Samsung CLP-620ND Color Laser Printer

Excellent value for a color laser

I had been searching for a quality all-in-one scanner/printer that seemed reliable and easy on toner, but many of the reviews simply turned me off. I finally came to the conclusion that I ...Read complete review

I had been searching for a quality all-in-one scanner/printer that seemed reliable and easy on toner, but many of the reviews simply turned me off. I finally came to the conclusion that I could get the convenience of an all-in-one and the quality I needed by separately getting a scanner and printer. After considerable research of processors, memory, reliability records, duty-cycle capabilities, toner specs/replacement costs, I was pointed in the direction of Samsung instead of HP, Canon, Epson, or Brother. It was not a clear direction until I saw the specs on the newest products from Samsung and the incredible early promotional value of $100 off the $399 MSRP. It was more or less a leap of faith when I hit the "buy" button on the website due to the lack of reviews, but I have been very pleased with the performance of the Samsung CLP-620ND. The network setup instructions seemed extensive, but in the end I just plugged in the cat-6, power, and used the included setup disc to install drivers/software for my XP 32-bit, XP MCE, and 64-bit Vista computers already on the wired home network. The footprint is slightly deeper than it is wide or high, so I just tucked it away on the lower shelf of a corner bookcase and placed some 6" boards underneath to keep it level. The duplex printing is awesome, the toner coverage is well-balanced, and the prints come out clean and dry with no runs (I've always used HP color-laser paper only). To top it off, it features an excellent sleep mode that keeps it silent and extremely energy efficient when not used. The time from sleep mode to the start of printing is 20 seconds. If turned off completely for a considerable time and then on, it will take an extra 30-60 seconds to run a toner calibration exercise. Toner prices are not out-of-line when compared to competing printers, but there are good prices out there if you know where to look. The printer comes with the standard-size 3 colors and black, all rated around 2500 pages, but there are double-sized toners available that will handle up to 5000 pages. I am just a casual user and have not even used 10% of the toner capacities in the last 2 months of use, but the convenience and speed of this printer over my old inkjets is amazing. No longer do I need to select draft mode to save ink--I can select full color and duplex mode and let the machine do its magic. All-in-all, I would have paid $399 knowing how well it worked, but the $299 promotional price simply made it so much sweeter.