Is a printer with a vertical loader (mx700) preferrable to one with a horizontal loader?

Answer 1

In my opinion, no. Printers with vertical paper feeds tend to have far more problems feeding paper than horizontal-feed printers do. As the printer ages, it will often pull multiple sheets through at a time, and will commonly pull sheets of paper in at an angle, crumpling them and causing jams. Much of this is due to dust that settles on the paper of a vertical-feed printer. The dust coats the feed rollers, and causes them to slip or operate unreliably. Also, vertical feed printers rely on gravity for part of their operation, which is a sketchy thing to depend on. Often, sheets of paper want to cling together, especially when the paper is freshly loaded from a ream. This prevents the paper from falling reliably into the feed rollers and can cause paper feed issues.

Bottom line, printers that are horizontally fed have far fewer issues than vertical-feed printers. There are two types of horizontal feeds: open-faced feeds (like HP inkjets), and enclosed tray feeds (like copy machines or HP laser printers). Printers with an enclosed tray tend to have a longer life cycle and feed more reliably than open-faced models, but are usually more expensive and can be more complicated to load. However, both horizontal feed systems are far more reliable than the vertical-feed printers.