http://www.lightstalkers.org/posts/laser-printers An entire Lightstalkers thread via RSS/XML. en-us heya all, I need a printer, for text docs. so prefer laser, as opposed to the inkjet printers that need new ink cartriges every 5 minutes. any sugggestions? also, I'm running on PCs and macs, so I prefer one that works well on both systems. I found this on best buy, but hard to tell if it's set for mac. Samsung SCX-4100 Laser Multifunction Printer - 15PPM 66MHZ 600X600 - USB & Parallel 8MB - SCX-4100/XAA Product Description Expanding its award-winning and highly-reliable laser printer and multifunction product lineup, Samsung, the world's second largest laser engine manufacturer, introduces the SCX-4100 digital productivity center, a low cost monochrome digital solution that optimizes flexibility and convenience for home, student, SOHO and business users. Ideal for use in a variety of situations with limited workspace and networking requirements, the SCX-4100 is an enticing alternative to the high cost per page and media for inkjet models with its black and white printing, optimized standalone copying and color scanning capabilities. Samsung's commitment to delivering superior printing solutions to individual and business users is realized in the SCX-4100. In addition to offering optimized input and output flexibility, this model delivers superior duty cycles, performance and low cost per page versus inkjet. The compact SCX-4100 is designed to exceed the expectations of home, student and business users with its extremely robust 10, 000-page monthly duty cycle, low-cost printing per black and white page and standalone copying with exceptional print quality on plain paper. A more affordable and superior alternative to inkjet models, the SCX-4100 offers users the ability to produce black and white copies at a fraction of the cost of coin-operated machines in libraries and copy centers. It also includes 4800-dpi color scanning capabilities. When it comes to paper handling, the SCX-4100 is equipped to manage a variety of paper sizes and types including card stock, envelopes and transparencies with its 250-sheet standard cassette and alternate bypass feeder. With its up to 15-ppm black & white print engine and copy speed, the SCX-4100 produces durable, long lasting output that is smudge and water resistant and razor sharp with its 8MB of memory and 600-dpi resolution. Two users can also print simultaneously on the SCX-4100 on utilizing a built-in first-in-first-out (FIFO) multiport sensing feature optimizing the use of the USB and parallel interfaces. As a standalone copier, the SCX-4100 offers reduction and enlargement rates of 50 percent to 200 percent and the ability to produce up to 99 copies. It is ideal for copying printed documents and incorporates several advanced features such as Auto-fit Copy which allows any size image to fill an entire page; Clone Copy to reproduce a single image multiple times onto one sheet; ID card copy which enables users to copy the front and back of identification cards such as driver's licenses and medical insurance cards onto the front of one document; and black and white Poster printing. With the SCX-4100, color prints can easily be scanned to the PC for easy sharing, Web site publishing and e-mailing of photos and documents. Samsung SmarThru software makes it easy to scan-to-file, scan-to-application and scan-to-email. With Optical Character Recognition (OCR), originals can also be scanned and transformed into text files for editing. Buy.com Sku: 10377236 Buy.com Sales Rank: 18 Manufacturer: SAMSUNG PRINTERS Mfg Part#: SCX-4100/XAA Features Product Description - Samsung SCX 4100 - multifunction ( B/W ) Device Type - Copier / printer / scanner Copier Type - Digital Fax Type - Plain paper Dimensions (WxDxH) - 16.6 in x 15.7 in x 9.4 in Weight - 21.2 lbs Printing Technology - Laser ( monochrome ) Monthly Duty Cycle (max) - 10000 impressions Max Copying Speed - 15 ppm Max Copying Resolution - 600 x 600 dpi Max Printing Speed - 15 ppm Max Printing Resolution - 600 x 600 dpi Scanning - 600 x 600 dpi Original Size - 8.5 in x 11.7 in (max) Original Type - Sheets Media Size - 3 in x 5 in (min) - Legal (8.5 in x 14 in) (max) Media Type - Transparencies, envelopes, plain paper, cards, labels Standard Media Capacity - 