Printers Manuals

The Copystar CS-1510 is a quality copier from the Kyocera subsidiary, aimed squarely at small business users. Offering a respectable performance with an excellent cost per copy, the CS-1510 is a simple and cost effective document solution.

Out of the box, the CS-1510 is very easy to install. Connectivity is optional, the machine works as a stand-alone or as part of a workgroup. Standalone configuration takes moments, merely installing the toner cartridges and allowing it to warm up, which took around 30 seconds. Replacement toners will last at least 7000 pages and the 15000 page per month duty cycle means this is certainly aimed at the smaller office or workgroup.

The controls are simple but effective, containing all the copier functions you might need and a small number pad for typing in copies, resizing percentage and anything else you can think of. There is also a small LCD screen which displays error codes and other pertinent information.

Reproduction is accurate, with the monochrome copies appearing crisp and clear at a rate of 15 per minute. Images appeared a little dark, but once the contrast was adjusted they came out fine. Our test document was rendered well overall. It is 24 pages of text and images of differing size, weight, and complexity. Design to get the best out of any printer or copier.

The built-in automatic document feeder adds much needed flexibility to the CS-1510 and is a very welcome addition. It also includes an electric auto sorter, the option to upgrade to a duplexer and network connectivity. That coupled with a 250 sheet paper tray, and the document feeder takes much of the effort out of copying. This device is quick, good quality and easy to use, making it an ideal office device.

Overall, the CS-1510 is a good quality office device with a rich enough copying quality to satisfy most needs. Replacement consumables are readily available and good value, while robust enough to last the test of time. Anyone in the market for a low yield copier for the smaller workgroup or office would be advised to check out the CS-1510.

To see the total page count for the bizhub 250, press the Utility/Counter button on the copiers operation panel.  Then select the option for Meter Count on the screen.  The page count will be displayed.

A colleague first told me about Gestetner DSc-435 and recommend purchasing this digital copier and printer system. I was hesitant because I was not sure about the usability of the Gestetner DSc-435. I decided in favor of purchase when I discovered that the DSc-435 is available at a relatively affordable price. While I purchased it for its affordable price, I later discovered that Gestetner DSc-435 has all the features that I was looking for.

I run a small company that mostly deals in office management services. We therefore have to do a lot of printing and photocopying and the Gestetner DSc-435 is a great addition to our office. The printing features of the Gestetner DSc-435 include both black and white/monochrome and colored printing. It utilizes excellent toner cartridges that enhance the print quality to a greater degree. The printing speed is great on the Gestetner DSc-435 as it offers 35 pages per minute for colored printing and up to 45 for monochrome printing. This speed is greater than some of the more popular printers that I have used in the past.

The DSc-435 has 1 GB RAM and 80 GB hard disk; it is nothing short of a full-fledge computer. It uses Icon-based RPCS driver that offers precise and the most accurate printing even for the complex files and all this with a standard resolution of 1,200 x 1,200 dpi. Adobe® PostScript 3 and PDF Direct Print features are available on the Gestetner DSc-435 and connectivity is provided by Ethernet and USB 2.0.

Copier features of the Gestetner DSc-435 are equally good. It has a touch screen panel that has made things easier for my staff to do large scale copying. The standard configuration is at 28/35/45 ppm monochrome and 24/28/35 ppm in full color though it can vary as per the copying plans selected by my staff. Color copying is not available to everyone thanks to password protection and other features.

Scanner features offer a 50/35 scanned sides in a minute along with a full compatibility for TIFF, JPEG and PDF files; scan resolution of up to 600 dpi is available. Scan-to-folder and scan-to-email features are available on Gestetner DSc-435. Thanks to great toner and scanning features, I have seen excellent results with no issues over staining or darkened images.

Facsimile features are available and other features are also available though I generally do not use fax so cannot say any exact words about this side of the product. I am however very happy with the printing, scanning and copying of Gestetner DSc-435.

The Brother Intellifax 4750E is a business class high speed fax that can do just about everything a fax is supposed to do. It has a fast Super G3 modem, which runs at 33.3k, and has a built in 8Mb memory which can hold up to 600 pages of fax if the paper runs out.

You would have to be a heavy fax user to run out of paper though, as there is an integrated 250 sheet paper drawer with the option to expand up to 500 sheets. If you also purchase the optional network card, the 4750E can be attached to a workgroup and use fax from desktop and fax broadcasts to send faxes to up to 232 different destinations. This offers a lot of freedom when it comes to keeping on top of the workload.

