Quality of cheap Pantum printers

[Onus]

Yes, we all know "you get what you pay for." As a cheap, light usage printer, I'd like to know your impressions of the quality of the cheap Pantum laser printers that Newegg sells. Newegg reviews, as unreliable as they are, do not offer anything conclusive, which may itself suggest highly variable quality rather than something conclusive like "they're all bad."
I'd like to know from people who have actually used them (and preferably dug into one, perhaps to repair it), what sort of quality to expect. Are gears and rollers solid and heavy enough to suggest durability, or are they the sort of things that might crack after fifty pages? Does paper feeding go to the dogs the first time card stock is used? Are internal circuit boards neat, or do they look slapped together by monkeys?
I'm thinking of buying one as a gift for someone, and don't want to give junk. She will probably print a couple hundred pages right off, then likely only a few per week after that.
Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[basroil]

I'm thinking of buying one as a gift for someone, and don't want to give junk. She will probably print a couple hundred pages right off, then likely only a few per week after that.

Here's a few things you should consider if it's a gift:
1) Does that person only need B+W or do they want color? (that printer is B+W only)
2) Will the recipient be able to buy replacement toner? (at $50-70 for a toner that does only 800 pages, it's not cheap!)
3) What happens if that machine breaks? (the #1 complain is that failures are common and customer service is garbage)

Given the fact it's a domestic chinese company and the outer plastic looks like it'll crumble, I doubt you'll find the inside being any better

 

[Onus]

1. I believe she is in need of B&W, primarily for text. That she might need a printer came up in the context of a discussion on printing manuals.
2. A replacement toner, claimed to be good for 1600 pages, is $31.
3. This is part of my concern, right after "how likely is it to break, and how soon?"

What it looks like does not interest me quite as much as what it feels like, or is like, from people who have actually bought and used them.