8 out of 8 people found this review helpful.
Do your homework
Date of Review: May 11, 2007
The Bottom Line: I would recommend this copier for anyone who does a MODICOM of copying. The convenience of on site copying will save you money.
First off, let me say that I used to sell copiers for a living back in the 80's so this review, hopefully, will be knowledge based. I've owned my Sharp AL 1631 for about three months now. I can tell you that a copier such as this would have sold for at least $1500.00 20 years ago. That was right before technology took off like wildfire and brought prices way down. This copier in today's market should be purchased in about the $200 - $300 range. It is feature rich for a low end copier but Sharp's true profit expectations are in the after market (toner cartridges and drums). It is rated at 2,000 cpm, but that is really stretching it. The toner is supposed to last for about 4,000 copies, but that's only at 5% coverage. In short, it's very costly to run in high volume situations and it isn't built for that anyway. This copier should be used as a convenience copier only; 25 to 50 copies per day max. Of course, toner discounts are available on the internet but the hastle of returning defective cartridges isn't worth it in my opinion. (I've already discarded a nearly full one.) This is a great personal copier but if you're experience level is with fully functional machines you'll be sorely disappointed.
