Summary: There's a reason this printer has been discontinued!
Comment: I have had trouble getting anything to consistently print out straight on the page, even if hand fed. And now it grabbing 2 or 3 sheets at a time, as well. Ever try to find a maintenance repair kit for this printer? Don't bother - there isn't one available according to NEC. So, in order to replace the wheels that grip the paper, I have to buy a paper pic unit for $75.00, which NEC doesn't even carry! So far I've spent a good 12 hours on the internet trying to find one.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A great SOHO printer
Comment: I bought the 870 over about a year and a half ago, and it came with a 6,000 page toner cartridge. After printing 7,272 pages, I finally need to get a new cartridge.
The printer has been great - cheap, reliable, and good quality output. I couldn't ask for a better laser printer for my home office.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not For XP
Comment: I recently bought a computer running XP and my Superscript 870 lost all of its special features that I need, especially being able to print with a dot pattern. This is due to the fact that these features are run from Adobe Printgear which Adobe has discontinued and offers no alternative. And you can't ask a question at the Adobe site...they charge for everything! Boo to Adobe!
So if you are running XP...do not purchase this printer.
For those running Windows 98 or below, this is a great little workhorse printer that gave me no trouble. Unfortunately, without the special print options, I will have to sell mine.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Works fine, but . . .
Comment: I have had this printer for a couple of years and it worked great with my computer that had Windows 95. However, when I installed it on a new computer with Windows XP, it lost a lot of the features it came with. The feature I miss most is the 2-sided printing function. I have checked with Microsoft and NEC for an XP compatible driver but there is none available so it works more or less as a generic printer with no special features. Also, it looks like NEC does not make this printer anymore and supplies are getting hard to find for it. Sometimes I can find replacement cartridges and photoconductors on Ebay, but that's about it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: You can't beat this price for a quality laser printer!
Comment: I purchased this laser printer for a small office because of the price and my past experience with NEC printers. NEC often offers a rebate on this printer, and with or without the rebate, it is an exceptional value. I was using an ink jet printer before this purchase, but I never printed much because of the time it took for the ink jet to warm-up and its slow printing. The NEC 870 has an energy saving mode when it is not in use, so I just leave the printer on all of the time. It quickly warms up and is ready to print. I am also very impressed with the print quality and page speed.
If you happen to have any old RAM around, you can easily install it into the NEC 870. I increased the standard 2 MB to 6 MB in only a few minutes. The internal parts are easy to manipulate, clean, and replace if needed. Also, the replacement toner cartridge is inexpensive.
After about 10 months and printing about 2,000 pages, the printer surprisingly developed a printing problem. The printer comes with a 2 year warranty and NEC has a toll-free 800 number for technical support. I was able to speak to someone relatively fast, they asked a few questions, and they are going to replace the damaged part at no charge. I am very impressed when a company will stand behind their products when an occasional problem occurs.