Ordered this printer recently when my old Samsung Printer (now owned by HP) started acting up periodically. I still need to print a few documents every now and then and a colour inkjet would probably have its ink dry up first before me being able to actually use them. A laser just makes sense because the powdered toner will remain usable even after sitting for a long time.
At the time of purchase (March 2022), there still seems to be a shortage on brand-name laser printers. A recent trip to several local big-box stores yielded no stocks available. Only units available are the $500 up models. This printer is about half the price of similar models with the same features. Consumables are also about the same (or cheaper) than other branded models.
I have not used any Pantum printers before but they seem to have good reviews online. The M7100DW is a fairly large printer yet still compact enough for a desk. It measures (at their longest side) approx 14" (height) x 16" (width) x 13 (depth). However, the paper tray is a little bit "weird". At it's default, it sits flush with the printer, however, when you load standard letter size paper (8.5 x 11), you need to slide a blue tab on the paper carrier so that it extends and protrudes through the back of the printer. This effectively increases the depth of the printer to about 15". So even though the base is initially small, you would need as much as 17" to have adequate clearance esp for Legal size paper. (see pictures). Personally, I prefer this setup instead of having a paper tray that opens up and extends from the front of the printer. There is also a front manual feed tray should you just need to print a few sheets. The printer function works well. It is fast to warm up and printout is satisfactorily fast. (Definitely faster than my old samsung and okidata lasers). It comes with a "starter" toner cartridge. I printed about 45 pages of tax docs and the remaining toner indicator says it has about 97%. Extrapolating that should give you about 1000 pages depending on coverage and toner save settings. Printing can be set to full duplex (both sides of paper) so that's a big plus.
The top panel has an ADF (automatic document feeder) but this only works on one side so it's not a duplex scanner.
The toner and drum are separate, Toners are advertised as 1500 (pages) standard yield, 3000 high yield and 6000 extra high yield (5% coverage). The drum is expected to last about 12000 pages.
The printer is relatively heavy at about 25 lbs. (11+ kg). It also consumes large amounts of power at startup so plug it directly to a wall outlet or a rated power bar. Do not use cheap extensions cords. It draws a lot of power (around 8.4 amps) when actively receiving a print job. A typical household outlet is rated for about 15amps. Fortunately, there is a power save setting that puts the printer to sleep in as little as a minute. There is also a timeout/power down setting that you can adjust.
Connection is via ethernet, wireless/wifi or direct usb. I have this on ethernet and it works well. I have even changed the default IP settings to match my home network. Wireless printing works well enough (tested this using several iOS devices). I have not tested it on usb (but it does include a usb cable in the package).
The printer has lots of features and settings. It even has a scan direct to usb flash drive functions. Unfortunately, there is very little documentation that came with the printer. There is a driver CD that has an older version of the paper manual. The included printed documentation is just a quick-start 2-page English instructions.
Overall, so far so good. Print quality is satisfactory. Scan quality is a little faint (lighter than normal) but still clear enough.