The Fuji Xerox DocuPrint CM205b is an entry level multifunction colour laser printer. It is a nice compact and inexpensive laser printer that is perfect for small businesses with limited space, on a tight budget but want laser quality prints, that also scans and copies. What more could you ask for…may be a fax but does anyone fax anymore these days? For those who need a fax machine there is a fax model available.
So how does it stack up? Size wise, it’s about as wide/depth as my previous Canon inkjet printer, height wise it’s 1.5 times the height of the Canon. So it fits nicely on a bench or desktop.
Dimensions: (W) 42cm x (D) 37 cm x (H) 31 cm.
Output
Print: quick laser quality prints, photo printing not recommended.
Scan: scanning speed is average, scanning quality is ok.
Copy: black & white copying is good, colour copying is not great.
Likes:
- Quick laser quality black and colour prints.
- A USB slot at the front of the printer allows you to scan and save straight onto the USB drive without the need of the computer.
- While printing, the printer will beep if it runs out of paper and continues printing automatically when it detects paper has been refilled.
- The printer goes into energy saving mode if left on for awhile without any activity.
Dislikes:
- Scanning speed is about average or a tad slower than my previous Canon inkjet. I find the scanning quality is not as sharp or crisp as the Canon.
- Colour copy quality could be better, copying colour documents leaves the coloured images a bit blurred and over exposed even with the exposure option not selected.
- Beeps every time a print job is done which get a bit annoying if you have several jobs going at the same time.
I wouldn’t recommend printing photos with the CM205b, because of the heat factor with laser printers, glossy photo paper doesn’t come out as glossy when printed. Also, if you forget to choose glossy paper stock before printing you end up with a bit of a mess on the photo paper because the ink doesn’t quite stick to the paper.
Issues
A couple of times while scanning the printer froze, had to restart the printer to get it to work again. A few times when the printer is active after being on energy saving mode, my computer does not detect that the printer is on. I switched the printer on and off a couple of times but my computer still indicates that the printer is off. I had to reboot my computer so that I could print. That’s very annoying.
Verdict
As a laser printer, I would say it gets the job done. Black & white prints look like laser prints and colour prints are not far behind. As a multifunction printer there is room for improvement.