While not designed to be a copier, the 4750E has basic copy facilities and can produce decent reproductions at a rate of 15 pages per minute. While not up to the standards of a standalone copier, they are easily enough for internal use. Text was surprisingly clear, with no jaggies or bleeding on the edges. Images were a little blurry considering this is a laser machine, but again, this is a fax first, copier second.

Toner is easy to remove and replace, and a high yield cartridge can produce up to 6000 pages of legal sized prints with an average of 5% coverage. Replacement drums will produce up to 20000 pages and both are priced competitively from online retailers like Quikshiptoner.com

Operation is straightforward, with clear buttons that aren’t too close together. The LCD screen is clear and guides you through any menu settings. It also displays caller-id if you have it, which is a nice touch.

On the top is a 50 page automatic document feeder for the copier that works well, and doesn’t seem to jam.

Another neat feature is the dual access facility, which lets you scan faxes while the unit is already sending or receiving one. The scan goes into memory and the 4750E sends it as soon as it is free to do so. This adds a lot of flexibility and allows users to load it up and leave it to get on with the work.

With batteries good enough to last four days, 250 sheet paper capacity, the dual access facility and fax broadcasts, this is one device that can just be left to get on with the job. Ideal for the home worker who is out and about during the day.

The 4750E is a solid fax and copier. It has enough features to keep even the most demanding users happy while keeping costs down.

The Aficio 2238c is another good quality copier from Ricoh, aimed squarely at the larger business or workgroup. It offers affordability and features of much larger and more expensive machines and is robust enough to be able to service most needs.

The controls are simple but effective. They are simple enough to be able to service most needs and the helpful LCD screen is easy to read. The screen is colored a friendly blue and is bright enough to be seen clearly.
The paper drawers are a large pair at 500 sheets, which is upgradeable to 1050 if needed. There is a multi-purpose feeder at the top too which is fully duplexed adding further functionality.

Out of the box, the Aficio 2238c is quick and easy to install and configure. The toners are long lasting and the memory is large enough at 768Mb for even the most demanding of offices. The printer can be connected via USB, parallel or Ethernet. The drivers are comprehensive and include PCL and PostScript drivers for all operating systems. The bundled software contains most features an office would need to print a whole host of documents and images.

There are hardware upgrades that can be made such as a fax kit, stapler and sorter and more paper trays. The machine itself feels solid and dependable. The trays are made of stiff plastic, not the flimsy stuff that many other manufacturers favor. This should enhance the life of the device no end.

Reproduction is very good, with text appearing clean and fresh. Images looked a little on the dark side, which is actually good for presentations. Color is rendered accurately and graphs and photos appeared vivid and sharp. The Aficio 2238c also offers different finishing options in order to allow you to produce leaflets, booklets and other higher quality documents.

With a print speed of 35 pages per minute for monochrome and 28 pages for color, it is a quick mover for such an affordable machine.

Overall, the Aficio 2238c is a good, value for money office device with a rich enough repertoire to satisfy most busy office needs. It’s strength is its versatility and cost effectiveness. Replacement consumables are readily available and good value, while robust enough to last the test of time.

Those in the market for a good, solid color copier that can do other things too would be advised to check out the Aficio 2238c.

The Xerox Phaser 6180 is a color laser printer that places the company firmly in the printer market. Known mainly for its photocopiers, this foray into printers is a bold move by Xerox. The industry already has some heavy hitters, so attempting to join them is an ambitious thing indeed.

The 6180 is a bulky machine, but not so big that you couldn’t use it as a home worker or telecommuter. It looks remarkably similar to the Dell 3110cn, but maybe that just coincidence. They both have a more vertical construction than many others on the market, so it’s footprint is kept to a minimum.

Paper is handled by a 250 sheet paper tray at the base, and a 150 sheet tray you can use by folding down a flap at the front. There is also an optional 550 sheet drawer you can buy if you’re a heavy user. Under the flap for the manual tray is where the toners can be found. There are four that sit in a row one above the other.

Print speed is average in its class with it producing text at a rate of 23 pages per minute and images at 2 pages per minute. If you want to print in photo mode, on glossy paper then that rate drops to .5 pages per minute.

