Kyocera MailPrinter MP-WGP review

Aimed at companies or departments in need of a cheap mailing room facility, Kyocera's MailPrinter MP-WPG combines an FS-3700+ mono laser printer with a folder/inserter assembly from PFE International. This automatically folds documents and inserts them into envelopes addressed by the printer, sealing them and adding inserts when folding if required.

The FS-3700+, an 18ppm, 600dpi workgroup printer, got a Speed award in the last PC Pro laser printer Labs (reviewed issue 49, p129). It delivers extremely low printing costs since the print engine and drum last the entire working life of the printer, toner being the only consumable. An envelope feeder on the front of the printer supplies the envelopes which then have the address printed on them.

The printer's total paper capacity is 1,250 A4 sheets, spread across an integral 250-sheet tray and two 500-sheet cassettes. The MailPrinter sits at the rear of the printer, connecting via the parallel port. Kyocera also includes an EcoLINK 10BaseT external print server for networking.

A hopper at the top of the MailPrinter takes 100 window envelopes with a lower hopper for inserts. The MailPrinter can safely fold and insert up to five sheets without paper jams. A collation tray is used for manual operations with instructions conveyed via the MailPrinter control panel. Only one document can be processed at a time since the MailPrinter takes all the sheets placed in the collation tray and folds them ready for placing in an envelope.

Apart from cleaning fluid and brushes, your only extra consumable is purified water, used for wetting the envelope glue. Kyocera provides special bottles with added bactericide.

The printer driver is especially complex and the on-line help could have been more informative. After a few monstrous paper jams we managed to get to grips with it. For printed envelopes, you specify which corner of the document to take the address from, or enter an absolute position and decide where on the envelope you want it placed. Window envelopes need an accurately positioned document address. Adding inserts, however, is as simple as checking a box on the driver panel and adding the relevant slips to the lower hopper. Pre-printed forms can be included by specifying which tray to take the first page from and then printing the remainder from another tray. You can also opt to have documents folded but not placed in envelopes, or the envelopes can be left unsealed.

Performance was impressive. A print run of 20 pages, placed in window envelopes with inserts and sealed, took 70 seconds at just over 17ppm. You wouldn't want it next to your desk though - operational noise levels are quite high.

Since the FS-3700+ costs around £1,000 on the street, most of the high price is taken up by the MailPrinter attachment. Speeds might be high, operating costs might be low, and the device is certainly clever, but at £7,250 companies will need a high demand for mail-shots, invoicing and the like to justify the investment.

Author: Dave Mitchell