- That''s the promise of the Samsung CLP-415NW.
- Compact and quiet enough for your small business or home office, it features Samsung''s latest image processing and polymerized toner formulation, giving you brilliant color and super-crisp text and graphics.
- Fast print speeds mean you spend less time waiting, while a lower cost per page translates to overall ownership that''s easy on your bottom line.
- And with wireless printing functionality, the CLP-415NW is easily shared by just about everyone.
Let''s talk about the good parts of the printer first. It''s a relatively small footprint compared to other color laser printers I''ve used. I also find the speed to be very nice. It''s quick to print out what I send to it. The picture quality is very good. From all this standpoint, this is a very solid printer. It works as you would expect or even better. But then, there''s the wireless aspect.
I wanted to have this because I have a large number of wireless devices in the house, several tablets, a couple of laptops, and I want to be able to print without having to either plug into the wired part of my network or use some form of sneakernet to get the files from the wireless machine to a wired one. A wireless printer would be perfect. I jumped at the chance to get this set up in our system. The instructions for setting it up are very straight forward and I followed them to the letter (yes, I actually read the instructions). The printer wouldn''t connect to our network. I had recently changed from WEP security to WPA2, and I couldn''t get the printer to see the WPA security, so I tried switching it to WEP. Still nothing. I did some quick searches on the internet and determined that it might be the Macbook Pro I was using to configure it, so I reset the printer to the factory defaults through the little display window (not backlit, hard to understand what you''re doing with it, a royal pain) and connected everything to a desktop computer. Still no joy. I tried several different methods for seeing the printer from the network or getting the printer to see the network. I got a connection once, but it immediately went away.
So I called tech support. To Samsung''s credit, I got through relatively quickly (only about a 10 minute wait, which for consumer products is pretty good). The support guy was direct and helpful, but we had to follow the script. This meant restarting my network router, the machine I was trying to set things up from and the printer. Rebooting did no good. So we went through more of the script until he had exhausted everything I had tried. Then I outlined the extra steps I had taken, including modifying my network security several times. At this the guy decided to try to bump me up to tier 2 support. Again, all kudo''s to Samsung, I only had about a two minute wait for tier 2.
This guy was also helpful. I connected him up remotely to the computer I was trying to configure the server through (kid''s machine, no worries about getting anywhere useful on my systems). He then started walking through to make the printer connect to the network. It took him several different methods to get it configured, all connected through the USB, not wirelessly. Finally he connected directly to the printer through it''s default IP address (not a process in the documentation) and gave it a dedicated IP address because it was evidently having a hard time with my DHCP connection. From there he was able to get it connected to my network. I then tried two different wireless devices and it worked. YAY, time for at least a four star review, right?
Wrong. A day later I tried to print to the printer. No connection. I had to go through reconnecting the USB cable to it again to get it to connect to the network, which hadn''t changed in the intervening time. Now, I''m sitting and looking at a print queue that still can''t connect to the wireless printer.
In short, a very good printer, but I would not say that it is actually wireless since it can''t seem to remain connected to the system at all.
Buy Samsung Electronics CLP-415NW Wireless Color Printer Now
I''ll preface my review by making a few disclaimers:
1. I received this printer from Amazon Vine
2. I regularly work from my home office & I''m in a Master''s degree program = I print a lot of documents, papers, etc.
3. I already own an all-in-one (scan, print, copy, & fax) printer
That being said, I''ve had the chance to set up and use the Samsung CLP-415NW for approximately a week and I''m very impressed with this little printer. If you''re reading a review on a laser-jet printer then it''s relatively safe to assume you already know the differences between laser-jet & inkjet printing. If not, essentially laser-jet printers have been more of the workhorse of the printing world and are more frequently used in offices than homes. Laser-jet printers are historically more expensive but offset the hardware expense with cheaper toner cartridges rather than liquid ink found in inkjet printers. Laser-jet printers are also faster and more accurate than the typical inkjet printer and the per copy dollar amount is cheaper.
SETUP:
This little printer is heavier than the typical inkjet printer so be warned that if you can''t lift objects around 30lbs you might need a helping hand. The printer comes with the power & USB cable, a driver disc and a user manual. Setup is very easy, however, be warned that utilizing the WiFi functionality requires you to first use the included 3.3ft USB cable, install the Samsung driver software and then setup the printer through the GUI. Only then can you unplug the USB cable and have a truly WiFi ready printer. This is different than most current home-use inkjet printers that have the ability to join a network straight from the printer''s physical menu. The toner cartridges come pre-loaded in the printer but will need the safety tabs removed prior to first using. Setting the cartridges is very easy as is removing them. I should note that I did try using the WPS (kind of like an easy button for wireless setup) feature but could not get my router and the CLP-415 to communicate so I went with the wired setup first then activated the wireless capability from inside the GUI.
