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Over-$1,000 Workhorses Offer High Quality & Speed

GCC Printer's Elite XL 20/600

GCC Printers has an interesting business model in that it doesn't generally make use of the traditional sales channel to distribute its product, but goes straight to the customer via its "Virtual Printer Store." GCC uses its Web site (http://www.gccprinters.com) and a toll-free number to communicate directly with customers in order to better meet their needs (not to mention saving on overhead). As a result of this approach, GCC isn't necessarily a household name, but their printers are certainly worth a look.

Setup. The XL 20/600 is unusual among printers we tested for this issue in that it doesn't come with software that installs the printer automatically. Manual installation, although not common these days, was a fairly simple process for this printer, and the documentation that comes with the XL 20/600 is very good about explaining every step of the process. GCC's installation guide comes complete with screenshots and helpful diagrams that helped us to get the job done in a manner of minutes.

Networking the XL 20/600 was also a bit different from the normal procedure, in that the process is mostly done from within a Web browser thanks to GCC's WebAdmin™ software. With WebAdmin, your network administrator or printer tech can make adjustments and run diagnostics from anywhere he or she can get on the Internet.

Performance. Although much of the XL 20/600's setup is unusual, and despite the fact that GCC does business a bit differently than many printer companies, there is nothing untoward about the work the XL 20/600 does. Our PPST test showed the printer hits its 20ppm specification, although some tests returned results of somewhat slower speeds.

This printer produced excellent, high-quality output. Highly detailed black-and-white graphics files took a while for the unit to print, but they were worth the wait. Text and charts produced by the XL 20/600 were as good as any we have seen.

The XL 20/600 handles all sizes of paper and envelopes, and the printer's main paper feeder holds 500 sheets in several different formats (GCC calls it a Universal Tray). Second and third paper feeders can be added to the unit, as can extra RAM: the 16MB included can be expanded to 64MB.

Several forms of network connectivity are supported by the XL 20/600, including EtherTalk®, LocalTalk®, NetWare®, and TCP/IP. The printer can be physically connected to a network by way of Ethernet, bi-directional parallel, or SCSI interfaces. GCC works to keep total cost of ownership low by providing 14,000-page toner cartridges for $239. The Elite XL 20/600 has an MSRP of $1,799.

In short, although the GCC brand doesn't have the clout of an HP or a Xerox, initial impressions indicate this is a printer worth considering.

by Katie Dolan and Chris Trumble

Used with permission Sandhills Publishing.