Customer Reviews

Phaser 3300MFP/X Color Printer/Copier/Scanner/Fax

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

 

 

The Xerox Phaser 3300MFP has delivered more than I expected at a very reasonable cost given the system's capabilities.

1) Physical installation is a snap-- just remove it from the carton, plug cables into the only places they fit, remove the tape that holds doors closed, insert the toner cartridge, unlock the scanner mechanism and it's done. In our case we also added the second 250 sheet paper tray which equally simple.

2) Software installation on a Windows-7 Professional platform was limited to inserting the CD-ROM, telling it to use a network connected printer, and picking the printer from a displayed list.

3) Setting up the printers firmware uses the web interface which worked exactly as expected and offered no problems that an occational quick look into the on-line manual failed to cure.

4) EVERY feature worked as documented, including scan to Email, scan to Network, and FAX forward to Email.

The web interface can be a bit difficult for people with little or no ability to actually read and follow instructions. But if you open the manual in one browser window and the machine's web interface in another and then accept that Xerox knows more about their machine than you do... it all works fine.

Some features are especially nice. One very useful one is that it you can put a stack of pages in the feeder and then scan them directly to a folder on your computer in one of several formats. Another useful feature, especially for small business types, is that incoming faxes can be set to automatically forward to your email as a PDF file. This is great because if an order or contract is sent by fax you can get it on your Blackberry or iPhone when away from the office.

The only "fault" I have with it is the machine's control panel. It uses a telephone keypad for all data input which makes things like entering Email addresses and mixed-case passwords sluggish. Perhaps Xerox will put a better human interface on the next generation.

Otherwise... a very good product that demonstrates good value.

I had been buying the Xerox Phaser 3200MFP/N Multi-Function Network Printer/Fax/Scanner/Email for branch offices I support but was very disappointed in the quality and cost per page. So when Xerox came out with the 3300 MFP I was interested in seeing how it compared.

While the part number maybe close, the machines are completely different. The 3300 MFP is more rugged, with a real paper tray (optional add on paper trays available), a lower cost per page, and better paper handling. It offers all of the features you would expect on a modern laser, scan to e-mail, network scanning, printing, and faxing. I have purchased 5 of these so far (now 10). The initial firmware these some of the units shipped with was buggy and as noted by another reviewer the Web user interface (UI) did not work in IE and other browsers. However, Xerox soon corrected that problem with a significant firmware update that corrected the UI and even required new drivers on the work stations.

Setup and administration was very strait forward via the Web interface (nearly identical to any other Xerox copier). You can import address books for fax and e-mail, and tweak all of the default settings. I have had no complaints from the users and with 9+ (now 14+) months of usage under there belt, these printers continue to perform well.

Other vendors may have similar products, but one area Xerox has really shined is there onsite technical support. While no of my 3300's have required onsite services, Xerox has always come through for me on other units I have installed. (The onsite warranty is an optional add on.) (I have had one ADF feeder that had some problems jamming but they were quick to repair it)

So where does this unit come short? It does not support SSL for SMTP which means if you use Gmail or some other vendor that requires SSL for SMTP you are going to have trouble. One work around to this is setting up a computer running STUNNEL ([...]) a free open source project that you can use to proxy through. The other feature lacking is LDAP support for a centralize e-mail address list. The only other "weakness" it has is a limited darken/lighten range when making copies. It has this feature but it does not have the same range that a full blown copier has.

Bottom line if you are looking for a solid, cost effective, multifunction unit, in my opinion, this is it. (Revised this review because it does support duplexing which I had incorrectly stated it did not. My review is other wise still the same after more than a year of usage.)

I've only spent about 6 hours with my new xerox phaser 3300 mfp and I'm very disappointed. It has a web page that is built into the machine. I have no trouble accessing it, but it is not compatible with any web browsers. I've tried FireFox and IE8 on a XP machine and FireFox and Safari on a mac. The navigation buttons disappears after you switch pages and the images don't load until you hold your pointer over them. It is just flaky as can be. Then, to make things worse, when I do attempt to change a setting, I get an "error on page" warning in IE8. So, I can't change settings.

The manual is also full of errors. It is like it was written for a different machine and pasted into this machines manual and not fully updated to be accurate with this machine. It tells me to go to areas in the browser accessible control panel that simply don't exist. If Xerox reads this, look how it tells you to set SMTP in the browser based interface and then look at the reality of where the SMTP settings are.