250 sheets Output Trays Capacity - 150 sheets PC Connection Availability - Yes PC Connection - Parallel, USB Power - AC 110/230 V ( 50/60Hz ) Technical Specs Device Type - Copier / printer / scanner Copier Type - Digital Fax Type - Plain paper Printing Technology - Laser ( monochrome ) Monthly Duty Cycle (max) - 10000 impressions Display - 2 lines x 16 characters Width - 16.6 in Depth - 15.7 in Height - 9.4 in Weight - 21.2 lbs Standard Memory - 8 MB Max Supported Memory - 8 MB Max Copying Speed - 15 ppm Max Copying Resolution - 600 x 600 dpi Gray Scale Half-Tones - 256 Max Document Enlargement - 200% Max Document Reduction - 50% Maximum Copies - 99 Max Printing Resolution - 600 x 600 dpi Max Printing Speed - 15 ppm Printer Drivers / Emulations - SPL Optical Resolution - 600 x 600 dpi Interpolated Resolution - 4800 x 4800 dpi Gray Scale Depth - 8 bit Color Depth - 24 bit Max Original Size - 8.5 in x 11.7 in Original Type - Sheets Min Copy Size - 3 in x 5 in Max Copy Size - Legal (8.5 in x 14 in) Min Copy Weight - 60 g/m2 Max Copy Weight - 120 g/m2 Supported Media Type - Transparencies, envelopes, plain paper, cards, labels Standard Media Capacity - 250 sheets Output Trays Capacity - 150 sheets Document & Media Handling Details - Input tray - 250 sheets - Legal (8.5 in x 14 in) ¦ Output tray - 150 sheets - Legal (8.5 in x 14 in) Speed - Printing : 15 ppm ( Letter A ) - B/W ¦ Printing : 14 ppm ( A4 ) - B/W ¦ Copying : 15 ppm ( Letter A ) - B/W ¦ Copying : 14 ppm ( A4 ) - B/W PC Connection Availability - Yes PC Connection - Parallel, USB Operating System Support - MS Windows XP, MS Windows 2000, MS Windows 95, MS Windows NT 4.0, MS Windows ME, MS Windows 98, Caldera OpenLinux, TurboLinux, SuSe Linux, Red Hat Linux, Mandrake Linux Voltage Required - AC 110/230 V ( 50/60Hz ) Power Consumption Operational - 300 Watt Power Consumption Standby - 85 Watt Power Consumption Sleep - 10 Watt First Copy Out Time B/W - 12 sec Consumables Included - Cartridge ( black ) - 1000 pages Sound Emission - 38 dB (idle) / 49 dB (operating) Wed, 12 Mar 2008 12:53:40 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/posts/laser-printers Teru: Not clear if you want this strictly for priting out letters (text only). I saw in the specs: "USB Operating System Support * MS Windows XP, MS Windows 2000, MS Windows 95, MS Windows NT 4.0, MS Windows ME, MS Windows 98, Caldera OpenLinux, TurboLinux, SuSe Linux, Red Hat Linux, Mandrake Linux Voltage Required" Which would lead me to believe that it's not set up in the factory for Mac use. But, that is not to say that a driver isn't available which you can download and install on your Mac (check the company's support site). I've noticed that this gadget does more than print (scans, copies, rubs your feet, etc.). The scanning seems to be at a res. of 600x600 dpi. Not very high quality. Not an issue if you're really getting this only to print. Fiona bought a Brother-brand referb'ed laser printer for home use (I think it was a little over $100 USD). It's okay, but not great. First it went through a period of making very streaky outputs (too much toner?). Also if you're getting crafty with fonts, you'll probably want a printer which understands the Postscript language for accurate font output. (Your pick doesn't mention anything about postscript near as I can tell.) But, if you really just want to output letters in Times, Courier, or Helvetica, then this should be okay. Maybe someone else has a stronger opinion about this? Mon, 29 Nov 2004 11:29:09 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/posts/laser-printers#634 heya, thanks, yes, I want this for text only - I have an epson 2200 for the high end, but its not really the thing for printing articles, emails,etc...a "xerox" feature would also be nice, since I have to copy reciepts and such all the time. if it's not mac compatible, its not the end of the world...I can always transfer files to PCs to print I suppose, but would be cool to find a model that works on both systems. Mon, 29 Nov 2004 11:37:31 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/posts/laser-printers#636 Well for Mac connections to work you will want the printer to be physically connected (taken care of via USB connection), and for the Mac to be able to "talk" to the printer (taken care of with