Phaser 6128MFP Review

The Phaser 6128MFP is a low end multi-function printer that delivers great quality and reliability for the price of $549. If you have been a fan of my articles, you may have noticed that I did a review about the Phaser 8860MFP, and suggested this printer for those who didn't like the $3,999 price tag of the 8860. While this printer isn't nearly as powerful, at less than quarter of the price you are certainly getting your money's worth here.

Let's examine the printer and see if it's good enough for you, or if you'd prefer to spend a little more for some extra power.

Starting off, let's talk about speed. While nothing to brag about, the 6128 offers 12 PPM (pages per minute) for color printing, and 16 for black and white. One other annoying aspect of the printing speed is that it takes about 27 seconds for the first page to come out in color (which seems really long, just sitting there and waiting) and 18 seconds black and white. Again, these speeds are nothing hot, but for the price and the functions they are alright.

Those of you looking for greener printers will probably want to look elsewhere. The 6128 uses toner. Now, for those of you who aren't part of the green trend, toner is affordable and you can get a lot of use out of it. However, it is not as easy to change as the solid ink technology offered by other Phasers, and can be harder to change the cartridges. Also, solid ink tends to be a bit cheaper, but unless you are doing massive printing all the time, you probably won't notice the savings.

The functions that this printer is equipped with are: copy, email, print, scan, and fax. You can feed up to 35 sheets into the top feeder for copying, and it can copy and print up to 8.5x14 sized sheets. It does not come with double sided printing capabilities, which means you will be spending more on paper. However, again, unless you are doing a lot of printing you probably won't notice the difference in price all too much.

The paper capacity is 250 sheets, which is rather small (only half a ream), but it may be good enough for you depending on your needs.

While this printer is rather weak compared to its more powerful 8860 cousin, this is definitely a good buy for the low price tag. If you want a bargain priced printer, this is the way to go. However, if you have a large office and you need something better, consider sinking the extra $3,500 in the 8860.