arb
my last printer was an hp all-in-one printer. the hp set up was super easy and straightforward--even for a non-tech savvy person like me. I chose a b&w laser this time because I really only print academic documents (e.g., papers, articles) and amazon return slips. I dont need color or scanning for that; and the all-in-one printers are kinda bulky. (also, a pet peeve with my inkjet printers has always been that the ink bleeds when I highlight; I really hate that blurring and smudging.) plus, I wanted a laser with auto duplex printing--a must. so I unboxed it last night. live and in person, its more compact than the listed dimensions led me to imagine; so thats a def plus. the major downside was trying to set it up. my laptop doesnt have a cd drive and they dont offer a link or anything in the installation instructions that come with it--strike one. I kept trying to find drivers and installation stuff online. I downloaded stuff from the Xerox web site, but nothing worked. I spent longer than an hour or two trying to figure out how to do it. I searched youtube videos, articles, chats--nothin. finally broke down and called Xerox tech support. the woman who answered seemed to have no deeper knowledge than reading a list of instructions. when I told her I dont have a cd drive, and Im on a Mac, she had no idea. she told be shed transfer me to a special department which had expertise with my model printer and doing a wireless install on a Mac-fair enough. she transferred me into an automated message that the department was closed and to call back. sly?--strike 2. what I ended up having to do was dig out an older Mac that has a cd drive; copying the cd information onto a usb drive, and then using that usb to do the set up on my Mac. that worked, but by then I was kinda annoyed and put out... if I had nothing to compare the experience with Id automatically assume that it was just my fault, but given that Ive had canon and hp printers and never had any such issues doing wireless set up, Im left no very impressed with xerox tbh. I did print out a document to test. it was fine. the auto duplexing worked fine; no jamming. the toner kinda had a strong smell, but maybe that will dissipate after some more use... the lost two stars are for how difficult it was to find installation software; how unintuitive the wireless installation process was; and how disappointing--kinda rude actually--the tech cust service was. however, I does get three stars because it works--finally.