Not too long ago I was asked by a friend to review a piece of obsolete technology; the Phaser 790 printer from Xerox. My friend who made the request works with an NPO and was looking for a quick fix to replace their broken printer to allow them to continue until the new fiscal year.

I found that one of the biggest assets for my friend was the cost of the 790. Purchasing a refurbished model with extended warranty would allow more of their meagre budget to go directly towards the clients. The quality of worksheets created is very important to this agency, but it is sometimes forced to take a backseat to budgetary realities.

Reading the literature I found that the print speeds are not laser fast, but they are more than adequate for the needs of the agency. The Phaser is rated at 6 colour and 11 PPM black and white. Since the printer would mainly be used to create eye-catching worksheets for lessons that was suitable for this location.

Another feature in the Phaser 790's favour was the fact that it has a 400 page capacity, allowing staff to focus their time on working with the individuals they are supporting, rather than refilling the print trays. As anyone who has ever worked for a non-profit knows, the only thing that employees have less of than money is time.

The ability to store commonly accessed documents was listed by my friend as being important. This would allow for informational pamphlets and marketing materials to literally be at the fingertips of staff. The standard 6 GB hard drive of the Phaser provided staff with the ability to store documents on the printer for multiple or delayed printing. This is also handy for when a client loses a worksheet, so that learning is not overly disrupted by staff having to leave the group unattended to reprint materials.

The Phaser's network connectivity would have been groundbreaking in its day, but by the current standards it is woefully lacking. The only inputs are from an internal NIC and serial port. The Phaser has no USB ports or PictBridge support. Although, not common uses for my friend's agency these features are becoming necessary by most businesses.

While the price of used equipment can be seen as a benefit the possibility of increased maintenance costs must be factored in. There are always risks associated with purchasing second hand merchandize, and especially since the ability is so important to the work done, I consider this a major drawback of the 790.

For the specific needs of my friend's agency, I felt that the Phaser 790 would be a good choice until they could purchase a newer printer. I also gave my recommendation based on the fact that a local computer shop was having a sale on the Phaser 790's toner, which would create even more savings for the agency. For more information visit http://www.qtoner.us.