Print quality is excellent for text, and good for images. Color tended to appear dark until we adjusted it in the control panel. After that it was clear and even from then on. Image quality was pretty good, with only a little evidence of artifacts on our photo sample. Text was very clear, with edges being clear and sharp even down to the smaller point sizes.
The enclosed documentation is excellent. The 6180 has a very clear and well produced user guide and set up instructions. Users of any skill level will be able to have the printer up and running in no time.

The control panel is simple and easy to use. It has a few buttons for features and menu navigation and the screen is mainly there for maintenance. It displays error codes, paper and toner levels, so you have a constant idea of when they might need replacing.

The 6180n is network ready and is straightforward to add to workgroups. There is also a 6180dn which adds a duplexing function to the printer. The basic 6180 has the option of upgrading but it will cost an extra $200 to do so.

Overall the Xerox Phaser 6180 is a good, solid performer. It prints well, reasonably quickly and has the Xerox brand behind it.

May you need guide To print a configuration page from a Ricoh 6330N printer:



- Press the Menu button

- Scroll down to List/Test Print

- Press the OK button

- Scroll down to Config. Page

- Press the OK button

hope this helped

OVERVIEW: One of HP’s first “Internet-enabled” printers of 2001, the LaserJet 8150 series gave users not only network printer access, but by providing printer management via a web browser, HP made it easier for administrators to manage multiple network printers from one location. The 8150 is able to provide medium to large-volume printing of ledger-size paper with high resolution images at print speeds up to 32 pages per minute.  Two 1-ream trays, Adobe PostScript 3, and 32MB memory makes the HP LaserJet 8150 a reliable workhorse for classrooms and offices alike.

The Copystar CS-1810 is another quality copier that also prints from Copystar. It is a solid, no-nonsense workhorse machine that is designed to last a lifetime. With a solid design, thoughtful controls and decent paper handling, this device should be very popular.

With the CS-1810 copying and printing is of a very high quality, with accurate reproduction of all documents during our extensive testing. Text was especially strong, with clear defined edges and even toner spread on the larger points. The speed is also good with a rating of 18 pages per minute for monochrome text.

Images were true to the original and offered good grayscale interpretation of color images. The test document includes text, graphs, business images and photographs. It is designed to see precisely what a device is capable of.

On the top of the CS-1810 there is a 50 sheet multi-purpose tray and a 250 sheet paper tray. Connection is via parallel only, but there is an option to include a network port if you wish. We would suggest taking this option as it is much quicker and more flexible than parallel. Toners are simple to replace, and relatively inexpensive. Cartridges are good for 7000 sheets and cost around $25. They are accessed by a flap at the side and clip in to place.

Build quality seems solid, all drawers, flaps and the document feeder seem well built and shouldn’t fail any time soon. The footprint is modest at 20 inches wide, 20 inches deep and 18 inches high, weighing in at just under 60 pounds. It is classed as a desktop product, but only just.

The CS-1810 is a solid copier and printer designed for high demand environments. It is built to last, while producing professional looking business documents. Running costs should be modest with the well priced consumables, and the construction lends itself to a relatively low maintenance existence. Ideal suited to the new or small business user.

To reset the HP 51645 (#45) or HP C6115 (#15):

Reset Method 1:

1. Refill your cartridge using compatible ink kit.
2. Following the diagram at right, place a piece of adhesive tape covering the only the four blue colored contacts (a contact is the individual copper square). Make sure that only those four are covered and no others.

3. Place cartridge in the printer. The printer may tell you that there is a problem with your cartridge. Ignore this message. The printer may print an alignment page. If so, allow it to do so.

4. Take the cartridge out of the printer. Remove the tape from the four blue contacts. Place the tape over the four red colored contacts. Make sure that only those four are covered and no others.

5. Follow step 3 again.

6. Take the cartridge out of the printer for the final time. Take the remaining tape off and place back in the printer. The printer should print out an alignment page and the estimated ink level in the toolbox should read full.

Reset Method 2:

If Reset Method 1 did not work on your printer, go through the same procedure again, but this time using the green colored contacts in step 2 and the brown colored contacts in step 4. This method is more commonly used for the #15 or in the later officejet printers.

