Ricoh SP C261SFNw Color Laser Multifunction Wireless Printer Expired

I can't comment on the vendor, but I wanted to correct a few erroneous comments. I am literally a certified expert in these devices and I can guarantee the following:

1. Toner might be "expensive," but the yields are much higher than garbage brother and canon desktop MFPs. The starter toner alone lasts for 1,000 pages on average. For something this cheap, that is good.

2. Someone said it only scans to USB. This is completely false. It scans to folder and email as well with a very easy to use interface.

3. It is not a "huge" copier delivered by a semi truck. The exact dimensions are 18.1"x16.5"x19.4". That is about average for a cheap desktop MFP. The SD picture on the deal includes an extra paper tray which isn't included in the deal. If you think this MFP is huge, you don't know the difference between an inkjet printer and a laser MFP. If you print twice per month and don't need scanning, maybe this is huge compared to what you're used to.

4. Anyone talking about ink costs doesn't know what they're talking about. Laser printers don't use ink. They use toner and the yield is WAY higher than any standard inkjet device. When you break down the price per print, it's about 5 times more expensive to print with anything that uses ink. This isn't the most cost-effective device, but it's 200 dollars, what do you expect? Great MFPs cost more than a Kia (or Honda if you care about your rep making profit).

5. I truly hope everyone commenting about it not having HDMI is kidding. It's better to be unfunny than really dumb, I suppose.

Hope this comment helped at least one person because I wasted too much time typing it.

I own the non-multifunction version of this printer (Ricoh SP-C250DN) which I purchased for $69, free shipping, brand new from Adorama. This adds the MFP functionality, plus color touchscreen, in-built Google Cloud Print support, and built-in Apple Airprint support. Makes it worth the price premium (in my opinion).

The toner is expensive (~$400 first party new, ~$200 third party) but if you refill the toner cartridges instead, you can refill the toner cartridges for $10-$12 a cartridge [aaatoner.com] or $40-$48 to refill all four for ~2,000 pages of printing. Bear in mind that you don't have to refill all cartridges at the same time, only when one is empty - you'll go through the black quicker (generally) if printing normal documents and web pages.

1) Remove toner cart from printer
2) Pop out toner chip (exterior of cartridge) with flat head screw driver
3) Pop in the replacement toner chip (so the printer considers it a new cartridge)
4) Refill the cartridge [youtube.com]- required tool is a philips head screw driver, tape. Recommend you use nitrile disposable gloves and do it on some garbage cardboard to catch any toner that spills.
5) Put cartridge back in printer and you're set.

Unlike a lot of toner carts which have a waste toner cartridge that needs to be emptied (makes refilling yourself impossible without a specialized vac that has a filter small enough for the fine toner powder to not exhaust), these toner carts don't have a waste toner compartment, it's a separate cart (Ricoh part # 406043, $15-$20). You just throw the waste toner compartment out when it fills, which will take 10+ refills of the color cartridges.

Excellent value if you refill the toner yourself and highly reliable.

I recommend initial config be done over wired ethernet and update the firmware via PC/Mac utility, then wifi setup if your desired location lacks wired ethernet.

Also, use the driver model specific to the printer instead of the universal driver (it handles settings like unique paper sizes (think envelopes and the like) better, and use the PCL5c driver instead of the PCL6 (PCL6 driver tends to choke on certain PDFs and print garbage characters, PCL5c has been flawless.)

I bought 2 of these back in November. One for me, and one for my parents.

Toner looks expensive, but when you divide by the pages, it's actually reasonably priced. It feels expensive, but you're paying for toner that will last the average home user for YEARS. Also, you don't have to deal with ink drying out or expiring. My parents, with their low use inkjet printer always struggled with that. It felt like every time they went to print, at least one color was expired. This toner/printer will be perfectly happy sitting idle for 10 years, then printing.

It is big, and heavy. It's 70 lbs, and gives you an awkward center of gravity when carried. I can move it around the house, but it isn't easy.

It draws a lot of peak power when printing or initially powering on (not when idle though, so don't worry about your power bill). I use a bedroom with an AFCI breaker for my office with all my computer gear, and putting the printer on the same circuit as my desktop + NAS + router caused it to trip immediately. I had to put the printer in another room. Luckily, since it is wifi, it can be placed anywhere and needs only a power cable.

Since someone questioned this, I can confirm it does single-pass duplex scanning. I have tried scanning to my PC and also to a USB stick, and both worked fine.

I have printed with both Google Cloud Print from my phone, and Airprint from my niece's phone, and it was fine. Minor note - the printers I bought in November came with firmware that did not support cloud printing. These features were added after a quick firmware update.

So far, nothing I've described is anything I consider to be a significant problem. I have plenty of space, so the big/heavy thing doesn't bother me. My ONE real complaint is that it wakes up, warms up, and goes through a whole self-test process every 24 hours. It is loud. We're talking at least as loud as a hair dryer. The fans roar, the scanner does the high pitch whine as it slides back and forth, etc... I don't mind it being loud when I print, but I do mind it being loud when I'm asleep and no one is using it. Imagine at 3AM someone turns on a hair dryer and rattles a bunch of pots and pans in the next room over. I've had a couple laser printers in the past, and none of them ever made any noise or any kind of activity when not printing. I don't know why this one does this, and it really bothers me. I have it right outside my bedroom, and it wakes me up sometimes. I think I'm going to either start turning it off when not in use, or move it much farther away.

Overall, I'm pretty satisified, especially at this price level. This feels like a workhorse printer meant for bulk work in a big office. As long as you can tolerate the size/weight and deal with the 24-hour-wakeup noise, I'd highly recommend it.