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Review: Kyocera Mita FS-1800N

By PCWorld Staff

(IDG) -- WHAT'S HOT: On many printers you replace the drum with each toner cartridge, but Kyocera's drum is designed to last 300,000 pages. And Kyocera doesn't gouge you on toner: a 20,000-page cartridge costs about $100, which over the life of the printer should add up to considerable cost savings. Clearing paper jams on the FS-1800N is a snap because the entire paper path slides out on rails.

WHAT'S NOT: The FS-1800N's price tag of $1499 is steep, especially for a printer that rolls out text at a stately 10.7 pages per minute. It does a reasonable job on text quality, but graphics suffer. The FS-1800N has one of the most baffling control panels we've ever encountered. Though the engine can print legal-size documents, the main paper tray doesn't expand to hold legal-size paper, so you must use the auxiliary tray or buy an add-on paper feeder to print at that size. You can send documents along a straight path to the rear exit, but a tray to catch rear-exiting documents costs an extra $39, which seems really chintzy for a corporate model.

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WHAT ELSE: The FS-1800N has a slot for a 128MB flash memory card, which takes the place of an internal drive to hold fonts, forms, or other frequently used data. You can also expand the printer's paper capacity with up to three 500-sheet feeders for $299 each, and add a duplexer for $339 and a five-bin mailbox for $533.

BEST USE: It's hard to recommend the FS-1800N for any circumstances, but offices that are very concerned about ink costs over the long haul may consider it a good deal.

Buying Information

• Kyocera Mita FS-1800N

• $ 1499

• Rated 17-ppm, standard 8MB of RAM, 2400-by-600-dpi maximum resolution, 600 sheets input, 250 output.