Konica Minolta Bizhub 20P

I don't print that much and was tired of feeding the old inkjet monster -- it kept drying up on me between printings and finally died. I realized I wanted to get away from the whole gimmic of purchasing a printer only slightly more expensive than the short-lived replacement inkjet/toner cartridges that I would be forced to purchase only too soon....

I shopped for budget laser printers for a couple months, looking for a good price point that would give me good graphics, networking ability, and a hearty toner cycle. I researched the Brother HL 2140 and HL 2170W and while they seemed solid on the low budget, toner life looked weak. The 2140 doesn't have wireless or ethernet; the 2170W has wireless but got dinked by some on graphics printing. I kept looking. Similar stories were shared regarding most of the budget laser printers from the major home/office printer manufacturers. While I wanted a wireless capability, I read many stories in reviews about people having trouble getting various wireless models working right. This summer my dad spent days getting his wireless Kodak inkjet to finally work (he had to get a new router).

I found a sale on the bizhub 20p on both Adorama and Abe's of Maine at the sub 150 dollar price point, which raised my eyebrow. I hadn't seen Konica Minolta laser printers available for the small office before, had not seen them in stores or on-line much. Konica Minolta is a trusted business copy machine maker of machines that make thousands of prints every month. My first thought was that they probably know how to make things to last. I realized that with home office use and an 8000 page toner cycle, I may never need to replace the toner on the bizhup 20p. This is roughly 8 times the 1000 page cycle you get with most budget laser printers; this machine has the potential of lasting me 10 or 20 years with light use in my home on just the first toner cartridge!

The down side was I could not find a single review on this product. Brick and mortar stores don't seem to carry it; Konica Minolta office machines (mostly large copiers) are marketed to larger businesses, not consumers. It may be that Konica Minolta simply hasn't yet got the rollout / infrastructure to get this product in stores where the average consumer will get a chance to see it.

I took the risk to buy something that didn't yet have a review on the internet. Delivery was fast from Adorama; The printer came in an oversized, well-packaged box; I had it connected by ethernet to my home wireless network router and printing test pages within about 20 minutes of opening the box. I can now print wirelessly from my laptop using the wireless to the router. The router is hardwired to the printer from one of the router ethernet ports. The printer itself is a little larger than the budget-compact laser printers I've seen but still small enough for my purposes. It has a noticeable sound when printing, about average I would say for a laser printer, then goes to silent sleep mode fairly quickly.

Considering the Bizhub has ethernet, postscript printing, duplex capability, and an 8000 page toner cycle, it seems like a sensational deal at the sub 150 dollar price point. I will update this review as I use the printer if I find any significant issues. So far -- two thumbs way up.

The main reason I'm writing this review is to encourage people to try this eco-friendly, economical product and support Konica Minolta. The life cycle on this printer blows away the competition from what I can tell -- fewer toner cartridges are going to end up in the land fill if they truly last for a whopping 8000 print cycle with no mechanical problems... I hope this unit lives up to that kind of longevity... and we will only know for sure if more people buy them and use them and review them :)