Samsung CLP-500 Color Laser Printer

by Samsung

Product Details

• Item Weight: 0.3 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 75 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00007MC6Z
• Item model number: CLP-500/XAA
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: March 3, 2004

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Black and white communicates. Color connects. Samsung CLP-500 series printers are quick, quiet, easy-to-use color laser printers packed with every feature you need to do business more brilliantly.

No one likes to be kept waiting. So Samsung made the fastest printers in the category. They print in full color at 5 pages per minute, and black and white at 20 pages per minute. And their USB 2.0 connectivity is 40 times faster than USB 1.1. They even include a standard IEEE-1284 parallel port.

Your favorite printer is the one you never have to think about. Every CLP-500 series printer features an intuitive interface with an LCD window that helps make every operation easy. And a unique NO NOIS static architecture provides worry-free reliability and easy toner cartridge replacement.

Documents should be seen, not heard. The same features that make CLP-500 series printers easier and more durable also make them quieter. At just 48 dB, the CLP-500 series offers the lowest noise level in its class.

Automatic built-in duplexing is just one of the extras that set the CLP-500 series printers apart from the competitors. They also offer a lower operating cost and the highest paper capacity, thanks to a 250-sheet cassette, 100-sheet multipurpose tray, and an optional 500-sheet cassette.

What's in the Box
Samsung CLP-500, four toner cartridges, 250-sheet cassette, 100-sheet multipurpose tray, power cable, user's guide, drivers; printer cable not included

Product Description

SAMSUNG CLP-500 -- This amazingly versatile Color Laser Printer meets a variety of color imaging needs for small to medium size businesses. The CLP-500 offers a host of industry-leading features not typically found on comparable units, including a built-in automatic duplex unit for two-sided printing, and optional wireless capability. With optional network connectivity, the printer is also suitable for use in corporate workgroup environments. Media sizes supported - A4/Letter, Legal, Postcard Dimensions - 15.9H x 20.0W x 18.3D Weight - 70.5 pounds Includes starter toner Actual print speed will vary according to use

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Boxy but good, July 27, 2004

By 

Duncan McKenzie (Oakville, Ontario) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Samsung CLP-500 Color Laser Printer (Office Product)

The size and weight of this big-cube-shaped printer are reminiscent of the first generation of black and white laser printers. Print quality is good. Colour pictures won't pass as photographs, but quality is acceptable, and, because the printer is a laser, you can get good results with cheap paper.

I am not normally a big fan of Samsung products, which, in my experience, seem to favor style over support and quality control. In this case, however, the design of the printer is simple and elegant, which - I hope - will translate into improved reliability. The four colour cartridges are arranged horizontally, rather than in a circular carousel. It's hard to pass up a duplexing color printer for less than the cost of some non-duplexing, black and white models. Doors on all sides give good access to the interior of the printer, although opening the door to the toner compartment is a little like opening a Japanese puzzle box. You open the door to get it halfway open, then pull out the top cartridge, which allows you to open the door all the way.

The printer is quiet - for a color laser printer. When it's in "sleep mode", it's silent. When it's printing, it whirs and clunks and sounds like most other laser printers. After printing, its fan runs for some minutes. The other laser printers I've owned made the lights flicker when they printed. So does this one. It takes a couple of minutes for the printer to wake up and print the first page. After that, it prints at close to the advertised speeds.

One of the most valuable features of this printer, and the one that sold me on it, is the duplexing (double-sided printing). It slows down the printing a little, but it saves paper, and also toner, if you print using booklet mode (see below). The duplexing works in an unusual way - each page is pushed out of the printer, but just before it completely emerges, the printer pulls it back in again and flips it around internally. If, like me, you have the bad habit of pulling sheets out of the printer as they are emerging, you may find yourself getting into a tug of war with a piece of paper the printer wants back.

Duplexing is well supported by the Windows based printer driver. "Booklet mode" is ideal for printing out long user manuals. It will print pages out in half-size, arranged two to a side, and double sided. It automatically puts the pages in the right order to make a booklet. So, if you are printing 64 pages, the first page to emerge will have pages 1 and 64 on one side, and 2 and 63 on the other. Once all the pages have emerged, just staple the center (you'll need a long-arm stapler) and fold it in half and you have a very nice looking booklet. In this mode, a 64 page document can be printed using 16 sheets of paper, and 32 pages of toner.

Consumables for the Samsung seem to be slightly higher in price than those for other laser printers, but obviously far cheaper than inkjets. Like most color lasers, it comes with "fun sized" cartridges, each good for 1500 pages or so. If you print a lot of full colour pages, you can use these up pretty quickly. Replacement cartridges are supposed to be good for 5000 pages. (7000 for black.)

There's a waste toner cartridge in the front of the printer which is supposed to be replaced every few thousand pages, although if you empty the toner dust out carefully into a plastic baggie you can easily reuse it.

Unlike most color lasers in this price range, this one comes with expandable memory, and a good sized standard paper tray (350 sheets). The auxiliary tray seems to handle light card stock quite well - nice if you want covers for your booklets. Again, this is well supported by the driver, which allows you to specify a different paper source for the first page, allowing you to print booklet covers on card stock automatically.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great printer for the price, November 1, 2004

By 

Kevin Borowsky - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Samsung CLP-500 Color Laser Printer (Office Product)

After getting ripped off at Kinko's, I needed a low priced color laser to print out brochures, menus and other business related jobs. Duplexing was also very important. Many other units require the additional purchase of an expensive duplexing kit - this one does not.

Speed wasn't a huge issue for me, since I typically run big jobs and walk away. The graphics and print quality are just fine by me. I am not looking for extra crisp magazine quality photos. My customers often wonder who prints my menus, and I just point over to the big beast. For light printing jobs and day to day graphics, I am very pleased with the quality. Yes you can get better quality, but not for this price.

Pros

- Great Value for the money

- Built in duplexing, slows printing down but it's free

- Quality acceptable for day to day printing

- Easily add wireless or network capability via expansion ports

The cons

- Included toner doesn't last very long. Each toner is about $120 - so it's advised you factor in toner very soon after purchase

- Large, heavy and bulky. You need an SUV or wagon to bring it home

- Sometimes jams with thinner paper. Easy to clear up and doesn't happen enough to be worrysome.

- You cannot use any type of glossy paper

All in all - I was looking for a color laser that provided the best bang for the buck and this one fit the bill.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice printer for a PC user, May 4, 2004

By 

"maximumdb" (San Francisco Bay Area) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Samsung CLP-500 Color Laser Printer (Office Product)

It is huge it is heavy and you could turn the cardboard box into a new family room if you wanted. It is also quiet, faitly quick and the output looks very good. When printing post-script or word files the output is very crisp and clear, sharp enough to merrit the 1200dpi label, even serif fonts at tiny point sizes are clear. When printing images (black and white and color) of web pages and photos, the output is somewhat fuzzy, with clearly visible halftoning. Still, for spot color or printing color graphs and presentations the quality is quite good. For Mac users, you need to know that the Driver for os X is very basic, it does not support the built in duplexer, or some other features that the pc driver supports. Also as has been reported on some Mac (mac-in touch) news sites, future support for the Mac may be eliminated. Bad decision as far as I am concerned.