Konica Minolta PagePro 1250W

Minolta-QMS PagePro 1250W

PagePro 1250W Review, by Dan Littman January 7, 2003

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• Reviewed by: bubble19147

  Strengths: Cheap laser printer (got a good deal on it)

  Weaknesses: Catridge runs out quick and the size is too big for a typcial computer desk. Also, the toner is super expensive, over $100 (which was what I paid for the laser printer)

  Overall: Had this printer for a while, found it really hard to function. Customer support was horrible and tenicians were unable to help. Print setup was hard to understand and the worst part was that it was in Spanish after I tried to install the second time (could never get it fixed again, already tried to switch to English, did not work). One more thing, if you haven't realized yet, the toner for this printer is over a $100 on the online store.

• Reviewed by: traincompbox

  Strengths: Small, fast, easy setup, good aftermarket for supplies.

  Weaknesses: Low capacity paper tray.

  Overall: Inexpensive price make this a great printer. WinXP Pro setup was painless and fast. Printer uses toner cartridge inherited from earlier models of Minolta printers which makes for blatently cheap refilled cartridges. Only improvements would be a higher capacity paper tray and a second paper tray.

• Reviewed by: Chieftejano

  Strengths: Most affordable monochrome HIGH QUALITY (1200 dpi at 21 ppm) laser printer I have ever bought and owned.

  Weaknesses: If you want to purchase replacement supplies from factory, it will cost you dearly. Not a problem if you refill your toner. Unit is very fragile and must be treated like it is made out of eggshells.

  Overall: If your black and white documents are Plain-Jane simple, this is the most affordable printer you can get that produces high quality prints at 1200 dpi and can print at high speed 21 ppmI love the toner cartridge cause it is separate from the drum, and has an easy toner refill cap. There is no way I am gonna purchase expensive toner from Minolta...it costs more than what the printer cost me. I wish these companies would pay more attention to what consumers want: "Cheap black and white high quality prints and easy and cheap to replace toner." After more than 20 years since the laser printer appeared, you would think that companies have learned this lesson. My tip is buy your generic refill toner on the net through a reputable dealer.This unit is very very very fragile and you have to treat it with great care...If you dont plan to move it around much, and you treat it like it was made out of eggshells, then the input and output trays will last you withought mishaps. The upside is that the footprint this printer has is small.Some people complain about the noise it makes, but that is the least of my worries.

• Reviewed by: JJH

  Strengths: You don't have to spend long on the phone waiting to speak with a Minolta support representative.

  Weaknesses: Fails to print some documents. Reports errors when printing. Leaves out words in printed document.

  Overall: DO NOT BUY THIS PRINTER. If you've read the reports, you'll see that Minolta has received good reviews on its 1250W printer. I was lulled by these good reviews into buying the 1250E -- thinking that it had to be just as good as the 1250W. That couldn't be farther from the truth. I bought the printer two months ago. About 1/5 of the time that I try to print, a "PCL XL error" is reported. Instead of my requested document, it prints a page reporting the error. I've seen "Subsystem: KERNAL" and "Subsystem: IMAGE" errors. (Yes, I am using the latest driver -- 1.11.) If my documents do print, every once in a while the printer leaves out some words at the end of my sentences. I just wrote a paper for law school. The last words on a particular line was "accident at." The printer printed "ac." It left out "cident at" for some reason. The next print was fine. So, it appears this problem is intermittent -- a big problem if you are writing important papers. Other problems: the printer monitor software doesn't work if you use a parallel port cable. It tries to print a document called "senddoc" that will fail to print. It will hang around in your printer queue. Technical support won't solve your problems either. I've spoken with them over a half dozen times. One woman with whom I spoke explained to me that there is a new standard for parallel port cables and that I have to buy a new one to get the printer to work.Five Words: DO NOT BUY THIS PRINTER!

• Reviewed by: anole1

  Strengths: Small size and low cost

  Weaknesses: I have so far found it impossible to install this printer's driver in XP Professional. I can't do it and so far, Minolta technicians have also been unable to help.Don't buy if you have XP Pro.

  Overall: Cannot be used with Windows XP Professional. When I tried to install, first, the computer rebooted and then continued to reboot over and over. Then, I made a change in the Properties section of XP, unchecking auto reboot at the suggestion of Minolta Technicians. This time, the computer froze, showing numerous vertical white bars over a blue screen. The driver is not Microsoft approved either. I have had to use the Restore function to make the computer functional again.