Samsung Color Laser Printer (CLP-325W) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is my first personal laser printer and I must say Samsung has achieved the impossible with the CLP-325W.
An excellent quality color laser printer, with the easiest network install ever, and a price that made my mouth water - an amazing trifecta!
Okay, with all that hyperbole out of the way...where do I begin?
1. The wireless install was absolutely painless. I powered on the printer, enabled WPS (Wifi Protected Setup) on my router (Netgear N600 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR3700), and then pressed the WPS button on the printer's console. In less than a minute, my printer was online and a test page rolled out! No hassles with specifying my network SSID or password. This was the first time that I'd used WPS, and was pleasantly surprised by how smoothly it went.
2. The software install went just as smoothly. I picked the custom install, opted for the wireless connection, let it search for the printer - which it promptly found, and then installed the printer driver and SmartPanel (which lets you monitor the printer's status) - both of which took less than 42 MB of space. Much much less than what HP printers tend to add to your workstation.
3. The printer's status can be accessed either via Smart Panel, which displays the amount of toner remaining (in %), etc. However, the web browser built into the printer is the bees knees. You can pretty much monitor every single fact about the printer from here. For instance, it tells you the rated capacity of the starter toner cartridges (1000 for black, and 700 for CMY); the usage of the fuser, belts, and rollers; networking information; etc.
4. The quality of the printing is not quite as good as the commercial color printers - but what were you expecting? The quality of photos and print however met and even exceeded my expectations. Text is very crisp and sharp even down to 8 points, and photos are very pleasing when rendered.
5. You do need 4 toner cartridges (C, M, Y, K) - but these seem to be reasonably priced compared to the competition, and are also easily available on Amazon. For e.g., Samsung Cyan Toner Cartridge for CLP-325W and CLX-3185FW (CLT-C407S).
Other comments:
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1. The smell for the first night is foul - and strangely enervating/nauseating. Fortunately it dissipates fairly quickly.
2. The user manual supplied with the printer is pitiful. A better one is available on the CD. Interestingly, while the manual didn't display at all in Chrome, it worked fine in IE and Firefox.
3. Ditto for the web browser on the printer. Use IE for a problem free experience.
In conclusion - this might very well be one of the best value-for-money printers out there. I was torn between this one and the HP 1525, but the lower price on this unit, and the reviews on its predecessor (the CLP-315W) tilted the balance in its favor.
I'll update this review should I encounter any problems, but for now I'm a very happy camper.
Updated 03/20:
When this printer's local IP address changes (usually when I reset my router, or also when I unplugged the printer to move it to a new location), my applications can no longer detect the printer. In such cases, the easiest fix is to re-run the 'Samsung Printers > Samsung CLP-320 Series > Maintenance' program installed during printer setup. This will locate the printer at its new address on the network.
Happy Printing!
~Damodar


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Brother HL-5280DW Wireless Laser Printer Network Duplex Review

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(More customer reviews)I have owned the printer for about two months now and I am satisfied with the purchase. It is hard to find another printer in this price range (I paid $315 at Amazon) with similar feature set. I use it on my wireless LAN at home with both PCs and my MacBook Pro, and have not had any major trouble so far. I did not dare to setup the security features, so I can't relate to the other reviewer who had problems with enabling them on the printer. I rely on MAC address filtering on my access point for the time being.
Now, there are 3 aspects of the printer I did not like a whole lot :
1. Fan noise.
2. Clicking sound during warm-up.
3. Surge of current generated by the printer upon startup.
I emailed the tech support, and received an answer promptly, to my satisfaction, so I decided to keep it.
Overall I rate it with 5 stars based on the price/performance.
The answers from tech support are below for your reading pleasure.
The fan will run until the fuser is below 100 degrees Celsius. Make sure that the printer has adequate space on each side for proper ventilation,at least 3 to 4 inches around all sides. The HL-5200 Series machines may make a clicking, ticking or popping noise when the machine is warming up, in standby mode or cooling down after making copies. This noise occurs when parts within the fuser
Unit (part of the machine that adheres the toner to the page) expand and contract as part of the normal heating up and colling down process.
PLEASE NOTE: This noise ONLY occurs when the machine is warming up, is in standby mode or when cooling down AFTER printing a document. This is normal operation and not an indication of a malfunction of the machine. If the noise is accompanied by a machine malfunction (for example: a paper jam, machine error, loud grinding when making prints etc), please contact the Brother Customer Service department at 1-800-276-7746.
Lights flickering or dimming when using the printer can be explained by the following information. The average operating current for the printer, as determined by Underwriters Laboratory (UL) testing is 5. amps. However, when the fuser is cold or when the printer is warming up,it will jump to 7.5 amps. This is a design element to enable the printer to get ready for a quick time to first print. The power spikes up to ready the printer quickly. Sometimes the spikes will cause lights to flicker as the power is drawn.
The printer has been tested and approved by UL. The printer will not damage home wiring. UL has confirmed that the home circuit breaker would trip before any damage would occur. This design element ensures the printer performs 30 pages per minute printing and fast wake up time. This design cannot be altered and is not an indication of a manufacturing defect. We do recommend not to share the same power circuit with other high-power appliances, particularly an air conditioner, copier, shredder and so on.

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Brother HL-2070N Network Monochrome Laser Printer (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)This printer doesn't have the 'built-like-a-tank" feel or weight of my old Laserwriter IIg, but it's far quicker and less troublesome. If you want to do black-and-white printing on a budget, I highly recommend it. I use it to print book drafts and even the 8-point type in footnotes is sharp and clear. The driver installed quickly and worked without a hitch on my Mac mini and MacBook.
Installed to run over an Ethernet network, this printer has a rudimentary web page server that allows you to use your web browser to configure some of its features remotely, including the print resolution and a toner save mode. You can also see how many pages you've used on the toner and drum, so you have an idea when each needs replacing. The web page configuration information is buried in the Network User's Guide, so I'll post it here. (Voting this review helpful will keep in near the top and help others to see this posting.)
The web address is: http://brn-8c4310.local/printer/main.html
That'll give you the printer's home page. To change the configuration, you'll need this information:
The default account is: admin
And the default password is: access
Michael W. Perry, author of Untangling Tolkien: A Chronology and Commentary for The Lord of the Rings

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Prints up to 20ppm. HQ1200 resolution (up to 2400x600dpi). Includes Built-in Ethernet Network Interface. PCL6 for DOS printing. 250-sheet input capacity. 16MB memory standard. USB 2.0 and Parallel Interfaces. Toner Save Mode Feature. Optional External Wireless network interface. One year express exchange limited warranty.

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