--How does it look?--
It’s basically a large, beige cube with four little indicator lights on the top. It is split into three sections; the top section is where the printed paper comes out, the middle section houses the toner, lets you feed sheets of paper and does the printing and the bottom section is where the paper lives.
It can hold about 300 sheets of A4 paper in its main paper tray and also has a fold out feeder for special papers such as labels or laser printer acetates.
--Installation-
As I didn't install the drivers for the printer I don't know how easy it is to install but our IT team did it in a few minutes so it can’t be that difficult.
It can be connected up to your computer using either a parallel port or a USB (which we use) making it compatible with both new and old computers.
If you have problems with the installation, the website does have a section in it's help pages to assist you with the printer set-up.
--Price--
You can buy the FS1010 for about £200. It puts it down at the cheaper end of the Laser printer scale but the cheapness doesn’t hide a lack of quality.
--Cartridge Cost--
We can buy our cartridge (TK-17) for £46 from our supplier and according to the manufacturer it will last for about 5,000-6,000 sheets, which works out at an extremely cheap 0.0092p-0.007p per sheet. We use the printer mainly for producing very wordy letters which increases the ink usage and reduces the pages to about 3,000 per cartridge (0.015p per sheet).
--Online Support--
Kyocera has a very comprehensive UK-based website which provides a lot of information on each of their products, including where to buy, cartridge costs etc. It has a support helpdesk which is on an 0845 (local rate) number as well as email support. The online help pages are split into different section to allow for easier navigation. It even has a section to help you set up the printer initially which is always helpful.
Thankfully the printer is so easy to use I’ve never had to use their online or offline support.
--Pro's--
Quick, cheap printing, it can do about 14 pages a minute so it’s perfect for doing large black and white print runs.
It can even cope with printing out black and white images without loss of definition.
Hold enough paper for even the largest print jobs I have to do, this means I can leave it printing and not have to keep on checking on it and restocking the paper.
Compared to our office inkjets it’s very reliable, as long as you remember to change the toner. It doesn’t suffer with paper jams very often and even when it does it is very easy to get the paper out without resorting to taking the whole thing apart.
--Con's--
Cheap label sheets have a habit of getting stuck if you put them in the main paper draw.
The toner tends to start to fade a while before it actually runs out.
It’s not colour. (But that’s only a small personal gripe.)
Only having coloured indicator lights can make it difficult to discover a problem with the machine if it decides not to print. (A description screen would be much more useful)
--Verdict--
This is the perfect printer for a busy office; it can cope with large and small print runs and be networked up to a number of computers without any problems.
The cartridges are very economical, so if you’re working on a budget this is the printer for you.
This product has not yet been reviewed.
21.02.2005 10:21
With a 45 degree turn of my head and I am now looking at this very product in my office
20.02.2005 22:49
Kyocreas are are a pain in the backside. Least that's been my personal experince. Jam up something chronic. Cheers, Dean