Samsung CLP-300

Manufacturer: Samsung Part number: CLP-300

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 Zoom Compare with most popular

$119.95 - $287.95 at 18 online stores

CNET Editor rating:
3.0 stars Good
Average user rating: 2.0 stars out of 52 reviews

More product information:: Editors' review; Product brief; User reviews; Specifications; Manufacturer info

Bottom Line:: The tiny Samsung CLP-300 color laser printer is a good bargain for those with very basic print needs. If you need more from your printer, you'll have to spend a little more money.

Where to buy

Show only authorized dealers (7)
Show all online stores (18)

store	customer rating	inventory	tax & shipping	price
Store profile \| Buy now PREMIER SOURCE of cutting edge electronics since 1973. Authorized store	Rate this store See store profile	In stock SHIPS IN 24 HR. Auth Samsung dealer w/ warranty	Enter zip code to get total price: Price +Tax +Shipping =Total price	$264.10 Shop now as of 09/07/2008
Store profile \| Buy now The Right Technology. Right Away. Authorized store	Rate this store See store profile	See Site		See site Shop now as of 09/07/2008
Store profile \| Buy now Authorized store	Rate this store See store profile	In stock		$249.99 Shop now as of 09/07/2008
Store profile \| Buy now Authorized store	Rate this store See store profile	In stock		$249.99 Shop now as of 09/07/2008
Store profile \| Buy now Authorized store	Rate this store See store profile	In stock		$253.76 Shop now as of 09/08/2008
TheNerds.net Store profile \| Buy now Authorized store	Rate this store See store profile	In stock		$259.06 Shop now as of 09/07/2008
Amazon.com Store profile \| Buy now Authorized store	Rate this store See store profile	In stock		$237.49 Shop now as of 09/07/2008

*Total price for the Samsung CLP-300 are estimated and may vary slightly based on exact tax, shipping, manufacturer rebate or any sale/promotion on the merchant site.

show

CNET editors' review

Samsung CLP-300

price range: $119.95 - $287.95

The tiny Samsung CLP-300 color laser printer is a good bargain for those with very basic print needs. If you need more from your printer, you'll have to spend a little more money.

The good: Compact; decently fast black text prints; toner canisters are easy to swap out.

The bad: Slow at all but black text prints; print quality could use a lot of improvement.

The bottom line: The tiny Samsung CLP-300 color laser printer is a good bargain for those with very basic print needs. If you need more from your printer, you'll have to spend a little more money.

Read full review

The Samsung CLP-300 is the smallest and least expensive color laser printer we've seen. The CLP-300 version (nonnetworked) costs only $250, while the networked version (CLP-300N) will set you back an additional $100. Unfortunately, you sometimes get what you pay for, and what you get here is a basic printer that produces neither the fast nor the high-quality prints you'd expect from a laser printer. If you need speedy, top-notch prints, spend an additional $50 (over the price of the CLP-300N) for the Lexmark C500n. But if you're short on space and you have a tight budget and only basic printing needs, the Samsung CLP-300 is a decent bet.

Design
The Samsung CLP-300 is remarkably small for a color laser printer, owing to a unique toner configuration, which we'll get to later. The printer sits 15.4 inches wide, 13.5 inches tall, and 10.4 inches deep, and it weighs a mere 30 pounds. The input tray does jut out a bit from the front, but overall, the printer's footprint is about as compact as you'll find among laser printers.

Paper handling is rudimentary on this small- and home-office-oriented printer. A single 150-sheet paper tray pulls out from the front and can hold a variety of paper sizes, from small 3x5 cards to legal-size sheets (the tray expands to hold the longer sheets). If you want to manually feed single sheets, you can flip open the translucent plastic cover at the front of the tray and insert pages one at a time (you'll have to unload any paper in the tray first). The well in the top of the printer serves as the output tray, and a flap folds out to corral long sheets. You can't expand the paper handling, but the setup should suffice for small offices.

