The Canon imageClass LBP6030w laser printer ($159) falls in the same broad category of personal monochrome laser as the Canon imageClass LPB6200d. However, it offers a different mix of features. Those include a lower paper capacity, slower speed, and no duplexer (for two-sided printing). On the plus side, it adds Wi-Fi, and it’s smaller, so it takes up less desk space. Either printer can be a good fit, depending on your needs.

The LBP6030w’s most obvious competition isn’t limited to Canon’s own printers. The Samsung Xpress M2625D($399.00 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window), which is our Editors’ Choice for personal monochrome lasers, comes a lower price and slower speed. In addition, the LBP6030w’s Wi-Fi capability makes it a potential choice as a light-duty shared printer in a micro office. That puts it in competition with the Samsung Xpress M2825DW($699.00 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window), our Editors’ Choice for budget-priced, micro-office shared printers.

Compared with both Samsung models, as well as the Canon LPB6200d, the LBP6030w offers significantly lower paper handling capability, with a 150-sheet capacity instead of 250 sheets, and no duplexer available, even as an option. That’s enough for most personal-printer use, but if you’re thinking of using it as a shared printer, it’s a little meager, even by micro-office standards. That said, if your office prints less than about 30 pages per day on average, it should be enough.

Also keep in mind that the low paper capacity for the LBP6030w is a key reason for its small size. At just 7.8 by 14.3 by 9.8 inches (HWD), it will take less space on your desk than most inkjets would.

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Setup, Speed, and Output Quality
For my tests, I installed the LBP6030w driver on a system running Windows Vista. Setup, using a USB connection, was standard fare.

Canon rates the printer at 19 pages per minute (ppm), which is the speed you should see for text documents or other files that need little to no processing. On our business applications suite, (using QualityLogic’s(Opens in a new window) hardware and software for timing), the printer came in at 10.1 ppm, which makes it essentially tied with both the Samsung M2625D and Samsung M2825DW. It’s also a little slower than the 11.1 ppm speed for the Canon LPB6200d in its default duplex mode, and significantly slower than the 14.5 ppm I measured for the Canon LPB6200d in simplex mode.

The LBP6030w’s output quality is a bit below par for text and at the low end of what is typical for the category for graphics and photos. Fortunately, even the worst monochrome laser text output is pretty good on an absolute scale. That makes the LBP6030w’s text good enough for almost any business need. Most people wouldn’t consider it good enough for desktop publishing applications, however.

For graphics, being at the low end of what’s typical for personal monochrome lasers translates to being good enough for any internal business need. Depending on how much of a perfectionist you are, you may also consider it good enough for PowerPoint handouts. The photo output is easily adequate to print recognizable images from Web pages and the like, with photos in general roughly the same quality as a black-and-white photo in a newspaper.

One final issue that demands mention is the printer’s running cost, at 4.4 cents per page. In comparison, the running cost for the Samsung 2625D and Samsung M2825DW is only 3 cents per page. So unless you find the LBP6030w at a particularly good price, it’s likely to both cost more to buy than either of those Editors’ Choice printers, and cost more to use as well.

Based strictly on total cost of ownership and capability, there’s little reason to choose the Canon imageClass LBP6030w over either of the Samsung models, with their higher paper capacities and duplexing capability. If you want to connect by USB cable, the Samsung 2625D is a much better value. And for connecting to a network, the Samsung 2825D offers Ethernet, as well as Wi-Fi. All things considered, the Canon imageClass LBP6030w’s small size can be appealing. If your print needs are distinctly light-duty, and you don’t want to give up a lot of desk space, then that makes it a reasonable choice, if not a particularly compelling one.