A head-to-head competitor to the current Editors' Choice OKI MB471, the Canon imageClass MF6160dw($1,399.00 at Amazon) monochrome laser multifunction printer (MFP) matches or beats the MB471 on most key points. It doesn't offer quite the same paper capacity, at a maximum of 800 sheets rather than 880, and it doesn't support PostScript, which some offices need. However, it's faster than the OKI MB471, delivers better text quality, and comes out ahead overall, making it the new Editors' Choice for micro or small office.
Basic MFP features include the ability to print and fax from as well as scan to a PC, including over a network, and the ability to work as a standalone copier, fax machine, and direct email sender. In addition, it can both print from and scan to a USB memory key.
Paper handling for printing is suitable for heavy-duty use in a micro office or light to medium-duty use in a small to mid-size office. In addition to a 250-sheet drawer, the printer comes with a 50-sheet multi-purpose tray and an automatic duplexer (for two-sided printing) standard. You can also add a 500-sheet tray ($199 direct) for the maximum 800-sheet capacity.
For scanning, the MF6160dw offers a letter-size flatbed paired with a 50-page automatic document feeder (ADF) that can scan up to legal-size pages. Even better, the ADF can copy, scan, and fax in duplex, by scanning one side of the page, turning it over, and scanning the other. This isn't as fast as scanning in duplex, meaning scanning both sides of the page at once, but it's still a welcome convenience. As with most MFPs that can both print and scan in duplex, the combination lets you copy both single and double-sided originals to your choice of single or double-sided copies.
Similar Products
OKI MB471
Dell Mono Multifunction Printer - B2375dnf
Canon imageClass MF6180dw
One other convenience that earns mention is mobile printing support for printing through the cloud (assuming you connect the printer directly to a network that's connected to the Internet), and printing over Wi-Fi from iThings using AirPrint. Note that AirPrint requires an access point on your network. Although the printer includes Wi-Fi as a connection choice, it doesn't offer Wi-Fi direct, which means you can't print directly to printer.
Setup and Speed
As is typical for the breed, the MF6160dw is heavy enough, at 42.1 pounds, so that you might want some help moving it into place. It's also big enough, at 17.0 by 15.4 by 18.6 inches (HWD), that you probably won't want it sitting on your desk. However it's still small enough so you shouldn't have much trouble finding room for it, even in a small office. Set up is standard fare. For my tests I connected it to a network using the Ethernet port and installed the drivers on a Windows Vista system.
As with all recent Canon models, the default setting for the MF6160dw driver is to print in duplex, which is the setting I used for our official tests. However, I tested it in simplex (one-sided) mode as well, to get a more direct comparison to the competition.
The printer's rated print speeds, at 17 pages per minute (ppm) for duplex and 35 ppm for simplex, should be close to what you'll see if you print text files with little to no formatting. On our tests, however, I timed the printer (using QualityLogic's hardware and software for timing) at a surprisingly fast 9.9 ppm in duplex mode and 13.2 ppm in simplex mode.
In comparison, the OKI MB471 came in at 9.5 ppm in simplex mode, and the Dell Mono Multifunction Printer - B2375dnf that I recently reviewed managed only 5.9 ppm. At the risk of stating the obvious, the key point here is that the MF6160dw is not only faster than either of those printers, it's faster for duplex printing than either one of them is for simplex.
Output Quality
In addition to its convincingly fast speed, the MF6160dw delivers better than typical output quality overall, primarily thanks to its text quality. The printer handled small fonts notably better in my tests than the vast majority of laser MFPs, making it suitable not just for virtually any business use, but for most desktop publishing applications as well.
Graphics were at the high end of the tight range where most mono laser MFPs fall. That makes the output easily good enough for any internal business need. Depending on how much of a perfectionist you are, you may also consider it good enough for PowerPoint handouts and the like. Photos were at the low end of a similarly tight range that includes most mono laser MFPs. The output is easily good enough for printing recognizable photos from Web pages or the like, which is about as much as you can expect from a mono laser.
Quite simply, the Canon imageClass MF6160dw should be on your short list. It can print, scan, fax, copy, and email. It offers more paper capacity than most small offices need. It can print faster in duplex than much of the competition can print in simplex. And the output quality is better than most mono laser printers can manage. All this adds up to making the Canon imageClass MF6160dw a particularly good fit for a micro or small office and an easy pick for Editors' Choice.
The Canon imageClass MF6160dw monochrome laser MFP offers fast printing, high-quality output, a full set of MFP basics, and the ability to both print and scan both sides of a page.
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