Fuji Xerox WorkCentre 3220 monochrome laser multifunction

Fuji Xerox's WorkCentre 3220 is cheap, but that doesn't mean it's a bad printer. It's an entry-level mono laser multifunction that offers plenty of scanning options and has inexpensive consumables.

The Fuji Xerox WorkCentre 3220 mono laser multifunction is significantly smaller than the DocuPrint C1190FS, making it easier to move and access. Though you get less memory and a slightly slower processor than the C1190FS, there are almost no other side effects to this model's reduction in size. Both printers have a 250-sheet paper tray and can output 150 sheets at a time, and the WorkCentre 3220 even has a beefier automatic document feeder that fits 50 sheets. Fuji Xerox offers a secondary 250-sheet paper tray for $249.

The multifunction has a 33.6Kbps fax as well as USB and Ethernet connectivity. On the front you'll find a second USB port that allows you to print from and scan to USB flash drives. File format support is generous: the printer will recognise JPG, TIFF, PRN, PNG and PDF files already on the flash drive, and can save scans in JPG, TIFF, PNG and PDF formats. The lack of Word or plain text file support is disappointing, but PDF support means you are still able to print documents directly.

The printer comes with 128MB of memory, and an additional 256MB of memory is available from Fuji Xerox for $249. The WorkCentre 3220 can't store documents using password protection or for later reprinting, so the amount of memory isn't so vital in this instance.

The Fuji Xerox WorkCentre 3220's Web interface is easy to use. It provides usage and supplies information as well as network and fax configuration settings. Security and network protocols options are scant in comparison to Konica Minolta's Magicolor 1690MF, making the multifunction slightly more difficult to install over a network.

Fuji Xerox claims print speeds of 28 pages per minute (ppm), though the multifunction surprisingly exceeded this during our own lab tests. Print speeds remain the same regardless of the quality setting and the toner saving mode, though we found the time to print the first page of a document varied slightly from 11 to 14 seconds.

Text documents are accurate at all font sizes, with few aberrations. The printer's blacks aren't particularly dark, which can make monochrome graphics look dark grey. However, quality is good enough for graphs and charts.

The best thing about the WorkCentre 3220 is the cost of its consumables. High-yield toners produce 5000 pages — at current prices this means a 2.8c per A4 page running cost. Even if you get stuck with the 2000-page toner, a running cost of 4c per page is still reasonable for a printer at this price point.

Though the Fuji Xerox WorkCentre 3220 lacks an integrated hard drive, it provides an array of scan destination options. It can even scan and send directly to e-mail addresses without a PC client application, which is particularly handy. The multifunction can store individual and groups of e-mail addresses. Users can also input a "from" address for e-mails and a destination address using the keypad. Unfortunately, the address book can only configured from the Web interface, and the physical keypad lacks an underscore key, which rules out many business e-mail addresses.

The WorkCentre 3220 offers an ID Card Copy function, which photocopies both sides of a business card or licence before printing. While the multifunction picks up most information well, we found it had issues reproducing text on coloured or dark backgrounds.

There are plenty of options in the entry-level mono laser multifunction market, but Fuji Xerox's WorkCentre 3220 is definitely worth considering.

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