Ask any geek of a certain age and predilection what they dreamt of back in high school and they’ll say, in order, a date to the prom and a color laser printer. Now that everyone with $100 and a pulse can get a fairly nice inkjet printer, Samsung is offering the CLP-315, a $184 color laser printer that is about as big as a standard all-in-one printer but with the added benefit of printing at high speeds and in vibrant color.
If you think laser printers are huge behemoths hulking in the corner of an office, think again. The CLP-315 is 24 pounds and about 12 inches on a side. It holds 150 sheets of paper and is compatible with OS X and Windows and can be added as a network printer. The OS X driver required a full shutdown of every application on the installation machine - something I find amazingly aggravating - and, as usual, there’s no goddamn USB cable. This is the biggest pet peeve I have about printers. Seriously. Don’t up-sell us on a $5 cable, printer manufacturers. Sheesh. Sorry. I fell out of character there for a minute. Back to the review.
Now for the good part. The best thing about laser printers is cartridge life. I printed a 200 page document and the black toner didn’t move an inch although I did have to refill the paper cartridge well before the end of the print run. Traditionally, a print job like that would overwhelm the standard inkjet cartridge.
Both color and black and white printing is sharp and clear but in my tests it wasn’t much better than some of the Epson inkjets I’ve tested. It’s also more difficult to get a standard photo print out of this kit although most of the images I tested came out as nice or better than the inkjet.
This is a business printer. It’s not for scrapbooking or a “fun” printer. If you’re a writer or need to print out lots of letters or personalized pamphlets - if you need a lot of copies, get a copier. But at 3 cents per monochrome page and 15 cents for a color page you’re getting a fairly good deal.
All that and you can finally say that you own a color laser printer. How cool is that?
Sounds like a nifty printer, there, from Sammy. But the problem I have is this: some color laser printers repeatedly nag you to death to replace color toner cartridges even if you are only printing black-and-white documents (not using color-assisted so-called gray-scales which I turn off in software).
I purchased a Samsung CLP500 color, auto-duplexing laser printer a few years ago and it constantly hounds me to replace various colors that I’m not using (I mostly use black) and often tells me that the black cartridge is empty EVEN THOUGH it is (currently) 95% full. After I finish the current one, I’m done with this printer, if not before = just too much trouble!
See, after the novelty of color and, I suppose, my need for it, wore off, I mostly just use it for black-on-white printing (which is not Sammy’s fault, of course). Frankely, the color cartridges are way too expensive: replacing all four cartrides costs more than the printer itself. Moreover, the printer only came with 2/5ths filled “starter” (dummy?) cartridges to begin with.
But being hounded to death to replace the color cartridges and especially the nearly full black one is enough to make me gun shy of buying Samsung again…if that’s the way they are going to play the printer game. Hopefully, they’ve improved, and, yes, I realize that all the brand names do that…but being told to replace a nearly full black cartride is too much for me…and being constantly hounded about the color cartridges I don’t use…and forced to shake them and so on to trick the printer…is not how I plan to spend my future printer money.
Besides, I can buy a new black-and-white laser printer for the price of their black cartridge, although it is supposedly good for 5 or so thousand pages. BTW, the printer also occasionally complains about the drum, too. Lasers are sensitive, I guess.
Actually, I think Sammy is a great company and quite innovative. The complaints above are mostly things that could be changed with small hardware/software tweaks on their part…once they realize, I guess, that we will just stop using their printers if that’s the way such printers behave, so Sammy won’t actually make money on the cartridges after all (wake-up, Sammy!).
So, don’t write off the above printer based on my comments; just be aware of these possible problems and perhaps investigate further. Hopefully, they’ve improved matters (read: made a more “honest” printer). Also, the printer above is a nice size, unlike the behemoth that I have (although mine auto-duplexes and probably has larger capacity, though I’m too gun shy right now to check). No, I haven’t completely written off Sammy lasers off yet, but I’m leary. Just my two cents. Sammy, are you listening? Do you care?
Sounds like a nifty printer, there, from Sammy. But the problem I have is this: some color laser printers repeatedly nag you to death to replace color toner cartridges even if you are only printing black-and-white documents (not using color-assisted so-called gray-scales which I turn off in software).
I purchased a Samsung CLP500 color, auto-duplexing laser printer a few years ago and it constantly hounds me to replace various colors that I’m not using (I mostly use black) and often tells me that the black cartridge is empty EVEN THOUGH it is (currently) 95% full. After I finish the current one, I’m done with this printer, if not before = just too much trouble!
See, after the novelty of color and, I suppose, my need for it, wore off, I mostly just use it for black-on-white printing (which is not Sammy’s fault, of course). Frankely, the color cartridges are way too expensive: replacing all four cartrides costs more than the printer itself. Moreover, the printer only came with 2/5ths filled “starter” (dummy?) cartridges to begin with.
But being hounded to death to replace the color cartridges and especially the nearly full black one is enough to make me gun shy of buying Samsung again…if that’s the way they are going to play the printer game. Hopefully, they’ve improved, and, yes, I realize that all the brand names do that…but being told to replace a nearly full black cartride is too much for me…and being constantly hounded about the color cartridges I don’t use…and forced to shake them and so on to trick the printer…is not how I plan to spend my future printer money.
