Printers Manuals

Ricoh Aficio MP161

Ricoh probably isn’t the first name you think of when it comes to office equipment, but they have been in the industry for years. They are expert at producing reliable equipment that does exactly what it says on the tin.

The Aficio MP161 comes in three variations. The straight MP161, which is a basic monochrome printer, copier, scanner and fax. The MP161L which adds a color scanner and the MP161LN which adds networking.

The machine itself is a standard looking multifunction device. There is a paper feeder on top of the scanner flatbed, then a control panel near the top at the front, the some drawers below.

All versions of the MP161 have built in duplexing, with the 50 sheet automatic document feeder also being auto reverse to effectively feed that duplexer. This is an often overlooked feature in multifunction devices, manufacturers preferring to spend money and effort on other functions.

Printing and copying is where the MP161’s strength lies. It produces good quality, competent prints that are of a good enough quality to be suitable for any office at a standard 600 dpi. Toner is deposited cleanly on the page, edges are smooth and sharp and text is accurate everywhere between 4pt and 48pt. At 16 pages per minute it isn’t the fastest printer in the world, but the quality is worth waiting for.

Scanning is perfectly adequate, with a mono scanner in the MP161 and color in the MP161L and LN. The color scanner reproduction is good, with all colors being faithful to the original, if a little dark. The full size flatbed can accommodate books and magazines for non-standard scanning, and even though the lid couldn’t shut properly, it didn’t detract from the quality.

The fax is just that. A fax with standard features, memory, auto dial, auto answer and a full sized keypad on the control panel.

Physically, the MP161 isn’t massive, isn’t too loud and can be expanded enough to grow as an office expands. The standard memory of 48Mb in the MP161 is enough for most needs but can be expanded. The MP161L/LN come with 80Mb which is also expandable. There is a 250 sheet paper drawer that can also be enlarged by a 500 page drawer. There is also a 100 page multifunction bypass tray and the automatic document feeder.

The toner is very reasonably priced at $19 for 7000 pages, which brings the cost per page right down. This just adds to the attractiveness of the MP161 overall.