Larry,
There is a tremendous difference between 600 dpi and 1200 dpi the later
having twice the amount of dots per inch. I happen to very particular
about my printed images and so I would proably be much more critical the
most. At least that's what others say. Anyway, you will sacrafice speed
with color and 250 prints will take about 70 minutes to print. A better
way to look at print speed is "Does the printed material look strikingly
better with the addition of color that it justify's the additional time to
print?" And one very important final note. Without knowing the printer
you are considering for $600 - $800 I cannot advise you on quality or
performance specs, but, I can provide you with some very inexpensive
advice.
1.) Fact - "The profit for Manufacturers of color printers does not lie
in within the purchase price of the printer, they lie within the
replacement of consumables."
2.) Fact - The number of prints you get from a toner cartiridge is
based on 5% sheet coverage. If you consider an 8.5x11 sheet of paper has
only 93.5 Lineal Print inches for imaging, it doesn't take much text let
alone one photo to exceed that 5% average. If the document your printing
has color, the actual percentage of total coverage must be multiplied by 4
because each cartridge (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black or(K)) lays down
a Plane of toner.
3.) Finally, one 4 color document results in four turns or clicks on
the OPC drum unit which is usually rated at 50,000 prints and is the most
expensive of the consumables to replace.
The bottom line in color lasers is to clearly define the purpose for which
it will be used and then factor in the numbers to see if it makes
economical sense.
Hope this helps, feel free to e-mail any further questions you have.
Steve Watts
Advanced Printing Solutions
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Posted via CNET Help.com
http://www.help.com/
Actually the resolution is 4 times greater, since you have twice as many
dots
horizontally and twice as many vertically. 600X600=360,000 dots
1200X1200=1,440,000 dots in a square inch.