Samsung CLP-300N

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 

Good 

Excellent 

Excellent 

Oki C3400n

Fair 

Good 

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.