The control panel on this printer is basically nonexistent, limited to just a cancel button and four color LEDs that let you know when toner levels are getting low. Any changes to the printer setup can be made through your PC, using the Samsung Smart Panel that's installed when you set up the printer.

Features
Both the Samsung CLP-300 and the CLP-300N ship with a 300MHz processor, but the CLP-300 features only 32MB of memory to the CLP-300N's 64MB. Neither is upgradable. The CLP-300 offers only a USB 2.0 connection, while the CLP-300N also throws in a 10/100 Ethernet connector for networked printing.

One of the reasons the Samsung CLP-300 is so small is its unique toner cartridge setup. Most color laser printers use toner cartridges that include the image drum. Samsung separates the drum from the toner, resulting in small toner "canisters" that measure about 3.5 inches long and 2.25 inches in diameter (the black canister is slightly larger). The four toner canisters--cyan, magenta, yellow, and black--plug into the front of the single drum, behind the cover panel, saving both space and money, as the drum will outlast the toner canisters. We like this setup because it makes changing toner a simpler task and produces less physical waste.

Performance
Given the low price point of the Samsung CLP-300, we weren't terribly surprised by its slow print speeds. It printed black text at a respectable 13.49ppm, but it was slow at black graphics, pushing out just 3.68ppm. Color text and color graphics prints were slow, too: 3.77ppm and 3.71ppm, respectively. The models closest in price that we've reviewed are the Lexmark C500n and the Oki C3400n (both are $400, as compared to the CLP-300N model, which costs $350) and both posted much faster numbers across the board.

CNET Labs' color laser speed tests (pages per minute)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Color graphics

Color text

Black graphics

Black text

Lexmark C500n

6.43

6.88

19.80

19.86

Oki C3400n

11.92

8.38

16.01

15.55

Samsung CLP-300

3.71

3.77

3.68

13.49

The CLP-300's print quality was a bit of a mixed bag. Black text showed a deep, solid black with clean edges, though the characters suffered from a slightly puffy, swollen look. Color text was nicely rendered, though some of the italicized and bolded text had a hazy look. Monochrome graphics were just okay, with the photo elements looking slightly blurry and dark (compression). The color graphics print showed nice saturation in color, but the printer had some problems with bar code-style patterns. The color photo elements fared better than those in the mono print but were still slightly faded.

CNET Labs' color laser quality
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Color graphics

Color text

Black graphics

Black text

Lexmark C500n

Good

Excellent

Oki C3400n

Fair

Good

Excellent

Samsung CLP-300

Fair

Good

Fair

Good

Overall, the print quality and speed of the CLP-300 indicate that this printer isn't for those who need fast prints or high-quality outputs. But its low price and small footprint make it a decent choice for anyone with basic printing needs and a tight budget.

Service and support
Samsung backs the CLP-300 with an industry-average one-year warranty. Toll-free phone support is available every day from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT. Ideally, we'd like to see 24/7 phone support, but having support available every day is nothing to sniff at. Samsung's Web site has helpful FAQs that deal with general questions, such as how to network a printer and what types of paper you can use with a laser printer. The site also offers a download center with user manuals, drivers, and software, along with a guide to consumables and accessories.

show

Product brief

show

User reviews

Write Review

Average user rating: 2.0 stars out of 52 reviews

Showing opinion 1 to 10 out of 52

Sort by:
7 stars

For the price it can't be beat

by mutgis on December 7, 2006

Pros: Small, Prints color documents well, Prints are faster than most in class

Cons: Toner "cups" are small, not for heavy usage

Summary: I'm tired of people that are so ignorent that they think a $300 laser printer is going to give them lab-quality photo prints. Color lasers were not designed for ...

Read more

Summary: I'm tired of people that are so ignorent that they think a $300 laser printer is going to give them lab-quality photo prints. Color lasers were not designed for this! Yes there are a few but they are in the $2000+ price range, for professionals only! For at home buy an inkjet.