Reset Method 3:

If neither of the reset methods above worked, you can cycle cartridges through to reset the level. You will need two extra cartridges and the one you refilled. First, put the refilled cartridge in the printer. Allow it to recognize the cartridge and print an alignment page. Take that cartridge out and place in the first extra cartridge. Allow it to recognize and print an alignment page. Take the first extra cartridge out and place the second extra cartridge in. Allow it to recognize and print an alignment page. Take the second extra cartridge out. Place the refilled cartridge back in the printer. It will print an alignment page and then the estimated ink level will be reset to full.

OVERVIEW: Now days, most of the “all-in-one” printers in stores today don’t have “all” the features of earlier models. As printers have gotten smaller and sending scanned documents via e-mail has become acceptable in many businesses, the fax feature has been replaced with slots for flash memory media.  However, there are still times when you run across a client or a business that will only accept faxed documents. The Samsung CLX-3160FN is an all-in-one color printer that not only offers faxing, scans, copies, printing, but also direct printing from USB flash drives, and network connectivity.

PROS:
The CLX stands for “Color Laser Multifunction”, the FN for “Fax and Network”.  If you don’t want to turn on the computer every time you want to make a copy, a fax, or e-mail a scan, you don’t have to.  The CLX-3160FN has a full control panel with an on-screen menu for printer setup and operation without the need for software.  There is also an option for choosing whether to print only in B&W to save on color toner. It even has a USB socket that allows you print image files directly from any USB flash/memory drive.

A pass-through external phone jack on the back of the printer allows for plugging a telephone or an answering machine. 15, one-touch programmable keys allow speed-dialing for up to 30 fax numbers. An address book function allows for more frequently used fax numbers to be stored and retrieved. To protect unwanted access, received fax pages can be stored in memory and retrieved using a 4-digit security password.

As a copier, the 5-in-1 can zoom from 25% up to 400%, and make up to 99 copies in color or B&W. The color scanner portion of the CLX-3160FN is compatible with TWAIN & and XP/Vista’s WIA standards.  Under TWAIN, the 1,200 x 1,200 dpi resolution can be increased to 4,800 x 4,800 dpi.
The CLX-3160FN comes standard with a 150-sheet cassette tray that can support letter or legal-size sheets, with a 1-sheet multi-purpose tray to handle transparencies, labels, post cards, envelopes, 3” x 5” postcards up to 8½” x 14” legal paper of various bond weights. On top of the CLX-3160FN is a 50-sheet automatic document feeder for quick single-sided scanning, faxing, and copying of multiple pages. If 150-sheet capacity is a little thin, a 250-sheet cassette can be added on for more paper capacity.

You’re giving the choice of USB or Ethernet connectivity. The 128MB of built-in RAM allows this multi-function printer to easily handle the print demands of networked computers.

After a quick 35-second warm-up, the CLX-3160FN prints and copies up to a modest 17 pages per minute in Black and White, 4 pages per minute in color. In operation, the all-in-1 produces 52dB of sound and 35dB when idle. Think of 55dB as the sound of low conversations and 40 decibels as the level of whispering. At a maximum print resolution of 2400 x 600 dpi, the CLX-3160FN keeps text reasonably clear--and does a decent job with basic graphics.

CONS:
One of the things you need to consider when you decide to get a color laser printer is if you want a “multi-pass” color printing or “single-pass” printing. The CLX-3160FN is a color multi-pass printer: color printing is 4 times slower printing because the paper has to pass through each of the 4 toners. It’s similar to the way t-shirts and posters are manually silk-screened. If you plan on a lot of color printing, you might want to opt for a single-pass printer instead.
The CLX-3160FN only offers Samsung’s SPL-C print emulator.  While the SPL-C will handle most jobs, imaging problems like “ghosting” can occur if trying to print certain graphics created by Adobe’s Photoshop or Illustrator without PostScript emulation.

INK / TONER NEEDS:
The CLX-3160FN comes with a 75% full black cartridge, and 70% full color cartridges. The standard yield cartridges can be purchased separately, especially if the black toner gets depleted at a higher rate than the other colors. Combo-packages are available to save on costs.
Other consumables you’ll need to consider is replacing the waste toner container every 1,250 pages, and replacement of the Imaging Unit every 20,000 passes.  One color page goes through 4 toner passes, while a B&W page only has one pass. So if you only do color printing, your time to replace is shortened up to a factor of four.

