Working Efficiently With Kyocera FS-3800D Toner

For several years over the past decade, the Kyocera FS-3800D printer was the epitome of the office printer that maximized quality while minimizing cost and environmental impact. Currently, this printer is being retired, yet despite its "end of life', the FS-3800D printer using Kyocera FS-3800D toner is well worth the investment.

This Kyocera printer is a black and white laser printer that is network friendly. It is designed to efficiently use resources while reducing operational costs and the environmental impact. The drum has a long life (300,000 prints) and the Kyocera FS-3800D toner cartridges are recyclable. The FS-3800D has 16 MB of memory and operates with a 200 MHz Power PC 740 processor. Its resolution ranges from 1,200 x 1,200 dpi to 2,400 x 600 dpi and it utilizes image enhancers that help produce blacks that are rich, edges that are crisp, and halftones that are finely detailed.

At 25 pages per minute (ppm), the FS-3800D is considered to be a very fast printer. When gearing up to print, the selected file is stored in its entirety in the RAM so that the document can be printed at top speed. The printer will shut itself off when not in use, making it Energy Star compliant. It can be used with computers that are using Windows 2000, XP, and Vista; and computers using Mac software, UNIX, and Sun Systems. This printer was lauded as being the best solution for the typical business printing needs.

An international Japanese company, Kyocera is the producer of many products besides the FS-3800D. Its focus is modern ceramics and its uses, such as components for telecommunications and electronics, as well as semi-conductors. The company's first incarnation was the Kyoto Ceramic Company, changing its name in 1982 to Kyocera. The branch called Kyocera Mita deals with the company's imaging technology (i.e., printers).

Kyocera Mita's current selections of printers are all offshoots of the technology used in the FS-3800D. For speeds of 30 pages per minute, Kyocera's FS-1100 and FS-1300 are both available with drum duty cycles ranging from 20,000 to 25,000.

The FS-1350 has a 32 ppm (page per minute) speed with a duty cycle of 30,000 while the FS-2020D has a speed of 37 ppm and a 150,000 per month duty cycle. The FS-9130DN steps up the page per minute speed to 40 with a duty cycle of 200,000. FS-3920DN and FS-4020DN have speeds of 42 and 47 ppm, respectively (the duty cycle ranges between 200,000 and 250,000) while the powerhouse is the FS-9530DN, which has a ppm of 51 and a 300,000 per month duty cycle.

These impressive numbers come from Kyocera Mita's Ecosys technology. The goal with this technology is to reduce the effect the printer has on the environment by extending the life cycle of the printer's heavily used components (which also keeps the "cost per print" down). This has been achieved by separating the drum and the toner cartridge. Most printers have combined these two components, creating a waste. The drum, which has a very long life in any printer, ends up being replaced every time the printer runs out of toner. Kyocera has created a solution to this waste that also lowers the owner's total cost.

Obtaining new Kyocera FS-3800D toner continues this economy. Kyocera toner produces pages of perfect prints, with no re-do's required. Online vendors offer toner at a great price, with fast shipping. This printer remains a workhorse mainstay that will continue to perform for many years.