networksup.net

The Lexmark Company is known as a producer of dependable laser printers that are compatible on the market. Today we are examining a monochrome multifunction laser printer, Lexmark x203n. This is a networked model that has high printing speed and produces first page very fast.

The device features authentic design: there are many rounded panels that make the printer look smaller than it is, yet its size is not too different from that of a customary laser printer. Main material of the casing is white and gray plastic.

There is a paper tray capable of holding 250 sheets that resides in the lower part of the front. The tray has paper size regulators, and accommodates not only A4 and Letter formats, but also the Legal. It must be mentioned that when you insert the Legal media, the tray stands out from the rear wall of the printer for about 55 mm. For convenience, there is a cavity handle in the center front part of the tray. You can also find an auxiliary slot for inserting envelopes and other custom-sized media.

The MFP is equipped with rather simple CIS scanner with a maximum optical resolution of 600×600 dpi, which is sufficient to work with the documents. The cover of the scanner is very light, yet its walls are rather thick and tough, and very difficult to bend. Formally, the standalone mode (working without a PC) is not supported, since there’s no ability to install the flash media. But, in fact, the Lexmark x203n can send scanned documents to one or more email addresses without using a PC – just connect it to a network with Internet access.

If the device has been idle for a long time, the scanner requires about 4 seconds to get ready to work. In our tests, an interesting characteristic of the MFP was found. The preparation time for scanning in “b/w” and “grayscale” mode was merely 2 seconds, but for the color mode it took whole 8 seconds. The pre-scanning procedure is not very hasty, 15 seconds.

After the print job is dispatched, the Lexmark x203n starts printing a few instants later. About 2.6 seconds on average are needed to print one page in “draft” and “normal”, and this number coincides with what manufacturer proclaims. Meanwhile, 5.5 seconds on average are required to make one page in high quality mode.

The device supports 4 quality modes: “Draft 600 dpi”, “normal 1200 IQ”, “high 1200 dpi” and 2400 IQ (“IQ” is for image quality). You can adjust setting to amplification the printing of dots and fine lines. There is no automatic toner economy mode, but you can adjust the toner density manually. Paper saving mode makes it possible to print 2, 4, 8 or 16 pages on one sheet. The printer supports custom settings for type and source of paper for front and back covers, as well as the first and last page of the document.

The Lexmark says copying is one of the major features of the Lexmark x203n, yet the copy mode is rather undeveloped. Unfortunately, color copying is not available in this model, only monochrome. However, you may select from numerous copying options like format conversion, scaling, selection of paper source, indication of the size of the original, adjustment of intensity, activation of paper economy mode, breakdown of copies, as well as selection of one of three quality modes (text, photo & text, photo). Another thing remarkable about this MFP is that you can specify up to 999 copies. Most of the competitor’s models are bound to 99 copies.

Lexmark x203n MFP is a natural-born office workhorse. It can hardly find its place at home, regardless of its “home” design and small size. However, if used in the office, the printer has a big advantage – the high printing and scanning rates in “b/w” and “grayscale” modes. The fast copy mode is beneficial either: you can get your first copy in 9 seconds, and every subsequent one – in 2.6 seconds.

Among other features and advantages of the model, worth noting are: an additional manual tray, network access, quality toner. The disadvantages of the model are: not too comfortable monochrome display, a modest amount of scan settings, the cost of the original Lexmark toner is a little higher than those of competitors.

Every growing company once comes to a point when it becomes clear that the good old LaserJet is longer enough for a grand flow of documents. Then the company starts choosing a more productive laser printer for workgroups. Most often, in this case they pay attention to the popular brands, but we suggest that you look at the Kyocera Mita FS2020D.

What makes a usual desktop laser printer different from what is intended for small and medium working groups? First of all, it can be filled with a large number of supplies: toner and paper, so that in the crucial moment you do not have to run to the pan, or call the admin to replace the toner unit. In addition, the printer should be economical (the cost of printing as little as possible), inexpensive, and have printing quality sufficient for everyday work. Judging by these specifications, Kyocera Mita FS-2020D is just one of such devices.

Of course, the design of an office printer is the last thing that draws attention of a potential buyer. Therefore, nothing special, it’s an ordinary cube of creamy matte plastic with black and blue accents.

The content of the front pane is minimalistic, as usual; all buttons located on it are pushed distinctively. There is also the power button and a USB port to plug your memory sticks with your PDF papers. Condition indicators are somewhat upraised above be casing of the machine, and you can see if there is any printing errors from a distance.

