INK & TONER
Kyocera Mita FS-C5100N Review
 
Editor's Review
Kyocera Mita FS-C5100N by Mel Meyers 10/18/2010 OVERVIEW:
Network ready, the Kyocera FS-C5100N uses single-pass color printing technology to reach print speeds up to 23 pages per minute. The color printer has an improved design for easier toner replacement, and options to increase paper capacity to 1,400 sheets, making the FS-C5100N the ideal color printer for a growing business.
Editor's Pros & Cons
PROS:
Weighing in at 62 pounds, the Kyocera FS-C5100N’s is a pretty good size printer. It has a 13.6” x 20.4” footprint, and stands 18” high. Adding the extra capacity paper feeders turn the Kyocera into a compact floor printer. The FS-C5100N comes with a 250-sheet cassette tray, capable of holding an entire ream of 28# letter or legal-size paper. The flip-door reveals a 150-sheet multi-purpose tray that can handle transparencies, labels, post cards, envelopes, 3” x 5” postcards up to 8½” x 14” legal paper, of bond weights up to 110-pound cardstock. Two more 500-sheet cassettes can be easily attached to increase capacity to 1,400 sheets. Color or B&W, there is no print speed difference with the FS-C5100N. Single-pass color printing technology allows the Kyocera to print to its maximum speed of 23 single-sided pages per minute. The optical maximum resolution of the Kyocera is 600 x 600 dots per inch, but internal software increases it to 9,600 x 600 dpi. The enhanced resolution is great for photographs, but fine line art and small fonts may appear slightly blurred and print speeds take a hit. Understanding the printing needs of today’s businesses, Kyocera has installed a full set for print emulators that should satisfy the most diverse office. Emulators include PostScript3, HP PCL6, and Kyocera’s own KPDL3. Over 90 scalable fonts and barcodes are available on a separate CF flash memory card. Kyocera has always been generous when it comes to memory. For the FS-C5100N, 256MB of memory comes standard to easily handle any size print job. An additional DDR2 SDRAM slot is available. Drop in a 1GB DDR2 stick and expand the printer’s memory to a whopping 1,280MB. Even without the additional memory, this printer will have no problem handling workloads across networked computers. Speaking of networks, the FS-C5100N has connections for USB 2.0, and Ethernet 10/100 Base TX. The printer can support network protocols from the old Novell IPX/SPX and AppleTalk, to the recent TCP/IPv6. While many printer companies provide a CD with software extras only for Wintel machines, Kyocera’s application software fully supports Mac OS X, as well as the latest versions of Windows. Drivers are also available for UNIX, Linux, and 64-bit Windows operating systems. For the environmentally-minded who want to leave a small carbon footprint behind, the FS-C5100N is part of Kyocera’s ECOSYS line. In addition to being Energy Star compliant in decreasing power usage by 60%, the consumable items of the ECOSYS line are designed for longer life using fewer parts and materials. Unlike traditional toners, an ECOSYS toner cartridge is comprised of just five parts and only two materials. CONS:
Patience must be practiced when it comes to seeing that first page printed on this Kyocera model. If just switched on, expect to wait almost a minute from before you start seeing your print job. However, if the printer is only in sleep mode it will take less than 40 seconds for the first print. The printer produces 53dB of sound printing, idling at 30 dB. To give you an idea of what that means: 60 decibels is the level of typical conversations and 30 decibels is a quiet office. You probably don’t want to have this printer in a conference room chugging 100 pages when a meeting is in progress. But if placed in the copy room or in the middle of a busy office floor, the noise is barely discernable. With all the horsepower and extras the FS-C5100N has, Kyocera still only gives you a toner cartridge less than half-filled with toner. Other manufactures tend to have “starter toner” with their entry-level laser printers as well, so it’s a good idea for a purchaser to buy a full set of toner so they won’t be short handed. Customer Reviews For Kyocera Mita FS-C5100N
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INK/TONER NEEDS:
Normally, replacing toner in a color printer can be difficult, but Kyocera designed the FS-C5100’s toner for fast and easy replacement. Just raise the top lid of the printer and drop in the brick-like cartridges into their color-coded slots. The printer comes with half-filled “starter cartridges”; the black toner containing 2,500 pages, the three color toners 2,000 each. Toner yield numbers are based on the always asterisked “5% ink coverage per letter-size page”. To give you an idea of what that mean’s: a standard business letter uses 5% ink coverage; a newsletter, 30%; and a page with graphics, text, and photos can exceed 60%. So in the case of color printers with starter cartridges it’s a good idea to buy a set of full toner, especially since black and yellow are usually the first to be depleted. Combo-packs of toner are available to save money over buying each separate color. 
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DEVELOPER
