Kyocera FS-C1020MFP Review

Kyocera Mita America has introduced the FS-C1020MFP; a color multifunctional printer ideally suited for today's small to medium sized businesses and shared workgroup environments. The FS-C1020MFP is a 21 page-per-minute color solution offering standard paper-saving duplex printing and copying and features designed to improve workplace functionality in a cost-effective manner.

For organizations seeking to meet the demand for superior output quality while simultaneously managing costs, the FS-C1020MFP includes a 35 sheet document processor, a 250-sheet adjustable paper drawer, and 256MB of standard memory (upgradeable to 512MB) to ensure fast and efficient processing for printing, scanning, faxing and copying. The FS-C1020MFP provides the user with monochrome and color scanning capabilities; including scan to PC, scan to e-mail, Scan to FTP and TWAIN scan.

"In today's business work environment, small offices and workgroups are challenged to find solutions that address their high productivity demands and limited budget," said Richard Heckelmann, product and solutions marketing manager, printers for Kyocera Mita America. "The FS-C1020MFP exemplifies Kyocera's commitment to provide user's with devices that work harder and help them become successful in today's competitive marketplace. This device will allow small offices and workgroups to produce professional quality documents affordably."

Standard network print includes an ARM 400 MHz processor and 600x600 dpi print resolution. The FS-C1020MFP supports multiple page description languages, including PCL 6 (XL, 5c) and PS3 emulation, and can be connected in any Windows and Mac environment. Additionally, the device includes a Super G3/Network fax system -- which allows users to send and receive faxes from their desktop.

The FS-C1020MFP also offers a 500 sheet paper drawer option for businesses that need additional paper capacity.

The FS-C1020MFP is available now through authorized Kyocera dealers, at a manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) of $1,220.

Notes from Art:

A few things you should know about this unit. Ricoh and other manufacturers have also relabled this unit. The toner cartridge is an all in one cartridge, meaning that the cartridges houses the drum, cleaning unit, and toner. Cost for color is about $100 per cartridge, thus the cost per page for each color cartridge is .05 (5 cents). Black is about $50 per cartridge, thus the cost per page for black is .025 (two and a half cents). When making color copies or color prints based on 5% coverage per color, this unit will cost you an astonishing .175 (seventeen and a half cents per page). The thermal transfer and fuser are rated for the life of the unit. You also need to replace a waster toner container about every 25,000 pages.

Here's my pet peeve about this unit, Kyocera claims a max volume monthly duty cycle of 50,000 pages! Huh??? What? If you did make 50,000 pages on this device in one month, you would have paid $8,750 for the consumables and would probably have to buy a new unit, it would also take 40 hours to make those prints. Good for the very low volume user (home office), not so good for office work groups. The cost per page for color is too high!

-=Good Selling=-