Samsung CLP-510N Color Laser Printer Review
September 10, 2005
Reviewer: Jedd
Category: Printers
Color Laser printers have many advantages over inkjet printers for business use. This
can include much faster print speeds, better color text, and lower long-term costs. For many years
price has kept color laser printers out of reach for small businesses, home businesses, and even home
users. In the last year the price has fallen dramatically and low cost color laser printers are now
easily affordable.
Company:
Samsung, www.samsung.com
Price:
$385.00 US at NewEgg.com
Ratings
Price:
Install/Setup:
Usability:
Cost to Operate: 
Average Rating: 
Getting Started
Setting up the CLP-510N is simple and fast. Aesthetically, Samsung does a great job with the finish and exterior of the
printer. This model even has a nice LCD screen to give you status and other menu options. There are also great setup and troubleshooting
icons and guides on doors and parts of the printer to aid in setting up the printer, replacing cartridges, or clearing a
paper jam if you happen to have one.
USB setup is easy to complete, but network installation is
a little more difficult as it was in the past with the Samsung ML-2251N Laser Printer. I
had hoped it was much improved, but still is more difficult that it needs to be. Fortunately a little experience with the
Samsung network set up process helped and it wasn't as difficult as it was last time.
A great feature included in the CLP-510N is duplex printing. Printing on both sides of a sheet of paper is known as double-sided
or duplex printing. Normally most users with a printer for their small office/home office don't have this option. If they need to print on
either side of a sheet of paper, they re-insert the pages into the printer (carefully, making sure that the sheets are facing the right way and
the right direction) and then print the second side. Samsung includes a great feature by adding duplex printing that some more expensive color
laser printers do not include.
Click on picture to enlarge image
Usability
Using this Samsung printer is just like the others we have taken a look at. Great!! They have a fast warm up.
Colors print clear and bright. Both black/white and color print speeds are fast with good quality. Upkeep costs
can be high for general home use. Replacing all the cartridges at once can cost almost as much as the printer initially
costs. But for small office/home office users that need quality
color prints for presentations or reports or brochures, the cost is easily justifiable.
Growing up my dad always said to use the right tools for the right job. When running test prints with general inkjet
paper, colors are a little blurry (or muddled to use a technical term...) because of how the paper absorbs the dyes. Using the right paper with
a laser printer is very important to the quality of output. When reading printer reviews, I often have to
question the results the reviewer had. Based on how they described the colors and output, it almost sounded
as if they were using general paper instead of laser printer paper. Costs for the correct paper are comparable,
it might just mean you keep paper for your inkjet, copier/fax, and your laser printer. But if all goes well, you
will be able to use your Samsung color laser for all your normal printing and your inkjet for photo output.
Specifications
| Model |
| Brand |
Samsung |
| Series |
510N |
| Model |
CLP510N |
| Type |
Laser Printer |
| Printer SPEC |
| Print Method |
LaserJet |
| Color Print |
Color |
| Color Technologies |
Laser |
| Black Print Speed |
up to 25ppm |
| Color Print Speed |
up to 6 ppm |
| Max. Print Speed |
25ppm |
| Black Print Quality |
1200 dpi class |
| Color Print Quality |
1200 dpi class |
Time To First Page (seconds) |
~13 Mono, ~21 Color |
| Print Languages, std. |
SPL-C (Samsung Printer Language Color) |
| Duplex printing |
Yes |
| Max. Duty Cycle |
Up to 35,000 pages |
| Paper Handling / Media |
| Paper Trays, std. |
2 |
| Paper Trays, max. |
3 |
| Input Capacity, std. |
350 sheets |
| Output Capacity, std. |
250 sheets |
| Output Capacity, max. |
250 sheets |
| Hardware SPEC |
| Microprocessor Type |
Samsung SPGPm |
| Memory, std. |
64MB |
| Memory, max. |
192MB |
| Cartridges Compatible |
CLP-510D3K/ CLP-510D7K/ CLP-510D2C/ CLP-510D5C/ CLP-510D2M/ CLP-510D5M/ CLP-510D2Y/ CLP-510D5Y/ CLP-510RB |
| Ports |
| USB Ports |
Yes |
| Network Ports |
Ethernet 10/100BaseTX (RJ-45) |
| Compatibility |
| Windows Compatible |
Windows 98/ 98SE/ Me/ 2000/ XP |
| Macintosh Compatible |
Mac OS 10.3x |
| Others |
Various Linux OS incl. Red Hat, Caldera, Debian, Mandrake, Slackware, SuSE, and TurboLinux. |
| Physical SPEC |
| Dimensions |
20.1" x 18.5" x 15.9" (WxDxH) |
| Weight |
70.5 lbs |
Pros:
- Great color for the price
- USB and Network connection on this model
- Duplex is built in
Cons:
- Replacing all the cartridges at once can cost almost as much as the printer
- Not quite ready for general home use yet
Adding It All Up
We recently took a look at the Samsung SCX-4720F, an all-in-one unit and we talked about the
great benefits reliable equipment is to any business, whether it's 100 people in an officebuilding
or 1 person working from home. There are no exceptions when it comes to choosing a printer. If you are
a large business that could use a good quality color laser to proof brochures or flyers before sending
them off to the printer or a small office/home office user who needs an affordable color laser printer
to prepare quality color presentations or other marketing materials, the Samsung CLP-510n Color
Laser Printer is definitely a great option for you at an affordable price.
If you are a home user hoping
you can finally get a laser printer at home it's probably not quite time for you... yet... Give it some
time. Prices will continue to fall and soon companies like Samsung will have a great quality color laser
printer for you to take home that is well for the upfront and continued operating expense.
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