Sharp AR-M300 Toner Cartridges

Sharp AR-M300 Printer Review

The Sharp AR-M300 laser copier and printer is designed for the small or medium office, where its 31 pages per minute speeds will be up to the task. An automatic document feeder is included, and upgrades like duplexing are optional. Prices for Sharp AR-M300 printer toner are very reasonable as well.

There unit comes in two configurations. The AR-M300U is the base model, while the AR-M300N adds network printing and duplexing. Either model can be enhanced with optional upgrades, however, for larger paper capacities, faxing, and network scanning features. The initial paper capacity is 500 sheets, but it can expand to a maximum of 3,100 sheets with all upgrades installed.

The network scanning feature might just come in a bit more handy than faxing. Users can send scans directly to their desktop computer over the network, save it to an FTP server, or they can send a scanned document as an attachment via email. This eliminates the need for long-distance charges, and also generally provides sharper quality.

For printing, the unit is limited to 600 dpi, but it uses smoothing technology to approximate the quality of 1200 dpi output. This means fairly sharp document and graphics, though photos won't be as detailed as higher resolution models.

The Toner Save mode is available to help extend the life of Sharp AR-M300 toner cartridges. Each Sharp AR-M300 toner cartridge is rated for a yield of around 27,000 pages, and users can purchase compatible Sharp AR-M300 toner from third-party vendors at a significant discount.

The AR-M300 isn't as fast as some competing models in its class, and its 600 dpi output is a bit of a limitation. Its low purchase price and affordable toners are enough to make it worth a look for a medium-sized office on a budget, however.