The Fuji Xerox DocuPrint CM225 fw is an affordable multi-function color S-LED printer. For $499, you get a PCL5e/6 and PostScript 3-compatible printer with a 18ppm print speed (both mono and color), additional copy, scan, and fax functions, and Wi-Fi support, including the ability to work with Apple’s AirPrint and Google’s Cloud Print for wireless and over-the-web printing.
Fuji Xerox DocuPrint CM225 fw.
The Fuji Xerox DocuPrint CM225 fw is an affordable multi-function color S-LED printer. For $499, you get a PCL5e/6 and PostScript 3-compatible printer with a 18ppm print speed (both mono and color), additional copy, scan, and fax functions, and Wi-Fi support, including the ability to work with Apple’s AirPrint and Google’s Cloud Print for wireless and over-the-web printing.
Using Fuji Xerox’s S-LED (Self-scanning Light Emitting Diode) and DELCIS (Digitally-Enhanced Lighting Control Imaging System) print technologies, the CM225 fw is capable of up to 1,200 x 2,400 dpi print quality, with a duty cycle of 30,000 pages. Toners are located at the side, so it’s easy to replace them down the road. For those interested, these are energy-efficient ‘EA-Eco’ toners that Fuji Xerox is very proud of, as they emit lower carbon dioxide than conventional toners due to their lower fusing temperature.
The printer has 512MB of onboard memory, which is great if you always do complex print jobs, though this amount isn’t upgradable. Additionally, right beside the well-sized buttons on the top control panel sits a large 4.3-inch color touchscreen.
S-LED printers in general have the size advantage over laser printers in the same class. I had a couple of laser printers at the same time I was testing the CM225 fw, and the CM225 fw was by far the easiest to lift out of the box. The whole setup process took me about 15 minutes, and that included plugging in the cables, installing the software, and getting paper into the front tray.
In terms of print speeds, I got timings between 16.6ppm to 18.2ppm depending on types of documents printed. First-page-out was typically about 14.4 seconds for a Word document, but could go up to 21.7 seconds for a more complex Excel document. Still, very decent speeds for a $500 all-in-one. Print quality was very good, too. Text was full-bodied and sharp around the edges, and colored graphics maintained good color accuracy and displayed smooth transitions around gradients.
While I like the CM225 fw’s fast print engine, I found its 15-sheet ADF scanner to be a tad slow. Versus Canon’s MF628Cw, a four-page color copy job took the CM225 fw 48 seconds, compared to the former’s 39 seconds. Also, the CM225 fw has no duplexer, which means you need to manually flip the pages for two-sided printing. To be fair though, this is common for laser and S-LED all-in-ones at this price range.
CONCLUSION
A value-for-money all-in-one printer that’s easy to use and prints fast.
