Customer Reviews

Kx-p7105 15ppm Duplex Laserprinter

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The printer set up very quickly and easily on a Netgear print server (this one can be shared on a network unlike it's sibling Kx-p7100). For a duplex printer it is very compact and doesn't need access around it or behind it. It prints duplex flawlessly and has a great feature that shrinks the pages down to 4 pages on a side or with the duplex 8 pages total on each page. It's a great way to save paper to review rough drafts. I did have an initially bad start when the printer was jamming all the time with 28lb laser paper; but after switching to cheaper 20lb copy paper it hasn't jammed once. A great value (I considered the cheapest HP duplex printer but it was almost twice as much and a lot bigger in size and I don't think it has the great shrink-down-to-4-pages-on-a-side feature).

I recently bought this printer for home use from Tiger Direct and I absolutely love it. Granted, I only paid $149 though -- it was a steal.

The quality of the printing is excellent. And it has features that you won't find on printers with a similar price tag. It comes with 16 MB of RAM wheras others typically only had 2 to 8 MB (and ofter weren't even expandable). It has a faster processor. Combined, these two features make for faster printing as your computer's CPU doesn't get tied up trying to print.

The auto-duplexing feature is wonderful (prints on both sides of the paper). I can already see how much paper I am saving. None of the other printers in this price range had this option. Plus, I checked and the toner for the Panasonic runs about $5 cheaper than that of other brands. So, not only will you use less paper, but it will cost less to print each page. I also like the fact that the tray can hold legal size paper -- some cannot. And there is an easy-to-use manual feed option.

The printer also starts the first page pretty fast. I am used to using the expensive laser printers on the networks in the office. This printer actually gets the first page out faster than those machines that cost thousands of dollars.

Setup was a piece of cake. The toner goes in extremely easy. Do remember to buy a toner cartridge with the printer though as the industry standard is to only include a starter cartridge. I am still using it, but I don't know how much longer it will last for.

For $149 this was a no-brainer decision. Even at Amazon's higher price (they have free shipping though -- I pad about $20)this printer still seems like a great deal. And if you are trying to decide if you are willing to give up color printing, ask yourself how often you really print in color. If you do need it, buy this printer and a nice color inkjet. Then you won't have to switch cartridges again or waste the expensive color ink on a B&W page. And you can get an inkjet that is really good at color printing and not have to worry about how it prints in B&W.

I've read some negative reviews for this printer, and was really scared to buy it! The one review recommended a Brother printer for duplex printing, so I hunted around but couldn't find one.

Let me qualify this review first, I have printed less than 100 pages so far.

The setup worked fine for me on Windows XP. I tried printing 4 pages/side & double sized (so 8 pages/sheet). I had to see this funny duplex printing, and it is a bit funny, the paper comes out and goes back in (as another poster mentioned) But it seems to work and doesn't look gimmicky to me.

References to the print quality coming out grey aren't happening for me either. I just printed an Amazon web page with a lot of graphics on it and the blacks are black. Text is crisp. I like to print out technical manuals and code, and if it keeps performing as is, I will be very happy.

One negative I've noticed is that the paper does get a bit curly, especially in duplex because it puts it thru twice. But I can live with that, beats the hell out of the ink jets I've owned in the past.

Before I purchased the Panasonic P7105 printer I reviewed Small Office Home Office (SOHO) printers made by Samsung, Hewlett Packard, Minolta, and Brother. My goal was to spend no more than $230. Though the printers in this category offered decent print quality there was one option they did not have and that was automatic duplex printing. The most affordable printer that offered this feature was the P7105, so I increased my spending limit accordingly. I was also pleased that the printer came with 16MB of RAM and the company offered a $20 (2000 page) toner refill kit. Affordable printers often make up the difference in original savings by killing you with higher prices on the consumables such as the drum and toner.

The printer did not set up very easily and I eventually went to their web site and downloaded the latest drivers. Once I was able to print I was very disappointed in the print quality. Even after ensuring that the toner save mode was off and the print quality was set to its highest setting, the print just seemed too gray and this was using 99+ bright white paper. The printer was noisy and the duplex feature was not smooth at all. The printer also had a memory problem and the uninstall did not work. When I called tech support they sent me to the Japanese web site to download a special uninstall program (which also crashed). The Tech also told me if the uninstall program did not work then to call back and be prepared to spend an hour on the phone cleaning up my system (their tech support is non toll free, so to fix their defective product you have to use your phone bill). They eventually told me to return the system. Even if I overlooked the memory problem, the printer was still of very poor quality. It felt cheap and flimsy. Since I could not find a local dealer who sold one, I brought it off the Internet site unseen. If you are considering this printer I would highly recommend trying to find one local so that you can see first hand the quality or lack there of. I eventually spent an additional $50 and purchased a Brother 1650 and the difference is day and night. If auto duplexing is not important then there are some good buys for under $200. If you need the duplexing feature then I would highly recommend the Brother 1650.

We had a choice between the Panasonic P-7105 or the HP LaserJet 1012. Nobody had toner anywhere for the 1012, and the 1012 didn't have duplex printing. We bought the P-7105 and I can say, I'm glad we did. It's blazing fast and it looks great. It's duplex is a little unusual though, the paper comes out of the feed slot, then retracts, then returns, printing on both sides of the paper.

I use this machine for just about everything. I've had it for a day now, and it's already printed 50 pages. I love it!