The printer control panel has a "Job Finishing" tab,
that allows you to create different types of output layout.
I found this feature to be extremely handy. Hardware and
software manufacturers are more and more inclined lately to release very skimpy
print manuals, and leave their "real" documentation on their install CD, as an
Adobe Acrobat .pdf. When you enable two sided printing, you are greeted with
binding options, which allow you to bind documents either up top, or to the side
of the sheet. The driver automatically squeezes the output out of the way of the
binding area. Booklet mode allows 4 pages of text front and back, on one sheet
of paper. A little folding and a word or two with a staplegun, and creating
little booklets is easy. I was able to successfully dump out several .pdf
manuals in binding and booklet modes. I would rather of course that
manufacturers not be cheapskates, but when they are, this printer made printing
out manuals more practical.
It's paper handling features are quite good. It's
patented ACCUFEED paper handling system seems to do an excellent job handling
different paper types. I was unable to get the printer to jam, feeding it
anything from 20 lb Xerocopy all the way up to 150lb card stock (it's rated to
handle a max of 160lb cardstock). It automatically does kind of a "preload" of
the paper stock, and then realigns the stock, ensuring that the paper feed is
absolutely straight and true. This is a very nice touch, especially when you are
dealing with heavier stock papers and cardstock, which are notorious for causing
paper jams.
For black and white printing here the "fast draft"
600x300 mode is ideal for printing invoices, and for quickie "throwaway"
printouts, where speed is more important than quality. Indeed the draft mode
output is not the best in the world. Even after calibrating the printer's
bi-directional printing modes, there were still registration and misalignment
errors on draft mode prints. These are just nitpicks though. The draft mode's
speed is VERY welcome, and makes this printer ideal for a small home/office
setup. A laser of course will have crisper text, and be faster, but will not be
nearly as versatile. 600x600 mode isn't much slower, and does give much better
detail in text and graphics prints. It is clear that not just any kind of paper
will do for the crispest output however. Plain Xerocopy 4994 bulk laser/inkjet
paper did exhibit common "wicking" problems in 600dpi and higher modes. Of
course at $2.39 for 500 sheets of this stuff, what do you expect? Using a good
coated inkjet specific paper at ~$6/500 sheets, and the output was crisp and
clean, with only a hint of the occasional stray dot.
Next page: Conclusion
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