SOFTWARE:   
Being a multi-purpose printer, one would expect the software to provide full functions for all the computer platforms Samsung claims it supports.  The software in the CD-ROM is primarily for Windows compatible machines. For Windows users, the SmartThru software provides the most features, supporting not only scanning and printing, but offering an advanced printing section that allows for booklet printing, creating a large poster mosaics, and watermarks.

To remotely change network printer configurations and notifications, Samsung’s SyncThru Web service allows printer changes to be made using your IE, Safari, or Firefox browser.

OVERVIEW:
For those on a budget looking for a reliable monochrome laser printer, the Samsung ML-1740 offers no-frills, while producing sharp text printouts.

PROS:
When laser printers first came on the market, their sharp, smudge-proof ink made them the envy of anybody with a monochrome inkjet or thermal printer. However, their prices put them out of range of the home computer user. The Samsung ML-1740 provided an economic answer to an affordable laser printer.

At 17 pages per minute, this personal printer has a decent speed for a laser printer of its age. With current inkjets pushing B&W print speeds of 20 ppm, inkjets are now giving lasers a run for their money in performance.

The maximum resolution for the ML-1740 is a modest 600 x 600 dpi. This resolution is fine for creating sharp text and simple graphic images. Photographs will have a more grainy quality but still viewable.

To keep costs low and affordable, the ML-1740 comes with 8MB of memory.  8MB is large enough to print all but very detailed graphics or large Acrobat files. However problems may occur if the printer is shared across a workgroup as print jobs fill up the queue. For one office or cubicle, the ML-1740 can handle most single-user print needs.

The ML-1740 has a 250-sheet main paper tray. This is almost more than double the capacity of many other personal-use laser printers have. The tray has an adjustable rear lever to allow the ML-1740 hold 11” x 14” legal-size paper, while maintaining the same footprint on your desk. There are other Desktop laser printers with smaller footprints out there. But those often gain their small footprints by having a pull-down paper tray to temporarily add paper.  Adding the 3,000-sheet capacity toner cartridge, the ML-1740 makes maintenance in an office easier with less frequent toner and paper refills.

Speaking of paper refills, the little mechanical lever on the front of ML-1740 that indicates how much paper is in the tray is an easy, simple way to know when to refill at a glance.

The ML-1740 is one of the more quieter ML printers. It produces 50dB of sound during startup and printing, 30dB on standby, plus a sleep mode that makes the ML-1740 run silent until needed. To give you an idea on the amount of noise this means, 53 decibels is about the sound of low conversations and 30 decibels is the noise from a quiet office.

When Samsung introduced this printer on the market, USB was still new to Wintel machines and parallel the primary way to connect non-networked printers to a computer. While PC’s with a parallel interface have become few and far between, it’s nice to free up a USB port if your computer still has a parallel port. You get that choice with the ML-1740. The USB also makes it easy to connect a laptop to the printer.

CONS:
Unlike similar laser printers with 50-sheet multi-purpose trays, the ML-1740 has a 1-sheet manual feed slot. So, if you want to print 30 invitations from a Word mailing list you will have to stay by the printer feeding the envelopes one at a time.

On the top of the printer, Samsung has 1 button and 2 LEDs for your manual print controls and status indicators. Depending how long you press that button can cause your printer to perform several other functions than just “cancel”. And, if you want to know just what the various flashing LEDs are telling you, you’ll need the User’s Manual to find the flash codes. (Or you can do what I did: copy the page and taped it on the printer.) I can see Samsung wanting to follow the K.I.S.S approach to a console control, but this went past K.I.S.S.  all the way to M.I.C.K. (Made It Complex, Kretin)!

It takes the ML-1740 thirty seconds after it wakes-up to print. Add that plus the 12-second delays between print jobs, the ML-1740 has one of the longer start times of the Samsung ML series. Think of the ML-1740’s warm-up time like the old vacuum-tube T.V. sets. If you ever heard your parents or grandparents talk about how long it took TV’s to “warm-up” when they were kids, this printer will give you a rough idea what they went through.

INK / TONER NEEDS: 
The cartridge is used in the ML-1740 (the same toner used for the ML-1750 and ML-1755 printers) has a 3,000 page print capacity. On the other hand, the toner that you get with your new ML-1740 comes with toner that is only one-thirds full. So it might be a good idea to buy the full yield toner the same time you buy the printer.

