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Samsung CLP-510N a great printer at a great price ....
Strengths: Two sided printing & built-in NIC you can’t get w/others for the price. Print quality much better than described in reviews on other site (they must need glasses). Memory can be upgraded for $50.
Weakness: Quick start vague, doesn't explain two sided printing, use of fold down tray, or settings for photo paper. Install software buggy. Prints 8 ½” x 13” but not 8 ½” x 14” via the fold down tray (?).
Samsung CLP-510N
Praise:
The Samsung CLP-510N is a great printer at a great. It has features you
can’t get from any other brand for the price, such as double sided
printing and a built in NIC.
The quality of the printing is much better than I expected after
reading reviews on another site, which rated it highly except for print
quality (those guys must need glasses or something, because it prints
excellently). Both black and white and color look great at 600 DPI and
fantastic at 1200 DPI. It’s so much better than my ink jet was (Well ok…the
inkjet was good when I got it, but the quality always seems to go
downhill on those things after a while). I’ve printed some photos on plain
paper and they definitely looked good. I’ve printed some game manuals
too; the color art work/black & white text looks very good (and unlike
inkjet printers the paper is dry when it comes out!).
Memory can be cheaply upgraded. However, prices vary greatly from a low
of $50 to a high of $800 for a 128MB SODIMM. FYI, I highly recommend
the $50 price : )
Printing is fast! I am often surprised how soon big jobs get done.
I have only had one paper jam, which was easily cleared from the paper
tray. However, unlike big commercial laser printers, the jam indicator
did not clear automatically. I had to turn the printer off first, which
deleted the document from the queue, so I had to send it to the printer
again (NOTE: I have not read the manual on the CD yet, so there might
be better way).
I do have a few minor gripes:
The quick start guides are made up of mostly pictures and I had some
difficulty figuring all of them out (There are two guides, a fold out
poster and a little booklet. The full manual is in .PDF format on the CD,
like most of today’s tech manuals). Additionally, the accompanying
text was vague single sentences, repeated in several languages, which made
it hard to visually assess. The guides do not tell you important
things (to me), such as how to do double sided printing, use the fold down
loader tray, or what setting to use for photo paper (strangely missing
from the many paper choices in the settings). Also, the booklet seems
indicate you can print up to 8 ½” x 13” but not 8 ½” x 14” via the fold
down tray (what’s up with that?). Maybe you can buy another tray to
print 8 ½” x 14”?
Here’s a tip - Be careful when putting in the toner carts, they do not
all line up flush with one another, and one’s natural instinct is to
try to push on them in error to get them to look inserted to the same
depth. It’s normal for them not to all line up, and when you close the
door on them they will be aligned and inserted properly.
The software setup is awkward. Even though this printer has no parallel
port, the install CD configures the settings to that port by default.
It is not detected as a network printer either. To change it to the
correct port, you have to install their SyncThru program. Make sure you
choose the full install! If you choose compact install, it only installs
the uninstall program and not the program itself (an obvious bug). Once
you’ve done that, you can configure the printer settings for their
proprietary network port and all is ok.
The SetIP program should (haven’t tried it) lets you choose your own IP
for the printer, but it also lets you see what IP has been
automatically assigned to it.
It seems to get rather hot on top while printing, but I’m guessing
that’s normal for a laser printer. If you’re pressed for space like I am,
you might want to be careful about what you put on top of it.
It does take a little bit of time for the printing to start (might be
my home network), but once it’s going, it really rocks!
There are double sided settings for mounting pages in a binder at the
top or side.
I’m guessing this offsets the printing to make room for binder rings,
but have not measured to make sure. I have not found a just plain double
sided printing like you’d want for a handout/flier. BTW, the double
sided printing is fun to watch, as it ejects the paper out ¾ of the way,
then sucks it back in to do the other side like a tongue going in and
out.
As I mentioned above, I have not read the full manual yet. I don’t like
reading on a computer screen, and I haven’t been motivated yet to print
it out (if I recall, its many pages). The manual may have solutions to
some of my gripes. If you are concerned about any of the issues, I
suggest you contact Samsung support before buying.
In conclusion:
I am absolutely thrilled with this printer, and can’t believe it’s so
inexpensive for all it has and does.
Highly recommended.
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