Customer Reviews

Panasonic KX-MB781 All-in-One Print/Scan/Copy Office Machine

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I purchased this printer when it was on sale recently, and could not believe the incredible value of this all-in-one network capable printer.

I'd give this printer 4.5 out of 5 stars, instead of the 4 out 5 as the rating system doesn't allow for halves.

Here are the key features of this printer:

1. Network ready in addition to the USB connection - use either ethernet LAN cable (not included) or USB cable (not included) to set it up on your home network, and you can print, scan and fax through the network or the USB cable.

2. Laser 600dpi printer with 32mb memory - more than enough to print most household documents without a hitch. You won't get the dreaded "out of memory" errors here.

3. Very nice full logged fax machine, with detailed status and reporting on all fax activity (with auto document feeder to fax multiple pages).

4. Decent scanner, that can send scans to networked PCs, as well as scan to PDF for emailing without the need of a computer (may work with auto doc feeder also but I have not tried). There is OCR software that is included that allows you to scan searchable PDFs, which might come in handy. The scanner is not a speed demon but as with most all-in-ones you have to compromise somewhere, so a dedicated scanner will be faster but you will pay for that feature.

5. Great copy function, with the an auto document feeder to copy multiple pages.

Everything is included in the box, except for a USB cable or ethernet cable (but most printers normally don't either). This is not important except during firmware updates (see later) or if you want to print via USB only.

The capabilities of this printer / fax/ copier are outstanding, with very fast printing, great printouts (black / gray only), and great fax features. It has an phone extension so you can add an answering machine or another phone to make phone calls, without having to buy a phone line splitter.

Here are some very minor quibbles I had with this printer:

1. You must install the included printer/scanner software on any PC that you want to use to print / scan via this printer. Some other network printers don't require this. For example a Brother networked printer has a web printing interface which means you can print from any networked PC without the need to install the software / drivers. However, this is understandable since the software allows you to scan / fax as well, so it is not a big problem to have to install it to access all the functions of this printer via the network.

2. This printer came with 2 CDs. The first CD is the printer install CD, which worked smoothly. I chose the network connection method, and the software seamlessly detected the printer via my local network, and installed itself easily. However, CD 2 is a firmware update for the fax machine. It appears to have been added at the last minute, because the CD / CD case was lying on top of the contents in the box when I opened it, along with an instruction sheet. The instructions stated that the firmware update must be done via a USB connection, which was annoying because I had installed CD1 and configured network printing.

To allow for the firmware update, I had to plug the printer into my PC USB port, and then install the USB drivers for the scanner and printer by putting in my first CD. Only after this was completed, was I able to proceed to update the firmware. I searched for info about the firmware version before and after the update, but the printer application was completely lacking in detail about any firmware versions, and the update CD had no information about why the firmware was needed.

So it was very annoying to have to install the USB connections just to update the firmware, even though I'll never use the USB connection in the future. The USB install also created the USB printer as well, which I could have deleted, but I just renamed it "USB Panasonic printer" to differentiate it from the network connected printer. This could be confusing to someone who is not as careful / detailed as I am in observing the details.

3. There are no USB cables included with the printer. This normally shouldn't be a problem, except you are required to have it to update the firmware. Hopefully in the future they will update the firmware at the factory, and not require the user to have to update the firmware during install. However, as new firmware come out, you will still need the USB cable to update the firmware, so keep a USB cable handy for that purpose.

The box also states very clearly that the laser cartridge included with the printer is a "trial" cartridge, and only lasts 500 pages. The replacement cartridge, KX-FAT92, will last for 2000 pages, so you may want to buy that if you print a lot. I also read somewhere that it's very easy to refill this laser cartridge, since the cartridge has very easy to access openings to the toner, so you don't have to drill holes to refill it. I may explore refilling the toner cartridge this way since it shouldn't be any worse than tossing the trial cartridge.

This printer is Energy Star rated, which means when it's in standby mode, it's completely silent. It's a bit noisy when printing / faxing but not out of the ordinary for a printer of this type, and it goes to standby fairly quickly for noise and energy reduction.

Finally, I compared this printer to the lower-end Panasonic KX-MB271, which is the same printer / scanner, minus the fax and networking capabilities. There are about a $50 difference in price between the printers, so the networking capability and the fax capability is a no-brainer for the $50 difference - this printer is the much better buy!

I bought this all-in-one machine and returned it after one day. it does all the functions at it described nothing more or less.

What bothered me about it was 2 things:
1-if you put it close to your desk; it has a constant fan sound that doesn't turn off. A regular laser would have the fan on only at printing. This product has all it the time. That drove me mad. So, if you a have your home or office setup in a away that will keep it away from you, or at a distance, it will be just fine.
2-in a house setting, it flickered the lights too much. It made focusing on work kind of difficult.

The new laser I bought Canon imageCLASS MF4150 Laser Duplex P/s/c/f 21PPM Adf didn't have those 2 annoying flaws. It ( the new laser ) had a fan that only works when it prints, and it didn't flicker the as much. Only at startup.

As I mentioned, if you overcome those 2 things by putting it away from you and by having a stronger electric circuit, it's a steal.

The set up was super easy took about 5 mins to set up the printer.
Just insert the toner to the roller then place in printer.
I plug it in and was able to do copies immediately.

I was able to set up for network printing easily. I now can print anywhere.
The text is clear and crisp. Not bad for a lazer.

The scan can only be done with the included software. I had trouble installing on 2 XP machines. But I was able to install it on my Vista machine. So all scans goes to my Vista machine now. The scan quality is good. Takes about 1-2 mins for a 600dpi scan. Image file comes to 6MB.

Cons: I dont think there is a power button to shut off. So, I plug into a power strip so I can turn on and off.
Fan is a bit loud.

