Xerox P8E Printer Review
The Xerox DocuPrint P8E laser printer is designed for the home or small office user. Its excellent print quality is impressive, but its slower speeds and somewhat expensive toner costs may turn buyers away.
The Xerox P8E is available in two models. The P8E is the base model, while the P8EX comes with an external ethernet network adapter for connecting it directly to a network for sharing. This makes it easy to share the unit among multiple users, though its printing speeds and paper capacity will limit the amount of users that can use it effectively.
Paper capacity is 150 sheets, which is enough for a single user, but might be too small for a networked environment and toner cartridge capacity is decent. There is also a bypass tray that can hold up to 10 sheets, depending on the media type. Unlike some competing units, it does not include its own processor, instead relying on the host computer for processing, which can slow down print jobs, especially for graphics-heavy prints. Its 4 MB of RAM is also a bit limited, though it can be expanded to a maximum of 36 MB if needed.
Xerox DocuPrint P8E toner cartridges are a bit on the expensive side, even when using less-expensive third-party compatible cartridges. The black laser toner cartridge has a capacity of 5,000 pages, and there is no high-yield printer toner cartridge available to help lower the cost per page.
Print speed is decent, at around 8 pages per minute, but again, this could be too slow for a network environment. Text quality is very sharp and detailed, with readable characters even at the smallest font sizes. Graphics quality is a bit below average, with some blockiness in gradients and other defects.
Overall, the Xerox toner DocuPrint P8E is a solid choice for the personal home or small office user, but it may struggle when sharing it across multiple users. Small paper capacity and lack of its own processor make it less appealing than competing toners.