SOFTWARE:
It’s nice that Samsung recognizes there are other operating systems than the one from Redmond. The CD that comes with the ML-1740 provides software support for Windows, Mac OS 8.6-9.x, and Linux operating systems. The Samsung web site offers new drivers you can download for Mac OS 10.3 up to the new 10.6 Snow Leopard systems.

OVERVIEW: 
When you’re looking for an all-in-one, you have two choices: either buy a printer that happens to scan and copy, or buy a copier that happens to print and scan. The Sharp AL-1530CS is a 15 ppm copier, a 12 ppm printer, and color scanner all in one compact design.

PROS:
The 40 pound all-in-one copier has a footprint 20.4” x 17.5”. The size is a little large to put on a desk but will feel right at home on any credenza.

The AL-1530CS is a single-feed copier, using a stationary 10” x 14” platen for scanning instead of a sliding platform to keep its footprint no bigger than its physical size.

With a maximum resolution of 600 x 600 dpi, the AL-1530CS can produce up to 99 copies. Scanning the original once and storing the image to memory allows the AL-1530CS to make copies at the rate of 15 pages per minute. The user can change the magnification from 50% to 200%--not the widest range compared to other models but the most commonly used.

The sliding paper tray can hold up to 250 sheets of either letter (8½” x 11”) or legal (8½” x 14”) size paper. Non-standard sizes up to 10” x 14” can be placed singly on the scan platform.

Using either Parallel or the USB 1.1 connection, the AL-1530CS can be connected to a computer to double as a modest laser printer. In a small office, the Sharp can be set up to be a shared printer provided the computer it’s connected to remains on during the hours the printer would get used. When connected to a computer, the AL-1530CS can scan color images with digitally enhanced resolutions up to 1,200 x 1,200 dpi.

This all-in-one Sharp was made for compactness, not expandability. There are no options available to increase its paper or memory capacities, to add an auto-feeder, or to make it a network printer.

CONS:
The design of the AL series is primarily based to focus on copier features. During it’s prime, a 15 ppm copy speed was impressive for a small copier. In printer mode, the touted 12 ppm speed can only be achieved at lowest resolution (but that’s the caveat for any printer specs). Don’t expect the faster print speeds of 20 ppm that’s typical of current B&W laser printers.

The 250-sheet paper tray is woefully undersized for office copy use. It’s typical for even a small office to go through a ream of paper in a single day. And it’s also common for offices buy paper in 500-sheet reams, if not a 10-ream case. For all you office folk out there: How many times have you taken a ream of paper from the supply cabinet to fill an empty printer, only to find the printer’s tray only has the capacity to hold half that amount? Now, next question: what usually happens to the rest of that ream? By the end of the day you’ll see the remaining ream somewhere near the printer, sheets pulled haphazardly by people who needed just a couple of blank sheets. By the time the printer needs to be refilled again, the state of that paper is now so uneven and disheveled it’s likely to jam in the printer. For personal and home use, a 250-sheet tray is sufficient, so long as you’re not someone whose home is their office. Having a tray that you can dump an entire ream of paper into would be something any office would invest a few more dollars for.

INK / TONER NEEDS:
The AL-1530CS has separate toner and drum to help reduce overall consumables costs. Sharp offers a choice for toner: the standard-size toner (4,000 pages at 5%), or the High-yield (6,000 pages) unit. The drum unit will need to be replaced ever 18, 000 pages.

During the course of changing toner, people often forget to keep track when it’s time to change the drum.  Combo-packages are available that offer the drum with several toners. By the time the toners are consumed, the remaining drum is replaced. These combo-packages make maintenance easy and increases overall longevity and print quality.

SOFTWARE:
Included is Sharp’s desktop document management software. The software does a decent job in giving you control of the unit’s various printing and scanning functions.

Unfortunately, the software is only for Wintel machines. Apple machines running OS 10.3 and above may be able to use the printing and scanning functions native to OS X or through 3rd party applications, like Photoshop.

OVERVIEW:
There’s something about glossy black that says Classy:  those big flat-screen displays, black leather pumps, black ties, black European cars, grand pianos. So why not add a little class to a printer? Enter the elegant and stylish Samsung ML-1630W wireless monochrome laser printer.

PROS:
Who says laser printers have to be beige and gray? You built the ultimate high-end, liquid cooled, multi-processor computer and put it in the sleekest case you could find. So why mar the image by having a plain old office-looking printer next to it? The ML-1630W’s low-profile design with blue LED accents under the translucent piano-black surface replaces geek with chic.