The back panel contains all the interface ports and the power socket. So, you don’t want to put the printer very close to the wall. On the back, there is a handy sticker with instructions, so you can find how to remove the jammed paper and how to print on irregular media.

Kyocera Mita FS-2020D has an extremely user-friendly tray: it is possible to insert a whole bundle of 500 sheets, while many printer’s competitors can simultaneously load only up to 250. In addition, when necessary, you may use a custom media tray – it holds 100 sheets. The filling indicator of paper tray is also handy – it does not seem like a big deal, but not all printers have one.

Installing the cartridge is extremely simple, moreover, the process is carefully specified in the user manual. After the lid is closed, the printer takes some considerable time to gain toner, but given the large capacity of toner cartridge, it is unlikely to be a hindrance.

The printing rate of Kyocera Mita 2020D almost fully corresponds to the specifications. The tests showed that the printer makes 30 ppm (once the first page is out), and 55-page document was produced with the speed of about 28 pages per minute (first print included). Badge documents are made at the rate of about 18 ppm. The speed in duplex mode is lower: only about 12 ppm, however, this is enough unless you are secretly publishing books.

The printing quality is very good. The text shape is clear; when printing black and white photographs, the difference of brightness of gradients is slightly visible. However, the text was lighter, but it only was noticeable when comparing two prints directly. Printing PDF from a flash memory card proceeded well.

However, let’s consider the cost of printing after adding up all the costs. The printer with the necessary functions will cost $890, and after 246,000 pages – around $3,000. Thus, the cost of printing after a quarter-million pages is about 38 cents per page.

If we calculate a similar value for the competitor printer, Xerox 3435, its 10,000-page toner cartridge is worth $147 (the compatibles are cheaper), but the printer itself costs $400. That is, for the same quarter of a million pages, we get the value of $3920, or 47 cents per page. In fact, Kyocera began to overtake closest competitors after 100,000 pages.

Despite the relatively maximal outlay of the printer, it quickly pays chill nondiscriminatory to the unjust amount consumables. Including with the FS-2020D come basic printer cartridges for 6,000 pages, and equal cartridges allows you to pattern 12,000 pages.

The exterior of the Xerox Phaser 6120 is pretty much common for most office printers. Just as common is the main “neutral office” color of the device, juiced up by the dark blue elements.

Like the rest of the 4-pass printing mechanism devices, Phaser 6120′s design is traditional: the input tray below, the output tray above; the monochrome LCD-display, light indicators, buttons of navigation and mode switches are located on the printer’s right frontal panel.

The interface of the printer driver traditionally gives access to all controls and settings. But from the front panel, you can much easier adjust all critical parameters of the printer, including current settings, printing tasks status or toner level in each cartridge. When the printer in autonomous mode, that is without connection to a computer, it is possible to produce help pages, setup printing modes and print test pages. The menu in Xerox Phaser 6120 is presented in multilevel hierarchical view; it has an intuitively simple navigation.

The drum, the 4 cartridges arranged in a circle – these are all typical residents of the printer with such mechanisms. The only thing standing out is the tightness of the elements located inside the Phaser 6120, which makes the device very compact.

Cartridges for Phaser 6120 are identical in shape, there are only color markers on the casings to differentiate them, and stoppers to prevent cartridges from being input wrong slot.

The three available interfaces – USB, LAN, LPT – as well as the power socket are traditionally located on the rear side of the printer. Next to the power socket is the power switch.

Most office documents are well done even in standard mode, when Xerox Phaser 6120 produce 600 dots per inch. But should you require the best of the best results to show your clients, there is higher quality printing resolution – the 1200 dpi.

Declared printing speed of Xerox Phaser 6120 is about 5 pages per minute in color mode and up to 20 ppm in monochrome mode.

The company claims the printer has maximum monthly duty cycle of 35,000 pages. In other words, you can use more than 1,000 sheets of paper a day, and may not be concerned about destroying the printing mechanism prematurely. Xerox Phaser 6120 will be, undoubtedly, is able to carry out this heavy burden of printing, however, you must be ready spend a lot on printer cartridges, as you’ll need many of them.

If you are a small office with medium level of document circulation, the declared monthly duty will make sure the Phaser 6120 will work long enough to continuously satisfy your printing needs.

No doubts that wide spread Xerox 6XXX laser printer series has received an excellent addition by Phaser 6120. This device is great for meeting the requirements of small office for both color and monochrome printing and durable printer cartridges.

At 5% coverage, the cartridge resource makes up 1,500 pages for standard Xerox toner cartridges, and 4,500 for higher yield printer cartridges. The imaging drum resource estimates 20,000 pages for monochrome printing and 10,000 pages for printing in color.