Kyocera Mita FS-C5030N Color Laser Printer Review

The best thing about the Kyocera Mita color laser printers is that you pay a considerably small amount for running costs. This is important especially in these modern times where energy is becoming a rare commodity. Most of your money goes to paying for toner because of the printer’s lifetime drum components.

The 5000 series color laser printers look quite outdated in their design. They look like the traditional boxy office printers except for the curves around the front and by the page exit slot at the top that look old-fashioned all the same.

Regarding paper handling capabilities, the FS-C5030N basically holds 500 sheets in a deep paper tray and 100 in a multipurpose tray that folds out from the main tray. That’s a total of 600 sheets, with an option of adding 3 more deep paper trays as well as a cabinet below on castors. This makes it easy to update it into a complete workgroup machine.

The printer is deeper since it is an in-line color laser printer. The menu system is controlled by 6 of 8 buttons on a 2 line by 16 character backlit LCD. You’ll find Ethernet and USB 2.0 ports at the rear for standard transmission.

Setting the printer up is nothing to it. Under the top cover, lock each of 4 cartridges in place using a lever. Then, insert the waste toner bottle into the canister at the side of the printer. As for software, Windows will keep directions easy for you with driver installation and controlling what the printer can do.

Printing capabilities include double-side printing and 20-500% scaling of multi-page and poster printing with the duplexer (optional). Color adjustment is a breeze and can be readily customized for certain printing jobs.

With energy consumption, it takes up 16W on sleep mode, equal to energy used by an energy-saving light bulb. However, it takes 70 seconds to get ready for printing. In a fast paced office, this may be too much time to wait for a printer to warm up before it begins to print your documents.

The specs claim 20ppm, but the printer takes 33 seconds to print a 5-page text. That’s 9ppm which is less than half its claim. If you add color printing, it slows to 8.3ppm. Personally, it’s not exactly slow per se, but the real-time speed relates differently as compared to what is claimed in the spec sheet.

When it comes to printing, the FS-C5030N does a great job with its shiny and precise black text that even small fonts come out printed looking excellent. This will allow for fine printing with little errors and smudges.

The same goes for color and text mixed together in print, but some colors print darker on paper than on the computer. Shades of color prints are duller than the initial images and there’s little evidence of dotting or shaking.

Lastly, photo printing doesn’t necessarily say “touched-up postcard” though it is a bit grainy. Considering that it’s a 600dpi machine, color is quite natural with some detail.

Kyocera claims a 55dBA sound output from the printer and is an accurate measurement. It makes a high-toned whine but it isn’t that disturbing. It’s more like Thunderbirds than Joe Pasquale.

The only thing you pay for is toner, which can print approximately 8000 5% cover pages. Black toners are worth £60 and colored toners are worth less than £95. Since Kyocera uses a basic consumable regime, maintenance will not cost much.

It will be 1.23p for 5% black print and 4.71p for 20% color print, the lowest ever measured. Buying a color printer may be expensive, but the low running cost should cancel that out.

The FS-C5030N is a good color laser printer with the lowest running cost. Printing is better than expected and the machine is easy to maintain. It can expand with your company and is a must-have for anyone needing a workgroup printer.