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Review by C. Valadez for Samsung Color Multifunction Laser Printer (CLX-3175FW)
Rating:
Pros: Meets Expectations, Features, network scan with mac and pc great

Cons: Set up

I purchased this All-in-One color laser printer last night from my local Office Max. I was hoping to see in store how to function of the wireless actually worked. The sales guy was unable to demonstrate this after trying on one or two of the floor computers. As a leap of faith (and a few months of reading on the internet before purchasing), I bought the machine at the sale price plus the 2 year OfficeMax warranty.

I brought it home and unpacked and plugged it into the wall at a location not next to a computer or next to a router or wired network connection. My first idea was to set this up wirelessly so I can leave it a universally accessible location like my family room. Well playing with the 2 inch display and 10 digit keypad was becoming frustrating. The printer found my wireless SSID, I typed in the proper credentials but the wireless functionality never started. I then moved the printer next to the router and a computer which I should mention is a Netgear 802.11g router and an old G4 eMac running OS X.4.

Before I tried accepting this to my network, I decided to give it a static IP address on my router. I typed in the MAC address and the IP address I wanted. Then using the CLX-3175FW’s 2 inch screen and on-board menu, I entered that static IP into the network configuration. I plugged the printer using an ethernet cable into my router and typed the IP address in my Firefox browser on the eMac. It immediately opened the SyncThruWeb page and I was able to configure some settings.

I immediately tried to setup the wireless function. I tried ever possible configuration and disconnection of the ethernet cable possible. I could not get the wireless function started. I plan on calling Samsung when I have an hour to kill. At this point I decided to move onto the next couple tasks, setting up the printer and scanner, and maybe fax.

I downloaded the software from Samsung’s website: 1. Smart Panel 2. Print Driver and 3. Scan manager. I installed the Print driver first, then the scan manager, then the Smart Panel on the eMac. Once I did that, I opened up System Preferences and added the printer to the computer. Once that was done, the Smart Panel icon in the top right was active. I clicked it and was able to access all fucntions of set-up using Samsung Smart Panel. I decided to set-up scanning now.

Within the menu of the Smart Panel, there is an option for Scan Manager. On the eMac, I clicked this and I was able to locate the CLX-3175FW on my network. I set up a folder and two applications. First folder was just generic PDF scanning. My wife likes to scan bills and semi-important mail and documents. The ADF feeder will take 15 pages and scan a multipage PDF file. I then created an application prompt to open up Adobe Acrobat. I often use Acrobat to scan important work documents and need robust functionality to edit and review documents. I then set up a iPhoto application for when want to scan pictures from the flatbed, etc. Time to test.

I grabbed some mail, I had a 5 page wireless bill, and stuffed it into the ADF on-top. The Samsung beeps to let you know you are ready. I select the scan button and scroll right to select “Scan to PC” and click ok. I can see that it found my eMac so I click ok. It then sees the folder I setup called Bills/Mail so I select that. It then asks for color or gray, 300 DPI, etc. I click ok, ok, ok until it finally starts scanning. Immediately on a screen pops up on the eMac showing the progess of the scanned document. The scan finishes in less than a minute and immediately Preview opens up ans shows me my 5 pages scanned document….pretty slick.

I then decide to set up all this on my two laptops. I have a G4 iBook running OS X.4.11 and an Acer Netbook running Windows XP Home. As expected, the scanning function worked exactly the same on the other two computers. I am very happy with the scanning function. It works MUCH better than I could imagine. I use an MFP at work, Ricoh Aficio 161, and the Samsung software is much easier to use and gives better options for scanning to a networked folder. Kudos to Samsung on this one.

I then decided to try fax but I didn’t have much luck here because I have a VOIP system at home. I’ve tried many configurations and even tried calling Comcast for some possible answers but to no avail. Basically I can plug the fax using a standard phone cord into the my Comcast modem, my MTA has two ports. The fax will dial out but it doesn’t complete the fax. An error report will be printed out showing a No Answer error.

Overall, I am pleased. Having a network scanner and printer at home are great. If I can setup the wireless function I would be even happier so I can move this All-in-One unit to a more convenient location. But the network printer works great. The Samsung is set to sleep after 15 minutes and it wakes fast and responds to a network wake. I was able to send mulitple types of documents (PDF, Word, JPEG, internet prints) to the CLX-3175FW without a problem when attached to the network. I don’t have the USB cord plugged in. There is no need. No need to have an active computer, it will run solo. If you want to network scan, you need to have a computer online or setup a drive or folder on your network to act as a server. I plan to setup my NAS (Network Attached Storage drive) which is primarily a backup disc as a server for scanned info but so far its great.

Review by Bruce in UK for Samsung Color Multifunction Laser Printer (CLX-3175FW)
Rating:
I purchased this printer in the UK (since I live there). It is excellent. While in the USA, I purchased black toner cartridges for this printer. Be advised that ONLY toners purchased in the Euro States will work in the Euro (UK)machines. This is due to a security chip in the toner cartridge. Thus USA cartridges will only work in USA machines. Anyone want to buy 2 new (never used) black USA toner Cartridges-good price!

Review by Tim Cimbura for Samsung Color Multifunction Laser Printer (CLX-3175FW)
Rating:
I’ve been using the Samsung CLX-3175FW Color Laser Multifunction Printer for several weeks with great success. It was set up very easily just plugging it into my network router directly via Ethernet connector. (I didn’t test the wireless operation but all the devices on my network connect to it wirelessly through the router.) Driver installation on Mac OS X Snow Leopard was straightforward and easy.

You can find the latest drivers here… [...]

The color printing and photocopying quality is very good. It is so much better than an ink jet printer. You can actually print decent quality photos on plain paper without ink showing through the paper. You don’t have to worry about ink drying out. I’m about ready to toss my ink jet in the trash now. (More likely I’ll recycle it though.)

This unit has a small desktop footprint compared to most color laser printers. For the price, you can hardly go wrong. It’s not even that much more expensive than a high end inkjet printer.

I tested network scanning using the TWAIN plug-in with the GraphicConverter application and it worked great. I highly recommended this application for basic image editing on the Mac [...]/. Now I have no more USB cable swapping for all the Macs in my office to be able to scan.

All told, I highly recommend this unit for the small business or home office.