Fuji Xerox Phaser 3160N

The compact Fuji Xerox’s Phaser 3160N is a single function, monochrome laser printer that knocks out pages quickly and economically. It’s a bare basics machine and lacks even a small LCD to check print status, but it does have Ethernet connectivity so you can network it for a small or home office.

You won’t find any copying or scanning on the 3160N but that was hardly likely at its budget $199 price. What you do get is a nicely compact machine (I particularly like that there is no overhanging paper output tray) that will fit just about anywhere and that is easy to maintain and run. Text documents are printed quickly and with properly black text that boasts excellent clarity. Greyscale images don’t look as good but the standard output resolution is only 600 x 600 dpi (this can be bumped up to 1,200 x 1,200 for extra resolution).

The Phaser 3160N has just two buttons to deal with, power and print and its bundled software is very straightforward.

Maximum paper size is A4 and the main input tray can hold up to 250 sheets. Fuji Xerox quotes a print output rate of 24 pages per minute. There is also a second single sheet paper input for the likes of printing just one envelope without having to change out the paper in the main tray.

The 3160N connects via USB port or 10/100Mbits/s Ethernet. Status monitoring software and printer drivers are provided for Linux, Windows and Mac OS X, and a web server is also built-in for remote monitoring and maintenance.

The 3160N uses a combination toner/drum cartridge which has a quoted page yield of 2,500 pages. We found street prices of around $120 for the cartridge so that translates to about 5c per sheet printed. The cartridge is very simple to remove and replace, just open the front flap and pull it out.

The 3160N also features an energy saving mode for when it’s not in use, helping to protect the environment and save you a few extra dollars.

If a single function A4 laser desktop is what you’re after, the 3160N will reward you with fast and good quality printing at a reasonable running cost.