There are multifunction printers which can also photocopy, and photocopiers which can print from and scan to a computer. The FS-1128MFP falls into the latter class, as a mono photocopier with a lot of potential for computer connection.

This is quite a substantial piece of equipment, with a tall, functional, 50-sheet Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) on top and a full-width control panel running along its front. The controls include a full number pad, both for entering fax numbers and for typing in PINs if you want to print or copy securely. There's a good bank of fast-dial buttons for regular contacts, too.

There's a 16-character by 5-line backlit LCD display, which gives good feedback and instructions on using the machine and can also display filenames, if you're printing from the front panel USB socket, which is on the right just below the controls. This walk-up print facility can handle PDF, JPG and TIF files.

There's a 250-sheet paper tray at the bottom of the machine and the front panel folds down to provide a further 50-sheet multi-purpose tray. Two further, 250-sheet trays can be fitted underneath, to increase its capacity to a maximum of 800 sheets.

The machine can both print and scan in duplex mode so, as well as being able to produce a complete two-sided copy, you can take a single-sided original and convert it to a two-sided document. This can all be set up from the control panel, but there are also four Program buttons, to which you can assign particular sets of parameters, to configure the machine quickly.

The printer is rated at a high 28ppm and although we couldn't reproduce quite this speed, it did print at 23ppm on our 20-page document, which is a very good turn of speed for a small-office machine. Duplex print came out at a much slower 13.6spm, but this is still reasonable when compared with the opposition.

Text output, at the machine's default resolution of 1,200dpi, is clean and dense and greyscales show only a little banding. Photocopies of greyscale material aren't quite as good, however, though we've noticed this kind of blotchiness from several brands of mono laser. Photographic prints are acceptable for this class of machine, although, as is often the case, there is some loss of detail in darker areas.

Like most Kyocera Mita machines, the FS-1128MFP uses a lifetime photoconductor drum, so the only consumable is toner and the standard 7,200-page cartridge returns a cost per single page of just 1.2p, which is pretty much as good as you'll get in a machine at this price.

Verdict
This machine shows its heritage in the photocopier market and produces quick, clean copies for most small business needs. Its duplex scan and print facilities and its well-designed control panel make it a versatile machine for scanning and copying, as well as printing, and its support for Windows, OS X and Linux, and provision of both PCL and Postscript page description languages, add to this flexibility.

Company: Kyocera Mita

Contact: 01189 311500

Tags: automatic document feeder universal serial bus liquid crystal display multifunction printer photocopier printer hardware peripherals