Preliminary Review of Samsung CLP-500 Base model As compared to the Magicolor 2300W Magicolor 2300 DeskLaser

Packaging / Contents Specification overview Packaging / what’s in the box Driver / Installation Print Quality Performance Cool Features Knock-offs Unpacking and Special Interest Pictures Design comments

Executive Summary Ships in unproportionatly large box to printer Difficult, time consuming and involved installation process Many consumables Quiet operation Fast at default resolution Slow at high resolution Print quality is limited to business use CPP / COO is higher than magicolor 2300

Specification overview Model Samsung CLP-500 Konica Minolta magicolor 2300 DeskLaser Web price $644 - 699 $599 (after $200 rebate) Print speed (color) 5 ppm 4 ppm Print speed (mono) 21 ppm 16 ppm Resolution 600 x 600 / 1200 dpi class 1200 x 600 / 2400x600 dpi Automatic duplexing Yes Option Paper input (std) 350 sheets 200 sheets Paper input (max) 850 sheets 700 sheets Paper output (std) 250 sheets Memory (std) 64 MB 32 MB Memory (max) 192 MB 288 MB Connectivity USB 2.0, Parallel USB 1.1, parallel, Ethernet Emulations GDI Compatibility Windows 9X and higher, Mac O/S 10 Windows 9X and higher Monthly print volume 35,000 pages Dimensions 20.1” x 18.5” x 15.9” 14” x 19.7” x 15.4”

Packaging The box is unusually large The box does not look well designed for retail Box is 3 color 2 sides in English 2 sides in French Top is divided between the two

High quality foam to support bottom of printer Packaging / Contents High quality foam to support bottom of printer Top View of Opened box Retail boxes compared

Packaging / Contents Installation items (4 toners, OPC, Transfer belt, Software Documentation and Driver CD Waste toner is the only consumable that ships pre-installed.

Documentation, Software and Extras Canadian Warranty Setup guide Free warranty extension card International warranty booklet Product registration booklet Installation CD Power cord

Installation Comments Clear Tape 22 steps to prepare printer for use Installation took app. 1 hour Printer must be accessed from all sides

Installation / Localization The front panel can be localized into one of the following languages : German French Italian Russian Spanish Simple but functional 2 line LCD Easy to use menu navigation buttons Attention getting holographic sticker for retail demo page

Cool Features Simple but functional 2 line LCD. Demo page is printed duplex. This is slow and tempts you to grab the page before it re-feeds. Cool Features Simple but functional 2 line LCD. Attention-grabbing hollographic for retail demo page Built-in duplexer for all models Quite while operating and USB 2.0.

Standard paper tray only supports A4 & Letter Paper Input Manual Feed Tray holds up to 100 sheets (3.5 x 5.5 – Legal and 60 – 163 gsm) Standard paper tray holds 250 sheets (A4 & Letter, 60 – 90 gsm) Standard paper tray only supports A4 & Letter Manual Feed Tray

Paper Output Standard output tray holds 250 sheets face-down

Consumables Inner protective cover OPC drum has 2 protective wrapers Installing OPC is difficult and could easily result in a damaged unit. OPC is exposed to light and extreemly seceptable to damage!

side-by-side HP 2500, CLP-500, mc 2300W Although the Samsung appears larger it is equal in size to the 2300W in height and depth but is wider Samsung requires more overall operating space to operate (especially when the multipurpose tray is used (and it must be used for any paper size other than A4 or letter)).

Windows Driver Installation The installation is heavily branded Samsung The following slides contain all selection screens during installation

Driver installation step by step Installation is possible in another language, From the First screen. Other options. Ballons pop up on mouse rollover with detailed descrptions. Very little user interaction required for driver installstion On-line registration option.

Driver Configuration Screens / driver properties No options installed. Online registraton is far too user interactive and time consuming. We opted out of this step. All media related options are on this tab. Image changes with options selected

Driver Configuration Screens / driver properties Basic color corrections Not 1200 x 1200 Color or Grayscale Advanced color options. You can view images on your hard drive. What does this have to do with a print driver???.

Driver Configuration Screens / driver properties About tab allows you to purchase supplies Watermarks, overlays, print order and job recovery options

Windows XP Driver The driver has been stripped of all infrequently used functions There are not many settings to be changed Only 2 resolutions Every tab has a “Favourites” option Easy to manage for novice and advanced users

MAC OS/X Driver This driver is VERY basic, providing only the most basic printing functions There are no settings to be changed You cannot change resolution No graphic options You can ONLY print Print quality is barely acceptable

Print Quality Default print quality is suitable for business use only High quality mode is only marginally better and takes considerably longer to print. Output has dry chalky look compared to magicolors satin finish Our test unit exhibited jitter and graininess Images tend to be oversaturated Heavy text shows overspray Normal text and small lines are sharp and clear

Konica Minolta magicolor 2300W Konica Minolta magicolor 2300 DeskLaser Performance Samsung CLP-500 vs. Konica Minolta magicolor 2300W Konica Minolta magicolor 2300 DeskLaser

