As you might guess from the price, the OKI MC562w is meant as a workhorse color multifunction printer (MFP) for a small to medium-size office or workgroup. An obvious competitor to the Ricoh Aficio SP C242SF, it offers a similar mix of features. It also offers a similar relationship to a lower cost model in OKI's line as the C242SF has to the Ricoh Aficio SP C240SFSEE IT. In both cases, the more expensive model to buy costs less to run, making it the less expensive choice if you print enough pages over the lifetime of the printer.

The lower-cost model in this case is the OKI MC362w ($549 direct), which we expect to review shortly. There are, of course, other difference between the two models besides price, including a faster rated speed for the MC562w and a miniature QWERTY keyboard on its front panel to let you easily enter email addresses and even messages for direct email. If you can justify getting the MC562w on the basis of the lower running cost, however, those extras are effectively free.

The difference in running cost between the two models comes from high-capacity cartridges that the MC562w can use but the OKI MC362w can't. Based on claimed yields and prices, the cost per page for the MC562w with the high-yield cartridges is 2.4 cents per page for mono and 12.3 cents for color. That works out to a savings of 0.4 cents per mono page and 1.6 cents per color page compared with the OKI MC362w.

Print only one color page out of every ten pages you print, and the savings comes to 5.2 cents for 10 pages or $52 for 10,000 pages. That adds up to not needing to print all that many pages by SMB standards over the lifetime of the printer to make up the difference in initial price.

The Aficio SP C242SF has even an lower claimed running cost than the MC562w. For that matter, the Editors' Choice HP Officejet Pro X576dw Multifunction Printer, a laser-class inkjet, offers a still lower claimed cost per page. But, of course, running cost is far from the only reason to choose one printer over another.

One other issue worth mention, though just barely, is that both OKI models are LED rather than laser  printers, which is to say, they draw the image of each page on photosensitive material with LEDs rather than with a laser. The two technologies are essentially identical otherwise.

The Basics

Core features for the MC562w include printing and faxing from, as well as scanning to, a PC, including over a network; working as a standalone copier, fax machine, and email sender, and being able to scan to and print from a USB memory key.

Other key features include a 50-page automatic document feeder (ADF), which complements the letter-size flatbed to let you scan up to legal-size pages. The ADF can also duplex, by scanning one side of a page, turning it over, and then scanning the other side.

In addition to letting you scan, fax, and copy duplex documents, the ADF works with the duplex print feature to let you copy single- or double-sided documents to your choice of single- or double-sided copies. The menu even has choices for turning simplex originals into duplex copies meant for flipping pages along either the long edge or short edge of the page. It also offers choices for turning documents in either duplex format into simplex copies, so that, with either kind, you don't have to go through the stack of copies turning pages around.

Another plus is ample paper handling for printing, with a 250-sheet drawer and a 100-sheet multipurpose tray standard, along with the duplexer. If you need a higher input capacity, you can add a 530-sheet optional tray ($199 list) for a maximum of 880 sheets.

Going beyond the basics, the MC562w supports mobile printing over a Wi-Fi connection from iOS devices. For Android, Blackberry, or Windows phones and tablets, OKI recommends using Cortado or ePrint by Micro Tech. Note that you need a Wi-Fi access point on your network for easy printing over Wi-Fi, however, since the printer doesn't offer Wi-Fi Direct.

Setup and Speed

As is typical for color MFPs aimed at small to mid-size offices, the MC562w is a little too big for sharing a desk with, at 17.5 by 16.8 by 20 inches. It's also heavy enough, at 63 pounds, that most people will want some help moving it into place. Setup is typical for the category as well. For my tests, I connected it to a wired network and installed the drivers and other software on a Windows Vista system.

The engine rating, at 31 pages per minute (ppm) for monochrome and 27 ppm for color, is the speed you should see on text files with little to no formatting. On our tests (timed with QualityLogic's hardware and software), the printer managed a respectable 6.6 ppm. That makes it significantly faster than the C242SF, at 3.2 ppm, but slower than the X576dw, at 9.5 ppm.

Output Quality

Output quality is a little below par overall, primarily because of well below-par photos. Text quality is at the low end of what counts as typical for a color laser-class MFP. Graphics are dead on par.

The good news is that lasers (and LED) printers set the bar high enough for text quality, that even being at the low end of par isn't much of an issue. For anything short of high-end desktop publishing applications, you shouldn't have any complaints.

Graphics output, similarly, is easily good enough for almost any business need, including PowerPoint handouts and the like. Depending on how critical an eye you have, you may also consider it good enough for material going to an important client or customer when you need to convey a sense of professionalism. Photo output, unfortunately, is roughly what you might think of as newspaper quality, which is typical of mono lasers. Most color lasers do a lot better.

The low-quality photos make the OKI MC562w a poor choice if you're looking to, say, print your own marketing materials complete with photos. But if you need a printer primarily for text and graphics, and possibly an occasional photo from a Web page or the like, the photo quality should be acceptable.

Much more important for most offices is the balance of capable paper handling for both printing and scanning; the core set of MFP features, including direct email; and the useful extras, like Wi-Fi and mobile printing support. The combination adds up to a capable workhorse color printer and a more than reasonable choice if your small office or workgroup needs a relatively heavy-duty color MFP.