[olug] [OT] New Printer

[Christopher Cashell]

I've decided to get a new printer.

Unfortunately, while I consider myself to be very experienced and
knowledgeable about most areas of IT, printers have long been the bane of
my existence.  They don't like me, and I don't like them.  Thus, we've
always done best by ignoring and avoiding each other.

I've reached the limit of my patience with my current inkjet printer,
though, and I've long wished for a simple B&W laser printer.  95%+ of
what I print is B&W, and if I'm printing something color (usually an
image from my digital camera), I'd usually rather go to somewhere like
Kinkos, where I can have them print it on their ultra-high quality color
laser printers, on heavyweight glossy photo-style paper.

So, after having done some research, I've decided that now is the time.
My new printer will be a laser printer.

There are basically three models that I'm primarily deciding between:
 o Samsung ML-2550[0]
 o Samsung ML-2152W[1]
 o Samsung ML-2151N[2]

I've selected these because they appear to have the features I'm looking
for at a price I'm willing to pay, and are available immediately, new.

If anyone has any comments, suggestions, opinions, or experiences with
any of these, I'd love to hear it.  Particularly if you've had good or
bad experiences with any of them, or their (Linux) support.

I've included some of the details of my investigation on them below,
along with some explanations for what I'm looking for in a printer, and
why I'm looking at these.

Thanks for any comments anyone has. ;-)


Here's a summary of the features for each:

Samsung ML-2550:

CPU: 266 MHz PowerPC
RAM: 32MB (expandable to 160MB)
Connectivity: Parallel, USB2
Resolution: 1200 x 1200 dpi
Features: PostScript 3, PCL6, built in duplexing
Duty Cycle: Up to 100,000 pages/month
Toner Cartridge coverage: 10,000 pages (approximately)
Best Toner Cartridge price: $125
Best price: $230

Samsung ML-2152W:

CPU: 166 MHz RISC
RAM: 16MB (expandable to 144MB)
Connectivity: Parallel, USB2, 10/100 BaseTX, 802.11b WiFi
Resolution: 1200 x 1200 dpi
Features: PostScript 3*, PCL6, built in duplexing
Duty Cycle: Up to 100,000 pages/month
Toner Cartridge coverage: 8,000 pages (approximately)
Best Toner Cartridge price: $105
Best price: $335

 * I think this supports PostScript, but I haven't been able to verify
   it 100%, and Samsung's online docs are contradictory.

Samsung ML-2151N:

CPU: 166 MHz RISC
RAM: 16MB (expandable to 144MB)
Connectivity: Parallel, USB, 10/100 BaseTX
Resolution: 1200 x 1200 dpi
Features: PostScript 3, PCL6, built in duplexing
Duty Cycle: Up to 100,000 pages/month
Toner Cartridge coverage: 8,000 pages (approximately)
Best Toner Cartridge price: $105
Best price: $340

My take on it is that the ML-2151N and ML-2152W are basically the same
base model printer, but with different options.  Primarily, the ML-2152W
includes wireless networking and a 10/100 NIC, while the ML-2151N has
just the 10/100 NIC.

The ML-2550 seems to be a slightly "higher end" printer (better CPU,
more RAM, PostScript standard), but is the "base" model, without the
extras (no NIC, no WiFi).

Right now, I'm very strongly leaning towards the first one, the ML-2550.
I was looking more towards the ML-2152W, but then I found that amazing
price on the ML-2550.  When it was a difference of $20, it was a close
call.  When it's a difference of $100. . . not so close. ;-)

I wouldn't mind having built in network capabilities on the printer, but
it's not a necessity.  It's not that hard to hook it up to my linux
server and share it via Samba.  And I'm actually kind of mixed on the
WiFi. . . while it'd be a rather nifty feature, I can't help but
wondering at how difficult it'd be to "lock it down", so I wasn't
getting random drive-by printings.

For obvious reasons (Linux compatibility, and overall quality) I'm very
interested in making sure the printer supports PostScript.

I'm probably going to order the ML-2550 tomorrow, unless I find some
really good reason that I shouldn't.

 [0] http://www.samsungusa.com/cgi-bin/nabc/product/b2c_product_detail.jsp?prod_id=ML-2550/XAA
 [1] http://www.samsungusa.com/cgi-bin/nabc/product/b2c_product_detail.jsp?prod_id=ML-2152W/XAA
 [2] http://www.samsungusa.com/cgi-bin/nabc/product/b2c_product_detail.jsp?prod_id=ML-2151N/XAA

-- 
| Christopher
+------------------------------------------------+
| Here I stand.  I can do no other.              |
+------------------------------------------------+