Panasonic has a good reputation when it comes to electrical goods. They carry that trend with them into office equipment with the Panasonic DP-4510. It is a large mono laser printer, copier, scanner and fax built for busy offices that need high quality documents quickly.
The mainstay of the DP-4510 is scalability. Just about every aspect of it can be changed, upgraded or enlarged. There is a dizzying array of paper handling options including seven types of paper drawers, network scanners, print servers, memory upgrades, hard disk, and a variety of finishers. While this may seem a little excessive, it does allow customers to tailor the machine to their exact requirements.
There is a good-sized control panel on the front with one of the clearest LCD screens we have seen. The menu is very straightforward and easy to use. Surrounding the screen are the controls that make everything happen. They are also clear and easy to use, with each function having a separate control button to avoid any confusion.
The DP-4510 is good at what it does, with a print speed of around 45 pages per minute for a typical business document. Despite the speed, there is no compromise with features or performance.
Print quality is good with text and images appearing clear and sharp, even down to finest detail. The DP-4510 didn’t stumble over image heavy documents like some machines do. Each one was printed faithfully, with the 256 shade grayscale accurately representing the full-color original.
Copying is obviously the same print speed and quality, but also has the usual resize and document manipulation options too. The scanner is effective, and pretty quick and produces good scans at 600 dpi. The option of a network scanner adds even more functionality to the device and is a popular upgrade.
Because of the paper handling options there is no standard minimum. The most popular fittings are 1550 sheets, with a maximum of 6250. There is also a bypass facility of 50 sheets and an automatic document feeder which can handle a further 70 sheets.
Toner is good value considering the brand, high yield cartridges are to print around 24,000 sheets before needing replacement. The upgradeable memory or the optional hard drive would allow the DP-4510 to be left to its own devices for a significant period of time.
This is a great multifunction device for those who need good quality prints at speed. Ease of use, and the optional bolt-ons means you can really design a machine that does what you want, how you want it.
