers. Photos are good enough for printing Web pages with photos or printing a client or company newsletter, which is about as much as you can expect from a mono laser.

The only potentially serious negative for the printer is the high cost per page. The claimed 2.6 cents per page is 0.8 cents higher than the cost for either the 2350dn or the B431dn. That works out to $8 more for every 1,000 pages you print, or $80 for every 10,000 pages. You'll have to make a rough guess about how many pages you'll print over the printer's lifetime, add up the difference, and decide whether it's worth the faster speed and high-quality output.

Ultimately, the LBP6300dn has a lot to offer. Its combination of speed, output quality, and paper handling is an excellent fit for a micro or small office, making it a more than reasonable pick. If the running cost isn't an issue for your purposes, it may well be the printer you want.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS:
Check out the test scores for the Canon imageClass LBP6300dn