Ricoh's New SP5200SR Copier MFP Review

Whoa!  It's been four days since I posted a blog, just goes to show you what the end of the month, the end of the quarter and the end of the year can do to you when you're still selling!

I'd like to put my thoughts down about the new Ricoh S5200SR series, pretty much what I like, what I don't like and some of the unknowns that I see about the new product.

Over the last 3 or 4 years I've been a big fan of A4 Copier/MFP devices. For years I couldn't fathom why major manufacturers like Xerox, Ricoh, Canon and KonicaMinolta (The Big 4) were not developing their own A4 strategy. I'm thinking the proliferation of MPS (Managed Print Service) in recent years changed the mind set of the Big 4 to enter the A4 MFP marketplace with their own home grown devices.

Ricoh SP5200 series

One of the most confusing aspects of this series is the model number, there is a laser printer version and an MFP version.  The model numbers for the laser printers are SP5200DN and SP5210DN. The SP5200DN prints at up to 47 pages per minute and the SP5210DN prints at up to 52 pages per minute.  D represents Duplex, white the N represent Network .

Here's where it gets confusing, in the MFP series we have an SP5200S, SP5210SF, and the SP5210SR.

The SP5200S prints and copies at up to 47 pages per minute and out of the box offers print/copy/color scan/store. While the SP5210SF offers out of the box configurations with print/copy/color scan/store/fax and an inner one bin tray (for fax receptions), and has a print speed of up to 52 pages per minute. 

The flagship of the series is the SP5210SR offers the same out of box configuration as the SP5210SF except that the fax is an option and the 1 bin tray is replaced with an internal 50 sheet stapler (50 pages for letter and 30 pages for legal). What ever happened to keeping it simple. When talking about the systems it's crucial to make sure  that you know the difference between the DN, S, SF & SR versions of the device.

For time being I'm gonna put the laser printers on the back burner and from here on I'll be writing about the MFP version in general.


What I Like:

• Price (MSRP on hardware)
• Print Speed (47 or 52 pick your poison)
• 8.5 inch GUI (Graphical User Interface), or Touchscreen in Color
• Thick stock capability (up to 120lb index, blows away the Canon iR1700 series)
• Adobe PSIII
• Document Server or what I like to call "Document Library" on the hard drive up to 3,000 total documents
• scan2email, scan2folder, scan2ftp, scan2url
• scan2webmail (gmail and hotmail)
• scan2usb, scan2SDcard (although this could also be considered a security risk)
• print from usb and SD cards
• Dual 550 Sheet Paper Tray Configuration with 100 sheet by-pass tray
• Standard HDD Encryption and & Overwrite
• Internal 50 sheet stapler for letter and 30 sheet stapler for legal
• Count em, more than 30 different Apps for capture/storage/distribution/output and security
• Quota Print Setting
• Bluetooth Interface (awesome feature for visiting execs or employees that need 2 print from PDA's, Notebooks, Smart phones, not sure about tablets but think so.
• Web Service Widgets with App2Me
• Hot Spot Printing
• Web Image Monitor
• ESA Embedded Software Architecture
• eMail2Print
• Fax4ward2email, Fax4ward2folder (.tiff or .pdf)
• Envelope support from all paper sources

What I Don't Like:

• Platen Glass is for letter size documents only, legal documents must be placed in the document feeder
• No mixed original setting, means you can't place a stack a letter and legal documents in the feeder and have them copy on letter and legal size
• Cost Per Page, while the cost per page is low when compared to other laser printers, the SP5200 MFP's have a higher per page cost than it's closed competitor
• AIO (All in one Image cartridge with toner)
• Slow scan speed when compared to A3 MFP's with the same print speed

What I Would Have Liked to See:

• Legal Size platen glass
• Mixed Original Feature
• 3-Hole Punch Unit
• Internet Web Browser
• Standard Wireless Network Printing & Scanning
• Lower Cost Per Page (No AIO cartridge, separate toner cartridge like the A3 MFP cost per page model)
• High Compression PDF for scanned black documents (if you can compress the file size in color why not do it for black documents also)
• Additional Fax Module
• Print Resolution of 1200x1200

Unkowns:

• Reliability of Document Feeder (long term)
• Real life yield AIO toner cartridges

Summary:

Whoa! The Ricoh SP5200 MFP series is packed with a ton of features that can help any business reduce costs, enhance productivity and streamline paper intensive work flows. It's got a lot of bang for the buck and I'd rate it as an excellent value.

Even tough I've got some points about what I don't like, the likes far outweigh the dislikes, do your self a favor, if you're looking for a fast A4 device with an over abundance of apps, features and quality then check out this system.

-=Good Selling=-