Review: Color Laser Printing At Inkjet Size
The Samsung CLP-300 is the smallest and lightest color laser printer available, and it's hands-down the cutest as well. The printer weighs only 30 pounds. Making anything smaller than the CLP-300 is likely impossible, simply considering the size of the paper it handles.
The CLP-300 features a 600 x 600 dpi optical resolution that can be enhanced up to 2400 x 600 dpi. Powered by a 300MHz processor, the printer comes standard with 32 Mbytes of memory, which can be upgraded to a maximum of 64 Mbytes. The printer has a duty cycle of 24,200 pages per month. It's compatible with Windows, Macintosh and Linux operating systems.
Samsung is a world leader in building laser printer engines for other vendors, and its expertise in printing technology really shows in the design of the CLP-300. Samsung engineers started from scratch in designing the CLP-300's tiny four-pass color print engine. Instead of using conventional and sometimes difficult-to-install toner cartridges, Samsung puts the CLP-300's toner is in pill bottle-like cylinders that slide into color-coded ports in the print engine. The print engine, concealed behind the printer's drop-down front panel, slides out in one piece, leaving the chassis much like an empty shoebox.
Not only is the CLP-300 the smallest color laser printer, but it's also one of the least expensive, with a price of $299. That includes just a USB 2.0 interface. If networking is required, say for small workgroup use, the CLP-300N adds 10/100 Ethernet connectivity and costs another $50.
In the past, a color printer of this size had to use inkjet technology. Inkjet printers tend to be slow, printouts often must dry before handling and they can smudge if they get wet. But the CLP-300 delivers color laser technology in an inkjet-sized printer that will fit where no other color laser can. Its price and size make it ideal for use in individual business offices, by students and in homes. Solution providers can easily make deals to sell these printers by the bunch to schools, hospitals, offices, etc.
The CLP-300 prints at up to 17 pages per minute (ppm) in monochrome and 4 ppm in color. Provided that the printer is already warmed up, the first monochrome page will print in less than 14 seconds, and the first color page will print in 26 seconds. There is no duplexer option for this printer, so two-sided printing must be done manually.
The printer features a 150-sheet input tray and a 100-sheet face-down output tray. It will handle paper sizes from 3 inches by 5 inches to 8.5 inches by 14 inches and can print on plain paper, envelopes, transparencies, labels and card stock.
Being that the CLP-300 is so small, it's a lot easier to set up than most other color laser printers. All supplies install from the front, and changing the toner is so easy that even a child could do it. Speaking of toner, about the only problem anyone might have with this printer is that the tiny toner cartridges will need frequent replacement. Color cartridges are good for up to 1,000 pages, and the black toner cartridge, which is larger than the color ones, is good for up to 2,000 pages.
Fortunately, the cartridges don't cost much. Color cartridges cost about $50 each, and black toner cartridges cost about $60 each. Prices for other consumables are also reasonable. The imaging drum, which is good for 20,000 monochrome pages, or 12,500 color pages, costs about $110. A replacement waste toner bottle costs less than $20. Other than the consumables, there are no accessories available for this printer. The printer carries a one-year, advanced limited replacement warranty.
Samsung claims quieter operation with its exclusive NO NOIS print engine, and the printer did seem to be one of the quietest laser printers that the CRN Test Center has reviewed. The printer was tested for performance and image quality using a stopwatch and select files from the Spencer and Associates Printer Test Suite, a collection of documents and photos designed to push printers to their limits. Image quality is quite good, and it's certainly as good as many larger units.
Rated at 17 ppm in monochrome with the first page out in 14 seconds, the CLP-300 printed a 10-page monochrome Word document in 43 seconds, with the first page out in 11 seconds. Also rated at 4 ppm in color with the first page out in 26 seconds, a 10-page Word document with color headings took 2 minutes 37 seconds to print, with the first page out in 23 seconds. So the CLP-300 meets its rated specifications.
For customers that want small color printers but won't settle for inkjet, the CLP-300 is definitely the way to go.