There’s nothing like class with a touch of sci-fi. The first thing you notice is there are no apparent buttons on this printer. The 14-pound ML-1630W uses soft-touch sensor panels under the top panel for power and job canceling, plus a control display with blue LED indicators. Soft audio sounds denote when paper or toner is low. The 100-sheet paper tray is a semi-automatic cassette. Just about the only thing missing is the Star Trek “whoosh” door sound.

The ML-1630W’s simplified paper feed path means clearing jams are easier and effortless. Replacing the toner cartridge is also straightforward and easy to get to. To reduce jams, Samsung recommends keeping to paper weights that are between 16 to 28 lbs.

This printer is quiet. How quiet? At under 38dB in standby and 45dB in operation it’s almost as quiet as a whisper. To go from power up to print only takes the ML-1630W 15 seconds.

Did I mention that the “W” in 1630W means Wireless? What good is having a beautifully designed printer only to have a bunch of ungainly cables coming out of it? And with more homes replacing their old desktop computers with wireless laptops, a wireless printer makes harmonious sense. Just a word of caution: configuring a wireless printer is not as simple as connecting the printer with a USB cable. If you did not set up the wireless router or Wi-Fi switch on your current system, you may want to bribe your local geek to help you with the ML-1630W’s wireless settings. To have something for everyone, the ML-1630W also has built-in Ethernet LAN and USB connectivity.

Having a maximum resolution of 1200 x 600 dpi, the ML-1630W is great for printing monochrome text and graphics. Photographs will have a more grainy quality, and if you are a stickler for details the ML-1630W’s resolution may not have the sharpness you desire. The Toner Save feature, still produces printouts that are clear and readable.

As expected for a printer of this type, Samsung only installed a fixed 8MB RAM for the ML-1630W. 8MB is fine for text printing, but large Adobe files and graphics will fill up the ML-1630W’s memory and will slow printing. There is no PostScript or even the standard HP Printer Control Language (PCL) emulator. Instead Samsung uses a proprietary printer emulator. Most users won’t notice any changes in the way things print, unless they use a lot of advanced features of professional graphic or photo-editing software.

CONS:
The ML-1630W has a small 100-sheet tray capacity that holds letter-size paper or smaller. But then again, the ML-1630W is designed for the casual printer user--for a home, a dorm, or an executive office, the tray is fine. There is no separate manual sheet feeder slot; transparencies, card stock, and labels must be placed in the cassette one sheet at a time.  The printer’s unique design doesn’t allow for printing on envelopes. If you do a lot of printing during a day, need legal-size prints or envelopes, you might want to upgrade to one of Samsung’s 250-page capacity ML printers.

At 17 pages per minute, this personal laser printer is a little on the slow side of printing speeds for its age. With current inkjets pushing B&W print speeds of 20 ppm, inkjets are now giving lasers a run for their money in performance.

This issue is not so much a problem with the printer, just with the people who use it. One disadvantage to the ML-1630W’s size and appearance is many people think it can be wedged anywhere without regard to its ventilation needs. To keep from cooking its internal parts and to reduce paper jams, Samsung recommends leaving at least a 4” clearance around the printer. The printer must be placed on a level, upright surface not tilting more than 2 mm (that’s less than 1/10 of an inch). While it’s tempting, don’t use the ML-1630W’s nice flat surface as a place to support your monitor, lamp, or laptop. (Lightweight items, like family pictures and teddy bears are okay.)

INK / TONER NEEDS:
1000-page starter toner cartridge used in the ML-1630W is only 50% of standard capacity toner. Unless you plan on going through 2 reams of paper in a week, the starter cartridge should last long enough while you order a regular yield toner.

SOFTWARE:
The CD that comes with the ML-1630W provides basic software support for Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. The Samsung web site offers new drivers you can download for Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard and Windows 7 & Server 2008 systems.

To make network printer configurations and notifications easy, Samsung’s SyncThru Web Service allows printer changes to be made using your IE, Safari, or Firefox browser. The software is not part of the CD and has to be downloaded from Samsung’s web site.                                                                                                                                              

The stylish designs of the ML-1630W will add class to any room, while quietly producing sharp, smudgeless printouts across a wireless or wired network. --  Mel Myers, HGIC

Step 1 : Manual for service mode
1. Unplug power and USB.
2. Open door and hold power button.
3. Connect power.
4. Close door, then release power button.
or Step 1: Manual for service mode
1. Turn off the printer. And disconnect the printer cable.
2. Press and hold the POWER button, turn on the printer.
3. The indicator (L.E.D.) should be green.
4. Press and release the RESUME button , the indicator (L.E.D.) should be orange.
5. Press and release the RESUME button again, the indicator (L.E.D.) should be green.
6. Release both buttons.