I called Xerox and he confirmed the errors in the instructions and confirmed that it isn't compatible with hardly any "new" browsers. He said it worked with a lot of outdated versions of popular browsers. He had me download OPERA rather than reverting to an older version of IE. Now it works fine, but I still have to figure it out without much help from the manual as it is not written with any degree of accuracy.

T

The print and scan quality are good. Interface and usability are bad. This device gets a one star rating because it does not do what it advertises it can do. Network scanning is only available via PC (not much of a surprise) although they don't tell you that when you buy the thing. It also claims that it can scan to email over the network. It really can't, not if your email server requires SSL, like 90% of email servers do. Duh! None of these limitations are listed anywhere, and the only way to discover that the scan to email doesn't work with SSL is to call tier 2 technical support to discover it. If you buy it and can't get it to work within a week, it isn't you. The machine doesn't work. Rather, I should say that it does not work as advertised, hence the one star rating.

Dont be seduced.

Paper jams about 3 times a day, every day.
Scanner jams quite often, unless document is perfectly fitted to the roller.
The setup was non-intuitive

Worst of all, I bought this from Amazon. When I called Xerox for tech support, they informed me--that while it was new--it was a 'resell' and tech support would be 'for fee'

The only two things which I do not like about this machine is that it takes a long time to warm up and be careful do not put whole punched sheets in the feeder, it will screw up your feeder sometime in the future.

This machine is advertised as being able to scan to e-mail and the Xerox sales rep assured me it would scan to my Yahoo e-mail. After seven hours over two days trying to reach someone in Xerox technical support, I found out this printer will NOT scan to my e-mail. The Xerox engineer said that e-mail providers such as Yahoo and the others have gone to SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) and this machine is incapable of scanning to that. To obtain that function, he said you have to purchase the 3550 version, but that machine is heavier, larger and more than double the cost of this one.

Also, Xerox customer service is the worst I've ever encountered. For Tech Support, you have to wait on hold for an extended period of time before someone in Manila answers the call. The guy knew nothing about the scanner function and nor did his supervisor. I was told I had to speak to someone in Level 2 and that was another half hour wait on hold. That person also knew nothing and nor did her supervisor. By day 2 of this, I finally found someone in Customer Service who located an engineer for me to speak to. After going through 25 minutes of set up, he finally remembered that this machine will not scan to e-mail since it doesn't work with the SSL encryption software that nearly every e-mail provider now uses. The entire process was a huge waste of time, and now I have to return the machine. I will never purchase another Xerox product.

Please excuse the enthusiasm but in over 20 years of purchasing computer equipment (lots), this is the finest product I have ever seen. This is not unbridled enthusiasm, as I had always associated the Xerox name with bullet-proof mass copiers. What a huge and pleasant surprise.

Ease of Use? Let's just put it this way: "We don't need no stinkin manual man!" Actually I never read the manual to set up, network, USB connect, print, fax or make coffee with it. And customer support is second to none. Telephones are answered by friendly and knowledgeable people.

Close your eyes and trust this product. The used-to-be-world champion of printers is now Gone With the Wind in my opinion. That's right. I gave my brand-new XX printer away when it went on permanent strike after only light usage.

This MFP machine is worth more than the price on it. And, after too many thousands of dollars of purchases, Amazon has yet to fail me.

Very few things in life are this easy: Xerox and Amazon.

I got sick of tracking down random drivers for the recent barrage of consumer grade printers that I've been using so found one that can use a generic postscript driver. I recall this being pretty standard on all laser printers about 15 years ago, but for some reason it's not like that anymore.

Anyhow, this thing prints well and does the duplexing just fine. Scanning has been easy. I haven't used it to send a fax yet, but I would bet that since everything else works as advertised that will work too.

I'll know more in the future as far as how long toner lasts and so on, but for now it's exactly what I thought I was getting and I'm happy.

I upgraded from an HP inkjet MFP. After some research I decided to go with the Xerox, my first xerox mfp, I have been very happy with the machine.
The software the comes with the machine is very good, easy to use and does not overload your computer with stuff you do not need.

The ability to scan a document to your PC from the machine is great! The scan quality is very nice.

The web interface is easy to use and really gives you good control over the machine.

The top document feeder is top quality too, the HP really had problems if the pages were bent a little, the Xerox will feed and scan just about anything.