Oki MC560 Review September 10, 2010 09:24 by Matt Bird

I have a huge backlog of printers to review, as I'm just so important in the office I can't free up enough time to do them! (oh how my colleagues will laugh at that). But I thought I'd start off with a review for a printer in the realm of our highest customer-requests.... multi function colour lasers.

You want functionality. You want quality text AND colour image printing. You want speed. You want high-volume performance. And you want all this at a cheap purchase price and low running costs.

Consumers are a harsh breed. But the MC560 comes so close to satisfying it all. Quick note: I know people read my reviews whom have written their own reviews elsewhere, and I may as well get my disagreements with their comments out early.

I think the high purchase cost is merited for this machine. There, I said it! This complaint is no different to complaining about a cheap printer with expensive consumables, you can't have both! The print quality for the machine is fantastic for business documents, and the consumables are incredibly cheap for their size (especially if you try the compatible MC560 toners). As perfect as it would be to have a cheap printer, with cheap running costs, and brilliant quality, it is not realistic! They have to make their money somewhere. If anything this pricing model is something to be applauded, as it rewards those users who maintain and care for their hardware.... that's why I hug my printers every day :-)

Anyway....Onto the Review of the Oki MC560

Annoyingly (or luckily depending how you look at it), I avoided the one problem that most people have when installing this printer. I downloaded the drivers from the website instead of using the included CD, which is how Oki expect you to do it and seems to be issue free. I have seen evidence of others using the CD and having problems, but I am unable to comment any further than - downloading them worked fine and was simples!

Setup was relatively easy, and bar a few hitches in working out how to set the fax up (more from stubbornness than poor design), the printer was set up with ease and ready to go.

And oh it went.

The quality of the starter cartridges included in this LED printer was stunning. The crispness of the black, especially in how well it translates over any background colours, is one of the best I have seen. The speed of its printout is nowhere near the quoted 32ppm mono/20ppm colour. It is fast, but it is not that fast! My tests gave me black speeds of 22pm, with 19ppm for colour. However for single print requests this can be knocked up significantly, due to the quite high warm-up time for the printer. Infact this would be my main gripe for the machine, it is fantastic for mid/long print runs, but single sheets are not its friend. If the printer has gone into standby mode it can take up to 30 seconds to warm to the required temperature, not exactly ideal. (Especially as the printer on my desk, the HP p1102w is one of the fastest-on machines. I am not a patient man!).

Compatible Oki MC560 Toner

We obviously specialise in providing quality-tested third-party options for machines, and the MC560 was no different. We started using them at the first chance (so basically around the 2 days it took us to burn through the starter cartridges), and the quality is staggering. I am hesitant to say they are as close to the performance of originals as my beloved Dell 1320's were, but they are close enough that it is very difficult to tell.

The text is crisp, it translates well onto colour, the colours themselves are clear and vivid. Even photo prints are acceptable for a laser machine, though it does struggle slightly with flesh tones (so Bodycare, I wouldn't advise this machine). We are so pleased with the quality of the printout that it is now responsible for our invoice and customer-related-document printing. Any paperwork you receive from us is most likely printed with Oki compatibles, and I think you'll agree the quality is top notch.

The image shown is the original file (left), and scanned printout (right)! Frustratingly, the actual print is a very close match to the base file but the scanner has darkened it. This is a small performance issue, with other image scans I did experiencing the same darkening. I would only say this is a significant issue if you plan on doing a large number of image scans. When scanning text based documents and simple images, the quality of the scan is very high and sharp, and I would say it is a positive addition to the printer.

Any additional features other than multifunction?

In addition to the multifunctionality, you get a 400 page paper-tray with the option of an additional 530 page tray, providing ample storage for the machine. A hard drive for password-secured printing, additional RAM for graphically intense printing, scans to email/fax/server or your PC. Not to mention an intuitive and easy-to-use user interface which enables maintenance of the consumables and a warning for when they need to be replaced, and perhaps the handiest tool in any laser printer you can have (in my opinion). A print counter!!!!! For mono, colour, literally everything you use the machine for. No more faffing over actual print amounts you get from your cartridge, this machine does it all for you.

And is the Multifunctionality good?

The MC560 is so obviously a multifunction printer. It is a very big machine with lots of sections, and is often referred to as the starship enterprise by my colleagues.... just no photon torpedos :-(

The fax works well. The scanner works well (though a bit dark). The ADF is simplicity itself. The duplexer works without fuss. Infact the functionality just sums up this printer perfectly. It just works. Simple to set up if you avoid the installation CD. Easy to replace all of the consumables when needed. Easy to use the additional features. It is just a very good, very strong, all round printer. I will be soon writing up a review of the Oki C5850 (which I already know is good), and coupled with the MC560 it does point to good times ahead for Oki. If  you are looking for a new business printer I would definitely give this a thumbs up.