Good quaility, I would recommend.

I have been noticing lately that Panasonic has stepped up their game, i.e. quality & features, with their consumer electronics. So I thought I would give them a chance with the Panasonic KX-MB781. It turned out I was right. It has commercial features, very functional, software installed well and worked as advertised. I wished that they would had added $25 of metal around the paper tray, but beyond that I recommend this product.

I did a lot of research looking for a no-nonsense all-in-one printer. I'm very happy with my purchase of the Panasonic KX-MB781. I previously owned an HP PSC 2510 Photosmart All-in-one printer. The print quality was good, but the software and user interface were quite poor, and the fax connection was very unreliable. I will probably never buy an HP home printer again.

The KX-MB781 is black-and-white laser printer (print/copy/fax) and a *color* scanner. When used in a Windows PC environment, it has a very rich set of features including:

* Wired ethernet (not WiFi) network printing (or USB)
* Print to fax
* Receive fax as electronic image on PC
* Initiate scan from PC
* Initiate scan from printer and push to PC as JPG/PDF/email
* OCR
* Remote control/configuration over the network

If you have a PC on your network that can serve as a print server,
you can use it with a Mac. Google "How to use a Printer Attached to a Windows XP Computer in Mac OS" (iharder dot sourceforge dot net). Unfortunately, without a Windows machine, you cannot use this printer with a Mac. Even with a Windows machine, you can print, but you cannot use all of the advanced features above from a Mac since all the software and drivers are for Windows only. You can receive scans via email on a Mac, since the printer has a built-in SMTP client if you provide an SMTP server.

I was very concerned about some of the reports of fan noise. I am happy to report as some reviews noted, that the printer is dead silent in standby mode. When you print, the fan will turn on and stay on until the configurable timeout period.

Print quality is high like any other laser printer I've used.

I've had no problems with fax connections. Document feeder works well, but is limited to a few tens of pages.

I cannot comment on long-term reliability because I've only had the machine for about a month. The construction, however, seems reasonably solid given the price, and I would rate it superior to the HP all-in-one I previously owned which cost more.

The front-panel interface has nice large, intuitive buttons like an office machine. You can also navigate all the detailed menus from the front panel if you are an advanced user.

I think this is the ideal combination of features, because color printing at home is a waste of money. I print digital photos online or at the drugstore. Laser is much higher quality print than inkjet and is cheaper per page. And remember, this machine scans in *color*.

I purchased the machine from Frys for 99.00, not bad. I read all the reviews before made my decision. I was able to set the Waiting Time for Power Save Mode to 5 minutes, it will turn off the fan, no noise.

Overall, the machine is pretty good. I was able to hood it up wirelessly to the wireless router and share by the whole family. My wife can print anytime now using the laptop from the family room and pick up the print out later.

I've tried the fax, copy and print functions and they were pretty good; the scan function is a bit slow but the OCR software is working well. It took about 1.5 minutes to scan a page wirelessly to my laptop. The fax is much faster than my old fax and I like the Quick Scan feature.

This is a pretty good machine for home/light business use, the network ready feature allows you to share just 1 printer for the whole family instead of buying individual inkjet for each family members.

Just got my KX-MB781 today with a lowest price I could find in the market now, very happy with the purchase, installation was fairly easy, the print, fax, scan and copy all function well, highly recommend for small business or home use. the only cons. is, as some users have already mentioned in their reviews, this baby has a noisy fan, running all the time, even when the machine goes to sleep mode, the fan still keeps running, in a quiet home, the noise can be heard clearly, it doesn't like other printers completely silence when goes to sleep mode. Other than this, it is a perfect buy!!!

Bought this unit on sale from Best Buy about half year ago. I was looking for laser networked all-in-one. It looked perfect by spec. But you couldn't get it in store - online only. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone. It's hard and non-intuitive to setup. Had nothing but problems with Vista. Some features don't work. Couldn't get it send scanned docs to email even after configuring and checking everything. Panasonic multifunction center is a (not very good) piece of software. What is it with Panasonic soft? I also got an HD camcoder from them and software sux even though hardware is perfect. Anyways, back to this printer. It wakes up (with lot of noise) every midnight with no setting to turn it off. It picks up the phone (fax part) even though is explicitly told not to. It doesn't have a power switch so it's either always on or you have to pull the power cord.
And now as it was running out of toner (it has very little toner with the printer) it started printing dirty pages, covered with gray. I tried cleaning it up but to no avail.
Stay away from this product!

I've had the device for 3 months and it is fantastic. Here is what I like about it:

1. 100% reliable. I have not had a problem yet where I've needed to reboot the Panasonic device or any PC that is working with it. I am using it with both XP and Vista. This is in sharp contrast to my previous multi-function printer.

2. Network scanning -- you can have the scanned file "deposited" onto any machine on your local network, or email it to any email address.

3. Fax is reliable, weather faxing from physical originals, or "printing" to the fax device from an application like word. Since the device is networked, you can "print to fax" from any computer on your network.

4. Fast scanner. Scans at 6 pages/minute when configured at 200dpi, grayscale mode to PDF file format.

5. Front panel is logical and reasonably intuitive.

6. When it goes into power save mode, it is silent. My kill-a-watt shows that it draws 6-7 watts once it goes into power save mode.

I know that others have commented that it is noisy. There is a fan that runs when it isn't in power-save mode, but I do not feel that the noise level is a problem.

This machine is a great bargain. It works as it is supposed to and networks easily.
Several reviews complain of continual fan noise. My machine makes NO noise in sleep mode. Perhaps some have it not go to sleep. There is no off switch because in sleep mode it is silent and uses very little power, but is ready to go quickly.