Samsung CLX-6200FX Color Laser Multifunction Printer Review

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(More customer reviews)DISCLAIMER: I actually bought the CLX-6210FX, the only difference being a duplexing automatic document feeder (instead of the single-sided automatic document feeder) and optional hard disk and wireless print server functionality (sold separately, of course). The CLX-6240FX comes with the hard disk (also can accept the optional wireless print server), and, according to the specs, boasts a slightly higher print speed (25 pages-per-minute color/bw letter-sized documents vs. 20 ppm for the first two--note that this drops by half when duplex printing). I also bought this from a Canadian retailer (DirectDial), but given the lack of reviews for this family of Multi-Functional Printers (MFPs), I thought I'd post it here (and do it thoroughly).*SETUP*
The 100-lb shipping box (approximately 2' x 2' x 3' high) showed up outside my house a few days ago and required two of us to man-handle down to the office where it was to be set up (Samsung helpfully provides perforated handles to help with this). The instructions for (properly) taking the box apart are on top of the box and make break-down a snap. Once the box is disassembled, the printer is much easier to move to where you want to locate it.
After removing the bits of tape that hold the unit together, the toners were fairly easy to install. One thing I instantly noticed about these, compared to the last few Samsungs I've used (ML-1440, and CLP-500) is that each of the toner cartridges comes with its own drum (which you shouldn't touch or keep exposed to light)! One less consumable to replace in the long run (and probably how it can achieve such high--and constant--print rates, each cartridge transfers its toner to the belt simultaneously instead of having to do multiple passes for each color).
You can connect the MFP directly to a computer using a USB cable, or to a network via 10/100 ethernet. I chose the latter, as I wanted to be able to easily share it--I think the only difference is that you can't use the scanner as a TWAIN device (but this is made up for, as I'll outline later). You can assign the printer a static IP from the front panel, or use DHCP (default) to pull a network-assigned address (which was statically assigned using my WRT-54GL router).
The software took a few minutes to install from the included CD (post-script driver, regular driver, scanner, etc.), and it was able to automatically detect it on the network--not sure if it'll do this when you're printing, so you're probably better off giving it a static IP, however which way you go about doing it. As we've come to expect these days, there was a nice web-accessible interface (http://ip-of-printer) that gives status (and state of consumables), counter, security options, etc.*PRINTING*
Works wonderfully! I printed off 450 legal-sized colored (mostly text) pages in around 25 minutes. Good (IMO) color reproduction, and crisp, readable text. If you're used to certain other printers (at least, Dells and Lexmarks in my experience) there isn't the same waxy, almost glossy feel in the output, but rather, a more matte texture (something it shares with the CLP-500). It does take a minute or so for the fuser to warm up from a cold start, and presumably, from sleep mode as well (length of time until it enters sleep mode is adjustable).
Of course, I printed off the requisite high-res color "test picture" (a Spiderman 3 wall paper I had), and it came through with good (IMO) color reproduction, and little banding (I had to really stare at it for a while to notice a bit of banding in one corner--this disappeared after an inch or so). I would scrutinize this more, but as I don't do a great deal of image work, it's hard to justify churning out more pictures.
How did the toner survive? Well, it comes shipped with the "standard" toners which yield 2500 (black) or 2000 pages (cyan, magenta, yellow), according to ISO/IEC 19798 standards. You can also get high-yield toners which yield 5500 (black) or 5000 letter-sized pages (CMY), again, according to ISO/IEC 19798. What exactly is ISO/IEC 19798? I have no idea, and to find out, you need to shell out a few grand to the ISO (International Organization for Standardization). Though, to be fair, more and more printers seem to rate according to this same standard, and (knowing standards documents put out by engineers) it'd probably come in several binders. But even a synopsis would be nice.
Anyways, after 450 (legal-sized) pages of mostly green text, I had run the yellow down to 40%, the blue to 60%, and the rest had barely been touched.*COPYING*
I copied the image I had printed off, and reproduction was good, with a little graininess (the copying resolution, as far as I know, is fixed at 600 x 600). You can select which type of original (image, text, etc.) you have, but I haven't played around with this very much. Text reproduction works quite well. According to the manual, it does everything a nice little office photocopier should be able to do: edge-erase, collation, zoom, etc., but I haven't really tested this feature.*SCANNING*
According to the manual, the scanner is capable of up to 36-bit 600x1200 dpi (optical) or 4800x4800 dpi (enhanced) resolution when used in TWAIN mode, and somewhere between 100 and 600 dpi (adjustable) when used in scan-to-USB/PC/e-mail modes. After installing the SmartThru software, I was able to scan in a document, and have it show up in the 'My Pictures' folder on my networked computer (there's a dialogue on the 2-line LCD that you're lead through when you press the 'Scan' button, setting mode, resolution, destination, etc.) While PDF and JPG output worked fine, it seemed to have some troubles with TIF output (i.e. all that resulted was an impossibly small file).*CONCLUSION*
For me, it came down to this unit or the very similar Brother MFC 9840cdw. Both even have the same delighter: nifty, stand-alone USB-key operation (scan to, and print-from PDF or various image formats)--something I haven't used. While both have a very similar speed, features, and toner cost-per-page (I took this and the Brother--which uses a 5% page-coverage toner yield--at face value), the Brother will require drum and waste-toner bottle replacements, something not needed for the Samsung (both require transfer belt replacements at 50,000 sheets).
These, along with my previous good experiences with Samsung printers (and really noticeable banding in the admittedly-single output of Brother output I got my hands on) was what made the choice for me. While the Samsung is more expensive (~$75), this works out to be fairly negligible in the long run. At the cost I think this is an excellent SOHO or small workgroup all-in-one, which handles standard office fare very well.

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The easy-to-use Samsung CLX-6200FX Color Laser Printer delivers high-quality professional color print jobs at speeds up to 21 pages per minute, and includes efficient copy, scanning, and faxing capabilities. With a durable monthly cycle of 65,000 pages, this heavy-duty printer is designed to meet the high demands of your bustling office.
The sophisticated CLX-6200FX color laser printer features a time-saving one-touch automatic duplexing as well as image detail up to 2400-by-600 dpi, for crisp professional results. Start time for printing single sheets is 25 seconds in color or monochrome, and under 30 seconds for first-copy jobs. In addition, this hard-working machine features a convenient front-located USB port that allows you to print PDS, BMP, TIFF, and JPEG files at your convenience--even as other jobs print from your office network. The printer also includes a 250-sheet cassette and a 100-sheet multi-purpose tray, and is backed by 128 MB of RAM, allowing it to start fast and stay strong throughout the work day.
The 25.6-by-25.4-by-36.2-inch Samsung CLX-6200FX maximizes output and reduces operation costs with its built-in duplex feature to reduce paper consumption and decrease your business's cost-per-page ratio. In addition, the hassle of changing ink and toner is dramatically reduced, as this machine is constructed with four easy-to-replace consumables.

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