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Hmm - I've never seen one of these printers at our local Apple store - undoubtedly because we have a mini-store variety and space is a premium. Anyone know if these printers work well - similar or better printer quality as similar types of printers?

Peace.

Jan 07, 09 - 05:41 pm Comment from: Dave

I have the SCX-4500. I like the design a lot. The initial software was a little buggy, but a few versions later it has improved greatly. The scanner quality isn't very good, but usable for my limited needs. It's funny that this article appeared at about the time Samsung removed it from their website (there is a 4500C and a 4500W, but all software has been removed for the 4500).

Jan 07, 09 - 05:41 pm Comment from: KingMel

I have owned the ML-1630 for just over a year (bought it with my iMac the day after Thanksgiving 2007 with a $100 rebate). It has performed well for me - fast warm up and good text print quality. It is also reasonably quiet except for the startup beep sequence. With several thousand pages printed, I have only had a few cases of paper misfeed (double pages in a couple of cases, failure to grab a page from the tray another time). It has a shallow paper tray (50 pages or so - see bottom slot in photos above), which is a slight drawback. I haven't printed any photos to test its grayscale performance.

It should be noted that the photos that are always shown of this "sleek device" (see above) never include the translucent plastic paper catcher that fits in the ~4" wide slot just visible in the photos (left of the power button). I keep knocking the darn thing off onto the floor. If I don't replace it, then the paper falls onto the floor when I print. If I had a bigger desk, then it wouldn't be a problem.

I used to swear by HP printers. The old LaserJet III was a workhorse and I'll bet that a lot of them are still going. But the reviews indicated that HP quality was declining, and I figured that I would take a chance on this printer. I don't have any regrets so far.

Jan 07, 09 - 05:46 pm Comment from: Dave

One more comment... Hamrick Software (VueScan) does not support the scanner on the Mac, which I initially saw as a problem. Samsung has improved the scanning application since the original release.

So Apple is helping Samsung push an American company out of the personal printer business in favor of another greedy Asian corporation who won't stop until they dominate everything.

Just what we need in these times.

Jan 07, 09 - 05:55 pm Comment from: KingMel

This printer is compact and seems well suited for light duty (small paper tray, etc.) - home use or small business use if your printing needs are reasonable. If I were getting a printer for a larger business or a small business that involved substantial print volume, then I would recommend stepping up to the next level of printer with 250-sheet tray(s), etc. You can even get color laser printers at a reasonable price these days.

I thought about going for the SCX-4500, but I wanted a better scanner and I tend to be leery of multi-function devices (jack of all trades, master of none). I ended up with a Canoscan 8800F. It offers good optical resolution and LED lighting for fast warm up and good color. The Canon design software is also great because the built in buttons actually work on a Mac to copy (sends to the printer), PDF (including multiple pages), etc. I bought this scanner to digitize our old family photos, but I still have not gotten around to it. So I have not tried the photo/film holders, yet.

I haven't seen these laser printers at my Apple Store, but I do have a Samsung color laser. The thing weighs a bloody ton!

Jan 07, 09 - 06:25 pm Comment from: Dave

I'm guessing that the majority of HP LaserJet printers (or at the very least their printing engines) aren't actually made in the USA. Let's hope HP learns from the example of the Auto Industry a lot faster than GM, Ford and Chrylser have... The better product should win out in the end!

As inexpensive as laser printers are, I don't understand why anyone buys an inkjet. The cost per page is virtually the same, but the print quality/speed is vastly superior.

Jan 07, 09 - 06:58 pm Comment from: Vlad

@Gregg Thurman

Wrong on almost all counts.

1. The photo quality of inkjets is far, far superior to laserwriters. Which is to say, a $300 injket will vastly outperform a $300 laserwriter (even a colour one). Laserwriters are for text and basic graphics at most.

2. The text quality, print speed, and cost per print (for black and white) is far superior on laserwriters. Issues with clogging (which wastes a lot of ink and can scuttle inkjets if they are unused for any length of time) are a non-issue on laserwriters due to their use of a dry powder (toner) rather than a wet liquid (ink). The cost per print for black & white text and graphics is tenfold better than on injkets.

3. However, color laserwriters are still fairly expensive, and vastly in the minority. And you don't get the cost savings on color toner vs color ink that you do with black toner vs black ink. For color printing, inkjets and laserwriters are much more comparable in terms of operating costs, but the inkjets get a far better quality on photographs (or any other high resolution image).

Laserwriters also tend to be much larger and uglier (which are two areas where these Samsung offerings excel), and start at a much higher sticker price (consumers somewhat irrationally tend to favour low sticker prices over low TCO).

Thus, there are benefits to each technology. For most people, inkjets are the best option since most people need to do some printing of colour and photographs and some B&W;printing. Printers like the Canon ip4xxx and mp6xx line, along with other dual-black inkjets, offer a useful middle ground; by having one black tailored to text and one tailored to photos, you gain in quality, efficiency, cost effectiveness, and capacity (albeit not to laserwriter levels).

Jan 07, 09 - 07:31 pm Comment from: MacArch

I had HP 5500 Color LaserJet A-I-O. The thing was FAST, and I loved the full color printing of drawings, maps and colored spreadsheets. It was also HUGE, ugly an noisy! Each color cartrigde was about $100 (x4) and every other time you had to buy the imaging drum (about $120). The beast needed to be fed about every 6 - 7 months. It was like buying a new printer every year!

Switched to the HP OfficeJet Pro 7600. Not as nice for full color printing on regular paper, but it is fast, and the consumables are costing a lot less. It is a little on the noisy side, but the footprint is much smaller. It also does not "calibrate" itself at 2 am in my home office.

Jan 07, 09 - 09:14 pm Comment from: Spark

I bought a HP LaserJet 8100 around the year 2000. Wasn't cheap, but it has been performing in our agency for eight years with just some minor repairs/maintenance. I think everyone should have both laser and inkjet printers at home and the office. As stated above, each excels at different jobs. As Mr. Natural says, "Always use the right tool for the job!"

I use the Samsung ML-1640 recommended by my Apple reseller. Fast, silent, same footprint as my MacBook, 50 dollars (the toner cartridge costs 50 dollars also and lasts me 3 months). I think it is still available.

R2, you moan about an Asian company outperforming an American company. Gee where have I heard that before?

Perhaps if HP pulled their collect heads out of their rears and produced a printer worth buying (that wasn't ugly as sin), then perhaps they might be in better shape.

Apple has proven that American companies can product quality products, that people want to buy. If HP is having problems, then it's their own darn fault and need to be punished for it.

And don't make me start on HP software. It's worse malware than Windows... and more bloated too.

@R2
For my work I buy a lot of printers. HP was the ONLY choice I would consider for many years.
As their software grew steadily worse and buggy and as more printer models started to breakdown, it was time to explore others. Samsung color lasers printers gave good control and, although noisy, seem to work quite well.
If you like to reward companies for producing mediocre products just because they are local, go ahead. Show the world that innovation and quality is not important.
Sheesh.

samsung has become the second most important company in eletronics after apple. they have overtaken sony, nokia and hp.