Simplify your laptop buyingSamsung CLP-300N
Manufacturer: Samsung Part number: CLP-300N
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Product series
- Accessories
- 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.
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Where to buy
| store | customer rating | inventory | tax & shipping | price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tech For Less, Inc. |  | In stock | Enter zip code to get total price: Price +Tax +Shipping =Total price | as of 12/03/2009 Refurbished |
 | Not yet rated | In stock | as of 12/03/2009 |
CNET editors' review
Samsung CLP-300N price range: $199.66 - $305.99
- Reviewed by: Felisa Yang
- Edited by: Matthew Elliott
- Reviewed on: 01/26/2007
- Released on: 10/01/2006
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.
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.
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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Color graphics | |
Color text | |
Black graphics | |
Black text |
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.
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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Color graphics | |
Color text | |
Black graphics | |
Black text |
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.
User reviews
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A good personal or SO/HO color printer
by rmadhure on November 22, 2006
Pros: Very quiet when in standby, decent color printing, TINY
Cons: Color printing just decent, black and white looks almost fuzzy, not for photos
Summary: I love having this printer in my office. It's the size of a personal laser printer, yet it can do color. Great for those times when I need to ...
Summary: I love having this printer in my office. It's the size of a personal laser printer, yet it can do color. Great for those times when I need to print an ms office doc with graphics or color. Also, the color cartridges are EASY to remove and replace.
But some caveats - it's even less of a photo printer than a dye sublimation type printer, it's not very fast, and the print output is not as good as a b&w only printer. It's that last one that should concern you if this is your only printer.4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
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exactly as described
by zapponed on July 17, 2008
Pros: Nice Quality Black Ink Print Jobs, Ease of replacing Ink Cartridges
Cons: High Maintenance. If one of the color ink cartridges is empty and it will not even print a Black Ink job. Small print jobs only
Summary: This printer requires lots of maintenance, such as constantly cleaning and shaking out the film which makes a mess, overheats and constantly requires attention in order to print.
Wouldn't ...Summary: This printer requires lots of maintenance, such as constantly cleaning and shaking out the film which makes a mess, overheats and constantly requires attention in order to print.
Wouldn't buy this at a tag sale for 25 bucks1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Fair print quality. Product failure after one year.
by stan1769 on January 22, 2009
Pros: Fair print quality and speed.
Cons: Imaging unit failure. Requires a separate line because it draws a lot of current. Perhaps the worst customer service possible. So bad its a work of art.
Summary: Unreliable product and even worse customer service. They do not return calls, give out inaccurate e-mail addresses and phone numbers. No follow through is worse then a defective product.
Summary: Unreliable product and even worse customer service. They do not return calls, give out inaccurate e-mail addresses and phone numbers. No follow through is worse then a defective product.
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Great little printer. Not perfect.
by lievenv on September 23, 2008
Pros: Decent printingquality
Ethernet connectivity
Easy setup
Reasonable speed
Cheap and compact (only paid $175)Cons: Not the best printer out there.
Quality is not perfect.
It's not lightningfast.
Etc.
But what do you want for $175 ??Summary: I guess it all depends where you come from. If your previous printer was a high-end color laserprinter, you're most likely going to be disappointed with the clp-300N.
But ...Summary: I guess it all depends where you come from. If your previous printer was a high-end color laserprinter, you're most likely going to be disappointed with the clp-300N.
But if like me, your previous printer was a crappy lexmark all-in-one, this printer is a true godsend, let me tell you! -
Less than average
by raefffer on July 25, 2008
Pros: Small profile, easy loading toner cartridges
Cons: More maintenance required, deteriorating print quality
Summary: Factory toner cartridges lasted 2k copies, a record; but had to replace waster toner container (unforeseen); print quality deteriorated with vertical streaks on print output; printer now out of warranty ...
Summary: Factory toner cartridges lasted 2k copies, a record; but had to replace waster toner container (unforeseen); print quality deteriorated with vertical streaks on print output; printer now out of warranty by about 5 mos, took to authorized service center for cleaning/repair. I am looking for a more reliable color laser printer. The CLP-315 was misrepresented on the web site as network ready when it was not. Should I go for a CLP-315W, I don't think so, preferring to do some more research and spend more $$ to get a better quality color laser for my home office.
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Buy this printer if you don't care about color quality!
by jlingo527 on February 1, 2008
Pros: Compact Printer, Catridges easy to take out and replace!
Cons: The Black text is fuzzy, The color quality is not clean(ie. black spots!)
Summary: I was so excited when I purchased this printer, primarily due to the compact size of color printer.
I was so surprised to see the black text quality. To my ...Summary: I was so excited when I purchased this printer, primarily due to the compact size of color printer.
I was so surprised to see the black text quality. To my eyes, it was somewhat fuzzy, and made me dizzy. Don't know what might be the cause to this problem.
What annoys me more: the color printing looks very dirty. It's very obvious when you print yellow, or black text with yellow highlight. The Yellow is full of small black spots, making color darker and dirtier. This happens also to the magenta and blue. Basically the color looks dark and dirty.
I personally would return this and buy HP Color Laserjet 2600 with a much better printing quality. -
Very nice printer
by rgb404 on January 8, 2008
Pros: Small, Easy set up, Quiet, Low cost
Cons: None so far
Summary: I was a bit hesitant at first to purchase this printer due to some negative reviews. I must say this is a great printer. I am using it for small ...
