Konica Minolta MagiColor 2430DL Laser Printer (20 PPM, 2400x600 DPI, Color, 32MB, PC/Mac)

Reviewed by: Shinken1

Duration of ownership: 2 Years

Strengths: Small size, low cost

Weaknesses: Paper handling, toner leakage

Overall Evaluation: I've had this printer for about 2 years and it has been problematic from the start. It frequently stops feeding paper and displays MEDIA JAM. I've had several emails and phone calls to Konica-Minolta tech support, but they have failed to resolve this issue. This is the same paper that feeds flawlessly on my very cheap but incredibly reliable HP 1012 laserjet, which I use for everyday B&W printing. Secondly, whenever I open the top to clear a paper jam, there is black toner everywhere. I've spoken with a tech at an authorized Konica-Minolta printer repair shop and was told that this is common in these printers. The results are that (1) I frequently have to clean off the laser window to stop streaking, and (2) every few weeks the printer LCD advises me that one of the toner cartridges is not loaded, so I remove it, clean off the black smudge on the contacts and reinsert it. Most recently, every time I start a print job the LCD says that the paper tray is empty, and I have to remove the paper and put it back in again to reset one of the sensors. I recently replaced this printer with a Xerox Phaser 6180n that seems to work flawlessly, has the same street price of around $400, and prints better quality color at about 20ppm instead of 5ppm because it's a single-pass printer. Also, I noticed that the Phaser does not loudly go clunk-clunk-clunk as does the 2430DL. From reading this review, you probably get the idea that I didn't like this printer very much, and you're right. My only regret is not replacing it sooner.