Testing notes The Samsung CLP-500 performance was measured and compared to the following Konica Minolta products Magicolor 2300 Desklaser Magicolor 2300W Testing was carried out on a system with the following specifications: Pentium 4, 2.3 GHz / 512 MB RAM USB 2.0 interface Windows XP The following file types were used Office XP (Word, Excel, Powerpoint) CorelDraw 11 and Photopaint 11 Adobe Photoshop 7.0 Adobe Illustrator 8.0.1 Adobe PDF

Performance Overview – 1200 dpi Even though the Samsung has a faster rated engine the magicolor was considerably faster Various file types Color & B/W Single and multi-page Large and small documents

100 copies of simple b/w text document Samsung’s higher engine speed should have given them the advantage here but the printer went into a long period of inactivity each time the test was performed. MS Word – single page B/W 1 page x 100 copies Samsung resolution was at 600 dpi mc 2300 at 1200 x 600 dpi 34 KB

MS Excel Document Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet Color & B/W 5 pages 216 kb

MS Word file with color and mono pages Microsoft Word document Color / monochrome 6 pages 35.2MB

Color Photograph (bitmap file) This is one of only a few files where the Samsung was faster than even the ‘W’. Corel Photopaint medium-resolution photograph Color 1 page 1.6MB

Color Photograph (bitmap file) Adobe Photoshop High-resolution photograph Color 1 page 43MB

PowerPoint Presentation The magicolor printed this 13 page presentationin almost half the time. Voyager (Very difficult file) Color 13 pages 403KB

PowerPoint Presentation Again, both magicolors are is much faster on Powerpoint files. KM rebrand Color 9 pages 2.7MB

Graphic CorelDraw Vector Graphic Color 1 page 2,4MB

Graphic Adobe Illustrator Vector Graphic Color 1 page 482KB

Multi-copy text document The Samsung had a slight advantage due to it’s engine speed here Microsoft Word Text with several font changes B/W 1 page 32 copies 34KB

Multi-page text document The Samsung should have had the advantage here due to its engine speed. Its poor performance is most likely due to the large spool file it creates. Microsoft Word Text with several font changes B/W 32 pages 1 copy 797KB

PDF The magicolor printed this multi-page document in less than ½ the time. Adobe Acrobat document Color and Monochrome 16 pages 959 KB

PDF Adobe Acrobat document Color and Monochrome 4 pages 2.9 MB

Performance Overview – driver defaults At driver defaults the Samsung is faster than the magicolors since they print at 1200 x 600 and the Samsung prints at 600 x 600 dpi. Various file types Color & B/W Single and multi-page Large and small documents

First Page Out from Energy Saver The Samsung has a 20% advantage in FPO. FPO from Sleep Time to print a 5%, 4 color page from energy saver mode

First Page Out from Idle/Ready The Samsung consistently outperformed the magicolors in FPO tests FPO from Idle/Ready 4 color file Printer is warmed up and ready to print

The Samsung even powered up faster than the hp Time to Power Up The Samsung even powered up faster than the hp The difference in the 2 magicolors may be explained by the fact that the ‘W’ was low on one toner FPO from Idle/Ready 4 color file Printer is warmed up and ready to print

Duplex To be done. 68 page B/W with color cover 71 page manual with color on most pages 4 page intense graphic

Conclusion: performance The 21 ppm Samsung CLP-500’s engine is rated considerably faster than the 2300W, but was slower in almost all instances. Total print times for all jobs (1200 dpi: Samsung CLP-500: 38:42 (38 minutes, 42 seconds) Konica Minolta magicolor 2300W: 23:34 (23 minutes, 34 seconds) Konica Minolta magicolor 2300 DeskLaser: 22:04 (22 minutes, 04 seconds) The Samsung did outperform the magicolors when it was in 600 dpi mode and the magicolors were at their driver default of 1200 x 600 dpi Konica Minolta magicolor 2300W: 23:34 Samsung CLP-500: 10:41

Cost Of Ownership / CPP Color CPP at 5% coverage using $ Web prices $ The magicolor enjoys a considerable advantage in Cost Per Page

Total Cost Of Ownership The magicolor enjoys a considerable advantage in TCO as well. (It costs less to own and operate)

Additional Observations and Photos Negative and Positive comments

Consumables Exposed OPC shows vunerability to damage during installation. Toners, OPC, transfer belt and drivers Toners do not all go into the printer at the same level and physical keying in inadequate This card ships with and has info on toner.

Cool Features Quiet operation and USB 2.0 Built-in duplexer for all models Clear consumable instructions and reorder or supplies Easy to navigate menu and attention getting demo button.

Main paper tray only supports A4 and Letter paper Fuser ships without spacers. This could result in flat spots on the fuser and affect print quality. Knock-Offs Exposed OPC shows vunerability to light and pysical damage during installation Main paper tray only supports A4 and Letter paper Most manufacturers have abandoned this front loading design because of inherent print quality problems

Knock-Offs 22 steps just for hardware installation Design flaw requires extra instructions on how to open/close door Inferior print quality. Our unit displayed jitter, chaulky output and grainy images compared to the magicolor 2300 Main paper tray supports only A4 and Letter paper. All others must be fed from the m/p tray and this significantly increases this printers’ foot print.

Only USB and Parallel on Base models. Knock-Offs Only USB and Parallel on Base models. Much larger shipping box is very plain and is less desireable in retail