- Offers monochrome printing and copying and color scanning
- Laser printing at 600 dpi for professional-quality prints
- Copier can scale originals from 25% to 400%
- Flatbed scanner also has 40-page document feeder
- Backed by 1-year warranty
Cons: Noisy, for instance a continuous fan noise. The original unpack, assembly is easy but there are no written directions, only lots of pictures. Took me awhile to turn the pieces around in my hand to match the photos. IOW, a few words would have helped! Actually, however, the drum and cartridge installation is all there is to assemble, and do it once and you realize its very simple and quick. 1: Cut toner pack top with scissors and shake it 2. Lift the top up and set drum into hole (or remove drum from hole). 3. Turn the cartridge to lock (or unlock): Thats it! No messiness.
No USB cord... :(
Other Thoughts: All lazer printers are big and heavy, think old 17"" crt monitor size. But this one needs only abt 3"" clearance behind (power cord plug), 0"" left and right, and the output tray extends in front only 4"" (and it slides back inside when no paper in the tray). The scanner lid opens from the front, hence no side clearance necessary. Scanning/printing quality: excellent. OCR character recognition for .jpg, .tiff, etc. files to text: amazingly accurate, wonderful! Easy to use, yet lots of options on board the unit''s keyboard: 5 shortcut buttons, lcd display, keypad, 4 way hat. Even more options using the free Multi Funciton Station software. Printing speed is very good at 300x300. A bit slow at 600x600 printing and all scanning.
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Has been trouble free and intuitive to use for the few months I have had this.
That inkjet contraption is costing you thousands of $''s for supplies/materials down through the years. So get a laser! (And save the little inkjet under the desk/out of the way for color work when necessary).
Buy Panasonic KX-MB271All-in-One Flatbed Laser Office Machine with Print/Scan/Copy Now
Come on, people. Be realistic. You''re talking about a laser MFC in the really low cost range (I just bought mine today at C@stco for under $60!). Because of the low cost, I wasn''t expecting anything spectacular.In fact, the only reason I bought it was for the auto-document feeder so that I could scan multiple pages at a time without switching out pages after every scan. I couldn''t be more pleased, and it seems to work as well as the far more expensive document scanners. If it didn''t come with a printer attached I would have still purchased it.
I''ve printed a test page and I find no problems with print quality or toner rubbing off. The image I saw was dark enough even with toner save enabled. Of course the test page is going to be the best the machine can do. I have no problems with what I saw.
Printer/Fax/Copy operation is straight forward. There is nothing spectacular to report in this aspect. It does what it was designed to do, and it seems to do it well.
As for the small amount of toner included (roughly 500 pages worth), the documentation is clear in stating that the cartridge is a starter cartridge. A normal replacement cartridge will print about 2000. Before complaining, consider the following. HP and Lexmark have been shipping products with low capacity starter cartridges for years, as have most other major manufacturers. Personally, for what I paid for the device, I''m glad it even came with toner.
The lack of a USB printer cable would be a bit of a drag for most people, but let''s return to the title of my review: "You get what you pay for." I never expected there to be one. Besides, the normal 6 ft. cable that would be included for me would have been too short anyway. Now I have one less cable to have to store. Also, a lot of people replace older printers, not run new ones concurrently with older ones (unless he happens to be like me who is now running three scanners and three physical printers off of the same machine along with three virtual printers, each for a different purpose)
The lack of a power switch was a bit surprising, but not something that was completely unexpected. I have yet to see an MFC (other than really really expensive ones) that have a power switch. It does have a "Power Save" button which lights up red when pressed and goes off when the device detects paper being loaded or the PC wakes it up for a job. I''m going to guess that hooking it up to a power strip and forcibly turning the device on and off for every use would damage the MFC after a while. I don''t believe it was ever designed to withstand that kind of system shock on a regular basis.
I gave it five stars because, even after taking into consideration some of the negatives, it all boils down to being one sweet deal.Good laser quality printing/copying/scanning. Excellent MSRP price.
Another NICE feature is that its easy to refill the laser printer toner cartridge using a toner refill kit. Since the cartridge just flips open, there is no need to drill holes. So say goodbye! to expensive new cartridges :-).
Cons:
1. Panasonic''s website doesnt have a link to updated windows drivers. They are available at:2. Its a GDI based printer which means that it wont work as a local printer with Ubuntu or other Linux PCs. However, there a ways to get it to be shared to Linux/Ubuntu clients on the ubuntu forums.
Panasonic KX-MB271 All-in-One Print/Scan/Copy Office Machine
Want Panasonic KX-MB271All-in-One Flatbed Laser Office Machine with Print/Scan/Copy Discount?
Let''s be realistic about what this unit can do. Firstly it lists at 149.95, can be bought for as little as $80.00 or less new in box. At this price point only a basic monochrome lazer printer is priced at, never mind a copier or ocr scanner.I don''t like the menu set up, though, it does the job. Installation is easy, the drivers are on the CD rom and you should be able to install it in about 10 minutes or so, including the time to install the toner/drum assemblies. Most units don''t include a USB cable, so the lack of it is no surprise; your local Radio Shack or computer store has those easily available.
As a copier its about par for the course, reasonable given its price/size point; only a regular copier can give you an outstanding copies. The scanner and software work ok, I''ve seen a lot worse and some better, but only a stand alone scanner works great.
For the average home use, it''s a great unit. Less expensive to run than ink jets, a little noisy at start up, NO ON or OFF SWITCH!, copies ok, and priced at ink jet territory. For heavy use, you''ll need to spend about $400 or more, at a price point of $150 or less, its a nice unit.
If you want perfection, buy three seperate units: scanner w/ocr software, a copier, and a printer... only you''ll spend far more than this machine.
Other reveiwers have stated that it comes with a starter cartridge that prints 500 copies. This is correct. Get over it. It''s a $60 laser printer. The standard toner cartridges print 2000.
No power button. This sucks, but oh well. Get over it. It''s a $60 laser printer.
No USB cable. Get over it. It''s a $60 laser printer.
I purchased two for office use, and they do scan a little tilted, but again, I got over it. It''s a $60 laser printer.
Mine don''t make any of the loud noises others have mentioned, and is very quiet. I leave it on 24/7 and push the power save button when not in use.
****UPDATE DEC 2011**** Three years and this thing is still going strong!!! Just found out the hard way that it IS NOT compatible with Mac. Would have been nice to know. I now have no use for it, so will donate to a good home. For the money, best printer I''ve ever had.
****UPDATE FEB 2013**** Four years and this thing is still going strong!!!
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