the appropriate "driver" software installed into your system). Most of these "all-in-1" devices seem to be intended for the PC, but I've seen a Mac hooked up to one, so I'm sure it's possible. You'll just have to find the appropriate driver to download (try htpp://www.versiontracker.com). If the price it right, it might be worth a little trouble to see if there's a way to have it work with a Mac. Mon, 29 Nov 2004 12:39:24 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/posts/laser-printers#637 I think you can find a similar device which does officially support Macs, for at least as good a price... especially since print quality's not really an issue. Brother makes a couple: * "Brother DCP-1000":http://www.hotbuyselectronics.com/item_detail.php?item_id=106365 * "Brother MFC-3240C":http://www.superwarehouse.com/p.cfm?p=450167&CMP=KA18442 Also! I think maybe you can connect your printer/device to your desktop PC, and share it over the network. If that's the case, that'd obviate some Mac compatibility issues. What flavor Windows are you running? XP Home, or Pro? Mon, 29 Nov 2004 15:49:56 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/posts/laser-printers#638 you know, with the new apple airport hub type thing, you can plug a usb printer into it and wireless print to it from any computer on the network. at least i believe that's true. you can also plug your stereo into it and play music through itunes wirelessly from your computer. Mon, 29 Nov 2004 16:33:34 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/posts/laser-printers#639 heya b, Im running XP Pro...I just looked up "obviate", but I still wasn't sure what ypu meant. (btw, you can add "smarterchild" to you AIM buddy list, and ask it for definitions and encyclopaedia variety info). Basically, Im mostly using the PCs at this point, but the mac is still loaded with a lot of text files that I occasionally refer to. even if the mac can't connect with the printer, I could email the files to the PCs, but it would be nice to be able to do it directly. the DCP 1000 sounds good. Tue, 30 Nov 2004 16:52:03 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/posts/laser-printers#640 Yo... Okay, I just looked up obviate too, and now I'm not sure what I meant. I think what I should have said was that it's often easier to connect a Mac to a shared network printer than to connect to the same printer directly. BTW, dig this bad boy: "http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=2550l+laserjet&btnG=Search+Froogle":http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=2550l+laserjet&btnG=Search+Froogle $499 color laser printer, with for-sure great Mac support. Sure look good on my desk. Wed, 01 Dec 2004 18:47:49 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/posts/laser-printers#642 Hello there. I'm new to this. Just thought that if you are running OS 10.3 Panther then it shouldn't be an issue as it can translate just about anything. Fri, 03 Dec 2004 09:06:01 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/posts/laser-printers#647 Another thought. If you find a given laser printer is not geared for a mac as well, then perhaps you should ignore it as it's probably not going to be very good anyway. It would be foolish these days for a major manufacturer to neglect Macs as they have become so high profile. Fri, 03 Dec 2004 09:14:06 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/posts/laser-printers#648 right on, thanks for the advice. Fri, 03 Dec 2004 09:32:26 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/posts/laser-printers#650 You might want to look at this. it is a color laser that does duplexing as well so it would be good for printing out all those PDF manuals. $300 and probally cheaper to run than inkjets. http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=CLP-500-R&cat=PRN YES it is Mac and PC compatable. Mon, 06 Dec 2004 15:13:22 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/posts/laser-printers#711 Teru I've hooked a few of the HP equivilants up to Panther systems. As a test take your Powerbook in to the store, plug it in and test it ! Genius ! Otherwise stop by my desk and we'll see whatelse we can find for you. Cheers Mon, 13 Dec 2004 12:06:50 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/posts/laser-printers#783