Xerox Phaser 6128MFPV/N review

Xerox's Phaser 6128MFPV/N is a bulky workgroup MFP with a maximum duty cycle of 40,000 mono or 10,000 colour pages per month.

When we first turned it on, a handy configuration screen prompted us to confirm the date, time, network, fax and paper settings. Driver installation was incredibly simple, and the installer scanned our network and detected the printer immediately before installing its emulated PCL6 driver.

The sheer number of buttons and functions on the front panel was confusing at first. Its built-in menus provide control over everything from paper types to power saving. We were disappointed to find that not all these options were available from the printer's web administration interface. It focuses on network settings, and lets you control which IP addresses are allowed to print as well as features such as error notification.

You can't use your PC as the host device to control scans over a network, which prevents you from making scans from within applications. To do so, you must connect to the 6128MFPV/N via USB, an irritating limitation in a network device. However, this is unlikely to affect users who just need to make quick scans. The printer can be configured to save scans to a shared directory on your network, an FTP server or an email address.

Over a USB connection, the TWAIN scanner driver is basic, lacking features such as auto-cropping, but it's easy to use and remains open between scans. Scan quality was generally good, with fairly accurate colour and shading, although 1,200dpi scans were slightly banded at full magnification.

Print quality was excellent, with sharp text and vivid, smooth colours in our business document prints. Mono print speeds were a little slow at 9.9ppm, but colour prints emerged at a relatively swift 5.6ppm. Photo-quality images were smooth and detailed but suffered from a pink tint, particularly in pale areas.

Toner costs are typical for a laser at 10.5p per mixed-colour page, but other parts can be expensive and hard to come by. The drum has a lifetime of 30,000 images. Xerox doesn't consider it to be user-replaceable, but you can get spares from specialist retailers for around £250.

The 6128MFPV/N produces attravailable, professional-looking prints but its total cost of ownership is higher than most similarly priced colour laser MFPs. It'll cost you £741 for three years' light use and £1,954 for three years' medium use. Epson's Aculaser CX21NF costs a little more to buy, but is cheaper to run.

Basic Specifications

Rating

***

Maximum native print resolution

600x600dpi

Max optical resolution

1,200dpi

Output bit depth

24-bit

Quoted Speeds

Quoted speed, mono A4

12ppm

Quoted speed, colour A4

16ppm

Tested Print Speeds

Time for two 10x8in photos 1.0

1m 24s

Time for six 6x4in photos 1.0

1m 17s

Physical and Environmental

Standard printer interfaces

USB, 10/100 Ethernet

Optional printer interfaces

802.11 b/g wireless network adaptor (097S03741), £222

Size

585x425x507mm

Weight

29.0kg

Noise (in normal use)

62dB(A)

Duty cycle

40,000 pages

Power consumption standby

19W

Power consumption idle

21W

Power consumption active

997W

Paper Handling

Maximum paper size

A4/legal

Maximum paper weight

215gsm

Standard paper inputs

250

Standard paper input capacity

1

Maximum paper inputs

1

Maximum paper input capacity

250

Duplex (code, cost if option)

No

General

Printer technology

four-pass colour laser

Language(s)

host-based

Supported operating systems

Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Server 2003, Mac OS X 10.3+, Linux

Maximum printer memory

384MB

Other laser features and options

three year extendeed onsite warranty, 6100ES4, £35, 3,100 page black toner 106R01455,£64, 2,500 page cyan 106R01452, 2,500 page magenta 106R01453, 2,500 page yellow 106R01454, £70 each, 30,000 image imaging unit 675K69240, £263

Buying Information

Price

£467

Price per mono A4 page

2.10p

Price per colour A4 page

6.3p

Price of 2nd paper cassette

none

Warranty

one year onsite

Supplier

http://www.kikatek.com

Details

www.xerox.co.uk

Tested Scan Speeds

Full scan area preview

16s

A4 document at 150dpi

23s

A4 document at 300dpi

46s

6x4in photo at 600dpi

42s

6x4in photo at 1200dpi

2m 32s

Tested Copy Speeds

Time for single A4 mono copy 1.0

24s

Time for single A4 colour copy 1.0

26s

Time for 10 A4 copies using feeder 2.0

1m 1s

Copy Features

Maximum number of copies

99

Copier zoom range

25-400%

Max mono copy resolution

600x600dpi

Max colour copy resolution

600x600dpi

Fax Features

Fax modem speed

33.6Kbit/s

Max mono fax resolution

400x400dpi

Basic Specifications

Quoted Speeds

Tested Print Speeds

Physical and Environmental

Paper Handling

General

Buying Information

Tested Scan Speeds

Tested Copy Speeds

Copy Features

Fax Features