Review: Oki C3530 MFP

An expensive, yet solid-performing multifunction printer complete with fax support

With print, scan, copy and fax features, the C3530 is based on Oki’s well-established single-pass LED technology.

It sports a large, backlit LCD with a multi-line display that allows Oki to use a menu system in place of the multitude we usually see on multi function displays. However, many of the menu options are cryptic abbreviations. Disappointingly, some of the C3530’s functionality isn’t available over a network connection.

While it’s easy to scan to a network location using the printer’s control panel, you can’t initiate a scan from the PC unless it is directly connected via USB. However, scanning from the device’s own control panel provides a variety of options including network, email and USB. The supplied driver discs didn’t support Windows Vista, but a visit to Oki’s website provided all the files we needed.

However, the instructions were sparse. Oki is capitalising on the popularity of HD by offering what it calls ‘High-Definition’ colour. While prints are certainly sharp, we’ve seen better colour reproduction from some competitors, although the C3530 does impart a very pleasing finish to its output with a subtle hint of gloss.

Its performance is also among the fastest we’ve seen, with high speeds available in both colour and monochrome.The toner capacity is on the low side – its cartridges can print 2,500 pages per black cartridge and 2,000 for each colour cartridge, which is half what we’ve seen on competing products. Thankfully the prices are also low, so while you may have to replace the cartridges often, it will be less expensive to do so.