After long consideration of various printers I chose this one because of the drum life. I have owned a Konica before which prints at around 6000 color pages per replaced drum. Understand on a color laser each color print hits the drum 4x this runs it down faster than black and white. The samsung is designed to get about 2x that and based on printing so far 5000+ pages it seems i'm going to get that.

The color documents that come out of this are good enough quality for presentation, but I will note it prints much better on heavy weight paper (24lbs) but I have found this on other color lasers as well.

The only downsides I have found is yes this is a power hog and I wish samsung had made the waste toner bottle a litte bigger (expect to replace it with the cartriges)

Overall though for the price I feel this is the best one out there right now, if you want to do pictures by an inkjet, if you want to balance price with quality to get maximum DOCUMENT output this is for you.

Show less

18 out of 18 users found this user opinion helpful.
10 stars

Amazing Printer

by igob8a on December 26, 2006

Pros: Everything

Cons: Nothing at All

Summary: I see people complain about the color quality, but as the previous commenter said, this printer isn't for professional quality color printing! And the main reason the prints would ...

Read more

Summary: I see people complain about the color quality, but as the previous commenter said, this printer isn't for professional quality color printing! And the main reason the prints would bleed is because you're using cheap paper. Do yourself a favor and before you go and return this amazing printer, spend $3 and buy some good bright and heavy color laser printer paper!

This printer is so quiet I can barely hear it even when it's running.

And you can't beat the price either; $300?! that's amazingly cheap for a color laser printer.

I would choose to own this printer over all of the other printers I've owned over the years.

And Samsung is a great brand too; world leader in many of the new technologies.

To those who are looking to purchase a compact, quiet color laser printer, this is the one to buy. If you want quality color prints, get an inkjet (and replace the cartridge every 5 prints) or go down the the print store every once in a while.

Show less

15 out of 15 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 stars

Fantastic little printer!

by aobrien1 on December 28, 2006

Pros: Low price, small footprint, great print quality

Cons: No duplexing

Summary: I just set this up today and so far am very impressed. I am inclined to agree that the people who don't like it really need inkjet printers for ...

Read more

Summary: I just set this up today and so far am very impressed. I am inclined to agree that the people who don't like it really need inkjet printers for photo work. This printer does great document printing, which is what I need. I haven't noticed any ink bleed at all, and probably the easiest way to avoid that is to use good quality laser paper. It was one of the easiest printers to install (10 minutes max).

Show less

8 out of 8 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 stars

Plesantly surprised

by clenaghen on February 5, 2007

Pros: Cost, size, print quality, noise, easy toner cartridge replacement

Cons: non-oem toner cartridge availability, not the fastest color laser printer

Summary: I was very skeptical about this printer based on user reviews on here and other places. I compared sample test prinout pages between this printer and a couple other color ...

Read more

Summary: I was very skeptical about this printer based on user reviews on here and other places. I compared sample test prinout pages between this printer and a couple other color laser printers. The sample print done in the store didnt have the quality of other printers, much like what others have mentioned about this printer, but, for my printing needs, was acceptable. I narrowed my choices down to the HP LJ1600 and this printer. Because I needed Mac compatibility (which the LJ1600 doesnt have), I went with this printer. Interestingly enough, when I got the printer home and printed out several pages, I was suprised at the print quality. Comparing the print quality to the sample test print from the printer, the actual printed pages seemed much better than the sample print. In fact, the text output from the pages I printed out were very comparable to the LJ1600. I havent printed a lot yet with this printer, but the limited amount of printing I have done exceeded my expecatations. One of the concerns I have is the availability of non-oem toner cartridges, or refilled cartridges.

Show less

6 out of 6 users found this user opinion helpful.
2 stars

Slow, noisy, poor print quality, horrible support

by iranger on July 20, 2007

Pros: Small foot print

Cons: Expensive toner, horrible print quality, no technical support

Summary: Have had problems with the print quality right out of the box. Sumsung support has done nothing to fix and has admitted they have problems with the high voltage power ...

