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[ Go to March 1997 Table of Contents ]
WinLab Reviews
-- by Hailey Lynne McKeefry
With its 2060 series of printers, QMS continues its tradition of presenting thoughtfully designed hardware to serve the needs of network printer users. I tested the QMS 2060 EX print system, which comes with 48MB of RAM and provides resolutions up to 1200x1200 dots per inch edge to edge, on page sizes as large as 13 by 19 inches. With print speeds of up to 20 pages per minute, the QMS 2060 should please even heavy-load workgroups. The EX features both a QMS Multi-Res daughterboard and a 540MB internal IDE hard disk for fonts and forms storage. The CrownNet for Ethernet network interface is also standard. Weighing more than 50 pounds, the unit measures 15.9 by 21.5 by 15.1 inches. Though the 250-sheet universal paper tray seems small for such a powerhouse, an optional lower paper feeder accommodates 500 sheets of letter or A4 paper. The multipurpose tray can be used to feed heavier-weight stock (up to 42 pounds), as well as transparencies, labels and envelopes. Because the deep output tray holds more paper, print jobs that you don't retrieve immediately will remain neatly stacked. Buttons on the printer's front panel allow you to change settings, although you'll need to read the documentation to find out how they function. A hefty manual provides detailed user information, except for setup-a major fault. Hardware setup instructions are included only on the CD-ROM, which is not an intuitive place to look. I did run into a glitch as I set up the 2060 EX: A plastic part under the toner cartridge had dislodged during shipping, causing the printer to continually report jamming errors. The manual didn't mention this as a potential problem, and it took a call to tech support and a technician's visit to remedy the situation. The EX model is the first in a line of printers that includes three less expensive and less fully featured models. For the frugal, the QMS 2060 WX ($1,999) gives you 8MB of RAM, a 250-sheet paper tray and resolutions of 600x600dpi on letter and A4 pages. The $2,999 mid-range unit, the QMS 2060 BX, offers business workgroups 600x600dpi resolutions on letter or A4 paper, a 500-sheet paper tray and 8MB of RAM. The QMS 2060 GX print system offers double the RAM of the BX for 600x600dpi resolutions on all page sizes and is priced at $3,399. The QMS 2060 EX gives workgroup users all the features they expect from a workhorse printer. However, although it offers a number of useful features and good design choices, the lack of setup instructions and the few ease-of-use issues I mentioned earlier make it a near miss for the WINDOWS Magazine Recommended List.
Copyright (c) 1997 CMP Media Inc.
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