Pantum P2000 Printer Review

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We tested the Pantum P2000, the company's entry-level A4 monochrome laser printer aimed at small businesses. With a suggested retail price of £59.99 including VAT, it is in-line with what you'd expect from a run-of-the-mill laser printer that targets the SMB market.

On paper, the P2000 looks very impressive. It has a 20 pages per minute print speed with 8MB cache and a monthly duty cycle of 20,000 pages, which is roughly two 500-sheets paper reams per day. The starter printer cartridge, though, is unlikely to last for more than a day as it's rated for 700 pages, based on a standard ISO print page.

Outwardly, the P2000 is fairly compact and solidly built, and the grey and white plastic chassis is a deliberate attempt to look as conservative as possible. The output paper tray is located at the top next to the power button and two status LEDS, whereas the two-stage paper feed tray is situated at the front of the P2000. There's a USB port around the back along with the on/off switch.

In operation the P2000 was quiet and vibrations were minimal. Under testing we were able to print 20 pages of our test document (containing both text and a single chart graphic) within 72 seconds, slightly more than the 20ppm rating. Furthermore, the first sheet was fully printed within seven seconds from the moment we clicked 'Print'. Printing a graphics file proved to be slower; a 1.4MB, 21-megapixel JPEG file was processed in 16 seconds and delivered 14 seconds later.

The output at 600dpi for the mixed type document was average. Text, even at 8pt, was sharp and well-defined and pure blacks were clean and solid, but the P2000 struggled with anything lighter with noticeable banding in graphics, especially when printing photographs. We informed Pantum about that and were told that it would investigate the matter further.

So until then, we're refraining from a definitive take on the P2000's printing capabilities. However, it's a decent first attempt by the Chinese printer manufacturer in a very mature market where competition is cut-throat with the likes of Dell and Samsung offering equally priced models.