Read more

Summary: Have had problems with the print quality right out of the box. Sumsung support has done nothing to fix and has admitted they have problems with the high voltage power supply, and hardware programming but that they do not have any solution. Tech support actually had me file some internal parts down in an effort to improve the print quality. Do NOT buy this printer, spend the extra money to get something that actually works!

Show less

3 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
3 stars

Probably a mistake to buy for most people

by paulnorrisii on July 6, 2007

Pros: Looks very nice, small size

Cons: Poor paper handling, laser does not stick

Summary: I consider this one of the poorest computer purchases I ever made. The paper handling is so poor it will not print checks, which even my 'free' ink jet printer ...

Read more

Summary: I consider this one of the poorest computer purchases I ever made. The paper handling is so poor it will not print checks, which even my 'free' ink jet printer did. The paper tray is flimsy and troublesome every time I have to add paper. I've printed labels only to find that the characters smudge and cause mailed items to not be delivered. I responded to a '$300 color laser printer' as an early adopter. Never again.
Updated
The paper tray is flimsy and confusing. It jams most times I try to print. This is using standard laser paper. In my view, this is not a product suitable to market.

Show less

3 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 stars

One of the best

by tenec on September 1, 2007

Pros: No hassle printing

Cons: No complaints

Summary: Owned a Samsung B/W laser and it was excellent. Bought this one as the smallest available. No regrets. Perfect printouts. Refills available for lower cost on the net. Still ...

Read more

Summary: Owned a Samsung B/W laser and it was excellent. Bought this one as the smallest available. No regrets. Perfect printouts. Refills available for lower cost on the net. Still running on original cartridges after nine months. This laser is the only way to go for the average user.

Show less

2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 stars

Great little printer for the money and size

by mochant on April 29, 2007

Pros: Small, inexpensive, Mac compatible, quiet

Cons: Smell, heat

Summary: I read through all of the preceding opinions and am surprised at the very bad reviews. I think some people's expectations are out of whack with what you can ...

Read more

Summary: I read through all of the preceding opinions and am surprised at the very bad reviews. I think some people's expectations are out of whack with what you can realistically expect from a $250 personal color laser printer. The color is good (not great), the speed is more than acceptable (especially compared to an inkjet), and the price of both the printer itself and consumables is quite low.

The unit I just brought home and set up in less than 10 minutes included a Vista drivers CD in addition to the one with Windows, Mac, and Linux drivers on it. It hooked up to the iMac in our den with no problems and the setup for my Vista-equipped laptop was equally painless.

For the money, I couldn't be happier. I'm so tired of expensive inkjet cartridges clogging up and drying out (I live in the high mountain desert of NM and this is a real problem).

Show less

2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
7 stars

Great printer for home color printing needs

by FinTechArch on April 3, 2007

Pros: price, color laser, toners, quick startup, quality over inkjet

Cons: heats up, toner replacement $$$

Summary: I was looking for a laser printer after my trusted Apple LaserWriter died. I settled on Color Laser when I saw the quality and price. I had spent lot of ...

Read more

Summary: I was looking for a laser printer after my trusted Apple LaserWriter died. I settled on Color Laser when I saw the quality and price. I had spent lot of money and frustrating hours with inkjet printers for color and didn't want the same problems, hence laser printer. It serves all my and my family's more than basic color printing needs.

I have had this for nearly a year now and I have used it often but not heavily at any one time. I am pleased with the color quality. My kids have printed photos (not on photo paper) for school reports. For everyday home use this is a great printer. Only negative is that occasionally I smell the drum heating up; no harm observed so far. For precaution I don't leave it running for long. By making sure the table it sits on is level, I have found this to happen less often.

I would recommend this one to anyone looking for a reliable printer but they are a careful user. Its built is compact.

Show less

2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
7 star

Samsung CLP-300

Where to buy

CNET editors' review

Product brief

User reviews

Submit your review