Summary: I was a bit hesitant at first to purchase this printer due to some negative reviews. I must say this is a great printer. I am using it for small business purposes and the graphics are more than acceptable. It is very quiet as well. Super value.
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The best value colur laser printer
by mprice4 on October 17, 2007
Pros: low cost of printer and toner
Cons: relatively slow colour printer
Summary: This is a great printer. It signals the death of the cheap color inkjets.
The printer is really cheap and so is the toner when bought on ebay.
On-going costs ...Summary: This is a great printer. It signals the death of the cheap color inkjets.
The printer is really cheap and so is the toner when bought on ebay.
On-going costs of black and white printing is still higher that the cheapest B&W laser printers. However not by much.
Quality of color and black and white prints is good. Better than you would believe based on some of the reviews.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Samsung
- Part number: CLP-300N
- Description: Samsung does it again. Introducing the world's smallest and lightest color laser printer, the CLP-300N. This space-saving, easily movable printer delivers beautiful color at 4 ppm and sharp laser text at 17 ppm, along with the reliability Samsung is known for. The same exclusive NO NOIS print engine you'll find in the professional series color printers gives you quiet operation and simple toner changes. Getting up and running is easy, too, with as few as four clicks of the mouse. And the CLP-300N offers high-speed USB 2.0 and 10/100 Base-TX Ethernet connectivity. The CLP-300N color laser printer. Small and light. With the big color you're looking for.
General
- Printer Type Workgroup printer - Laser - Color
- Width 15.4 in
- Depth 13.5 in
- Height 10.4 in
- Weight 30 lbs
Printer
- Print Speed up to 16 pages/min - A4 (8.25 in x 11.7 in), up to 17 pages/min - Letter A Size (8.5 in x 11 in), up to 4 pages/min - A4 (8.25 in x 11.7 in), up to 4 pages/min - Letter A Size (8.5 in x 11 in)
- Connectivity Technology Wired
- Interface USB, Ethernet 10/100Base-TX
- Max Resolution ( Color ) 2400 dpi x 600 dpi
- First Print Out Time B/W 14 sec
- First Print Out Time Color 26 sec
- Language Simulation SPL-C
- Printer Features Non-Orbiting Noiseless Optical Imaging (NO-NOIS)
- Media Handling 150-sheet multipurpose tray
Processor
- Processor Samsung 300 MHz
RAM
- RAM Installed ( Max ) 64 MB / 64 MB (max)
Media Handling
- Media Type Cards, Labels, Envelopes, Transparencies
- Max Media Size (Custom) 8.5 in x 14 in
- Media Sizes A4 (8.25 in x 11.7 in), Legal (8.5 in x 14 in), Letter A Size (8.5 in x 11 in)
- Total Media Capacity 150 sheets
- Media Feeder(s) 1 x Autoload - 150 sheets
- Output Trays Capacity 100 sheets
Duty Cycle
- Monthly Duty Cycle 24200 pages
Telecom
- Modem None
Networking
- Networking Print server - Integrated
- Connectivity Technology Wired
- Data Link Protocol Ethernet, Fast Ethernet
Scanner
- Type None
Copier
- Copier Type None
Expansion / Connectivity
- Connections 1 x Hi-Speed USB - 4 pin USB Type B, 1 x Network - Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX - RJ-45
Miscellaneous
- Microsoft Certifications Certified for Windows Vista
Power
- Power Device Power supply - Internal
Battery
- Type None
Software / System Requirements
- OS Required SuSE Linux 8.2, SuSE Linux 9.2, Red Hat Linux 9, Red Hat Linux 8.0, Apple MacOS X 10.3, Apple MacOS X 10.4, Mandrake Linux 9.2, Red Hat Fedora Core 1, Red Hat Fedora Core 3, Mandrake Linux 10.1 Discovery, Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Windows 98/ME/2000/XP
Environmental Parameters
- Sound Emission (Idle) 35 dBA
- Sound Emission (Operating) 48 dBA
Product series
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Manufacturer: Samsung
Specs: Personal printer - Laser - Color, A4 (8.25 in x 11.7 in), Legal (8.5 in x 14 in), Wired, 17 pages/min, 4 pages/min, 16 pages/min, PC, Mac, USB
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Manufacturer: Samsung
Specs: Workgroup printer - Laser - Color, A4 (8.25 in x 11.7 in), Legal (8.5 in x 14 in), Wired, 16 pages/min, 17 pages/min, 4 pages/min, PC, Mac, USB, Ethernet 10/100Base-TX
Accessories
- Samsung CLP-R300A - drum kit (31881931)99.99 - 126.99
- Samsung CLP-M300A Toner Cartridge for CLP-300 Series (magenta) (31881928)13.48 - 61.99
- Samsung CLP-K300A - toner cartridge (31881927)14.41 - 71.99
- Samsung CLP-W300A - waste toner collector (31881180)10.08 - 18.18
- Samsung CLP-P300B - toner cartridge (32413293)32.99 - 119.99
Manufacturer info
- Samsung
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Samsung products on Shopper.com
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- Website: http://www.samsungusa.com/
- Address:
105 Challenger Road, Ridgefield Park, NJ 07660 - Phone: 1-800-726-7864
- Fax: 1-973-601-6001