Besides, I can buy a new black-and-white laser printer for the price of their black cartridge, although it is supposedly good for 5 or so thousand pages. BTW, the printer also occasionally complains about the drum, too. Lasers are sensitive, I guess.
Actually, I think Sammy is a great company and quite innovative. The complaints above are mostly things that could be changed with small hardware/software tweaks on their part…once they realize, I guess, that we will just stop using their printers if that’s the way such printers behave, so Sammy won’t actually make money on the cartridges after all (wake-up, Sammy!).
So, don’t write off the above printer based on my comments; just be aware of these possible problems and perhaps investigate further. Hopefully, they’ve improved matters (read: made a more “honest” printer). Also, the printer above is a nice size, unlike the behemoth that I have (although mine auto-duplexes and probably has larger capacity, though I’m too gun shy right now to check). No, I haven’t completely written off Sammy lasers off yet, but I’m leary. Just my two cents. Sammy, are you listening? Do you care?
The concerns of JRetSapDoog are valid and understandable. However, he states that his CLP-500 was bought “a few years ago,” so the inevitable changes must be taken into consideration.
My experience with the CLP-315 is brief; I bought mine a week ago. I had checked a number of blog sites and reviews, and concluded the machine is very good, especially for the price. It’s $200 in general, but was listed at TigerDirect and Office Max at $150. I bought mine at Office Max.
Granted, the toner cartridges are expensive, but the same can be said for ink-jet cartridges. If my projected output in actual usage, which would be about 600 pages for the color toner cartridges, and about 1,200 for the black cartridge, proves factual, the cost per page will be about half that from the five-year-old H-P deskjet printer the CLP-315 replaced. (The deskjet’s printer head assembly jammed, and cannot be cleared.)
Consumables for all printers are expensive. The extremely low prices for printers, both ink-jet and laser, reflect a strategy of drawing in the customer by all but giving away the hardware, and making the profits on the consumables and replacement parts.
The cost of ink-jet and laser-toner cartridges is “the cost of doing business,” as it were. Cars, houses, and many other devices are similar. Their costs of operation, such as gas, maintenance, electricity, etc., ultimately far exceed their purchase price. Except for repairs, these costs are relatively small and accumulate gradually. Quill.com sells the Samsung toner cartridges for about $10 less than the going street price.
So far, I have printed about 100 pages, most of them in color. Mr. Biggs’s description of them as being “in vibrant color” is spot on. I am very impressed. Although printed on plain, but enhanced, paper (24-pound bright stock), they rival the output of the retired deskjet, and have the added benefit that the images are water-tight, they will not smudge if wetted. Ink-jet inks are very bad in this regard.
The installation was very easy. I installed the driver and operational software on my iMac. When the printer was turned on, the Mac recognized it immediately. The printer’s “Smart Panel” and “Printer Setting” controls are available from an icon in the menu bar. The settings are straightforward, and even include an adjustment for altitude! The printer has just two controls: the power switch and a “stop” button.
With only one week’s usage, but a bit heavy for about three days, it may be premature to state that I have had no problems with the CLP-315: no jams, balks, or sulking refusals to operate.
At this point, I certainly have no hesitation about recommending this printer. At a rated output of 20,000 pages per month, Mr. Biggs is dead right when he says, “This is a business printer.” That translates to “sturdy.” It won’t break down or wear out when hit with more than five or ten pages a day.
For all of us, reliability is a prized and expected attribute. If this printer delivers, it will be worth the cost: an industrial-grade product at a pauper’s price.
I own the Samsung 315W. I like it but a novice would get very frustrated if they don’t know how to bypass some of the issues. It is extremely slow to print. I helped that by allowing my documents to print directly to the printer rather than spooling. It is somewhat faster but not what I think it should be.
It doesn’t do pictures well at all. I kept my old printer to do pictures on. The 315W is awesome when doing clipart graphics. The printing is crisp and clear with absolutely no complaints from me. Text prints out beautifully.
I took out the ink cartridges and shook them to redistribute the toner. That made the printer happy and I didn’t have to buy more. The printer ink is not expensive at all when compared to inkjet.
Overall, I like the printer because I have an alternative to printing my pictures on it. Most of what I do is text and graphics using clipart, etc. The quality is great. I can live with the slowness for now but only because I like the quality of the printing (other than pictures).
It just takes too long to warm up to print the first sheet each time.
I bought the 315 at Office Max when it was set at a promotional price of $149.00. I’ve had it about 6 months, and haven’t had a single problem. Haven’t even used up the starter toner cartridges. I networked it so my family could print on it off the Wi-fi laptop and off the other 2 desktops.
Samsung has had some poor performing printers in the past, but I have a feeling this one will last a long time in my home network. I still have a couple of HP Laserjet 6L’s around the house for cheap black and white printing. Those go back to 1997 and 1998, but keep printing. Hopefully the 315 will be like that.
My samsung clp 315 color printer jammed while I used t shirt transfer paper. This paper was recommended for this color printer. However, After taking the printer apart and cleaning the roller with the recommende alchohol, I would like to know if there is information as how to reassemble the printer again.
Where can I purchase Samsung clp 315 toner cartridge.
thanks,
chuck