OVERVIEW:  Samsung offers a laser printer that is big enough to handle the demands of over 20 networked computers, but still be reasonably compact and priced. At the top of Samsung’s mid-range ML-3050 Series, the ML-3051N is a monochrome laser with a built-in Ethernet network.

PROS:
The ML-3051N’s compact design & footprint takes up only a 1.9 square foot area on a table, while able to still hold legal-size paper within its tray.

Prints come out at an impressive 30 pages per minute. It does take 44 seconds for the ML-3051N to warm up from a cold boot, but once it’s up this laser will start chugging away.

At 1200 x 1200 dpi B&W resolution, the ML-3051N keeps text sharp--even at 6-point font sizes--and does a decent job with graphics. To keep from consuming too much toner, the printer has a 600 dpi resolution with a text-enhance or image-enhance switch.  The Toner Save feature allows for a 40% toner life increase while keeping images clear and readable.

The ML-3051N comes standard with a 250-sheet cassette tray, with an optional second 250-sheet stacking cassette. The flip-door reveals a 50-sheet multi-purpose tray that can handle transparencies, labels, post cards, envelopes, 3” x 5” postcards up to 8½” x 14” legal paper of various bond weights.

The control panel on the ML-3051N has a multi-line LCD Display, plus several buttons that make manual control of the printer relatively intuitive. Through the control panel, printer information, configuration, emulation, and network settings can be done. Administrators can also perform these changes remotely with Samsung’s SyncThru web application.

The “N” in ML-3051N is for “network is built in”.  The Ethernet 10/100 Base TX interface makes it ready to support networked computers in an office, department, or a classroom. You can choose between Parallel, USB, or Ethernet connectivity. So, no matter how old or new your computer is, the ML-3051N can handle it.

This laser printer comes stock with 64MB of memory, allowing the ML-3051N to easily handle workloads from multiple computer requests. An additional DIMM RAM slot is available to expand printer memory up to a whopping 320MB.

Understanding the printing needs of today’s businesses in providing support for the major software applications, Samsung has installed a full set for print emulators that should satisfy the most diverse office. Emulators include PostScript3, HP PCL6, IBM ProPrinter, and EPSON.

CONS:
If you’re used to the smaller ML laser printers, get ready to flex your biceps. At 33 pounds, the densely-packed ML-3051N will need a study place to stay.

The printer produces 54dB of sound printing, idling at 39 dB. To give you an idea of what that means, 60 decibels is the level of typical conversations and 40 decibels is the level of whispering. You probably don’t want to have this network printer stationed in a conference room printing when a meeting is in progress. But when it’s placed in the copy room or in the middle of a busy office floor, the noise is barely noticeable.

With more bells and whistles than other ML printers, warming up takes the ML-3051N about 35 seconds -- 44 seconds if in Sleep mode. From Standby it takes 8.5 seconds between print jobs. Delays like this are unacceptable if the printer was for a single user, but in a network environment where it usually takes the user about 3 to 5 minutes to pick up their printout, the delay is hardly noticeable.

INK/TONER NEEDS:
The ML-3051N’s toner and drum are integrated in a single cartridge, making it easy to maintain. Right out the box, the printer comes with the standard size toner, able to print up to 4,000 pages.  An 8,000 double-capacity toner option is also available to double the time between toner replacements.

SOFTWARE:
The ML-3051N has one of the better software packages. Not only does it have the basic printing properties for Mac and Linux, but for Windows users there’s an advanced printing section that allows for booklet printing, creating a large poster mosaics, and watermarks.

The drivers also enable 64-bit and Microsoft Server operating systems to be able to use the ML-3051N. This may be considered a no-brainer, but there are printers with software that absolutely will not install on Server 2003 & 2008.

To make network printer configurations and notifications easy, Samsung’s SyncThru Web Service allows printer changes to be made using your IE, Safari, or Firefox browser. The software is not part of the CD and has to be downloaded from Samsung’s web site.