SOFTWARE:
Samsung''s software (Easy Printer Manager) is a sight to behold. Installing (I''m on Windows 7) was as easy as popping in the disc, confirming the install directory and waiting a few minutes for the software to finish installing. Much like Samsung''s consumer product line has instilled a sense of ease, intuition, and style in their menu''s and interfaces on everything from Samsung phones, televisions, and even appliances the same is true here. The GUI is clean, efficient, very responsive and designed to intuitively layout information on the printer. The HP''s and Dell''s of the printing world could learn something from Samsung in this department. Another neat feature is the inclusion of the SyncThru web service which features even more detailed information on the printer including estimated sheets remaining (per print cartridge), fuser life, usage counters and much more.
PRINT QUALITY:
I have little need to print pictures. In fact on the rare occasion that I do I simply order prints from the myriad of websites that offer those services. My interest is in quality, clear print-jobs on documents, the occasional graph and if needed a small picture subset in a Word document. My experience with this printer started off a little rocky my first two print jobs both jammed the printer but after clearing the jam I discovered I didn''t set the size of the paper correctly in the tray the printer was off and running perfectly. The print demo is a gorgeous, colorful picture of a butterfly on a bed of flowers very impressive. More importantly two documents I printed were fantastic with crystal-clear lettering, no smudges and both printed very, very quickly.
CONSUMABLES:
The CLP-415NW uses four toner cartridges (note that the included print cartridges yield less than the figures below at about (700 pages for color and 1000 pages for black):
Cyan: CLT-C504S (1,800 pg yield)
Magenta: CLT-M504S (1,800 pg yield)
Yellow: CLT-Y504S (1,800 pg yield)
Black: CLT-K504S (2,500 pg yield)
This printer also features some cool features to save on printing costs including Eco-Print. The included Eco-Print default settings save on everything from ink, energy and paper by reducing print quality, double-sided printing, grayscale, skipping blank pages, etc. There is even a simulation that indicates what your settings equal in terms of energy, toner and paper savings by percentage. Very cool feature for anyone tired of spending too much on printing!
You Might Like This Printer If:
If you''re looking for a small printer for a home office or small business setting this printer might be right for you. You''ll probably be the type of person who is more interested in printing reports, finished professional products or documents instead of printing pictures of the kiddies to hang on the wall. Likely you''re also tired of the higher costs associated with ink-jet printing, already have a scanner, copier, fax machine all-in-one machine and are looking to supplement your office with a dedicated printer.
UPDATE 11/12/12:
I''ve read various reviews on this printer and folks having issues with the WiFi setup. I recently had my own after returning home from a week-long trip in which the printer remained in "sleep" or low-power mode. I went to print a document as normal from my Windows 7 laptop and noticed that the print-job was sent to the printer, however, after a few minutes nothing was printing. I cancelled the job in the print queue and tried printing again with the same result. Eventually after power-cycling the printer (same result no print) I booted up my desktop computer that I used to originally install the Samsung printer drivers. Once it was up I was able to print immediately from the desktop. I tried again printing from my laptop and this time my document was printed immediately. My setup is completely wireless (even from my desktop) though I''m thinking there was an issue initializing the printer and it could only be done by the machine that was originally used to configure the printer. It''s a strange issue and one that thankfully hasn''t reappeared.
Read Best Reviews of Samsung Electronics CLP-415NW Wireless Color Printer Here
Currently amazon offers this printer for 17% off the sticker price, and this makes it a great buy in my mind.
The 415NW is a colorless laser printer most small laser printers I''ve seen that do color don''t do them well, but this is an exception. It doesn''t do ''photo quality'' in my mind, but it will be sufficient for most every other need. The black and white looked very crisp and clean, and I had no complaints there.
If you''re looking for a laser printer you either do high volume printing or are thinking economically (ink is expensive for a laser printer, but per page is cheaper than an inkjet printer), and with that in mind this printer is pretty good. It has a several eco options for reducing printing costs further (greyscale, using less ink, and the like), so you can definitely get your money''s worth over time with the 415NW. When trying out using less toner, for example, I didn''t notice a big reduction in quality, so you won''t suffer for being economical.
One of the big draws of this printer is its wifiand internet-capability. It very easily syncs with your wifi network I found setup a breeze both on a mac and a pc. The printer has many different ways to connect to your pcs/network (usb, ethernet, etc), but I found the wireless to be easiest. I will admit that I was pleasantly surprised at how smoothly the setup went.
There is an option to configure the printer to print from your smartphone/tablet, which I haven''t tried yet (I honestly have no need for the capability at the moment). I did configure it, however, and it was just as easy to setup as the wifi printing.
One note this printer is *big* for a home printer / home office printer. It weighs over 36 lbs and requires a 2x2x2 foot cube to sit in, essentially (the printer requires clearance on every side for ventilation/airflow purposes). This is larger than many other home laser printers, so it is something to be aware of.
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Overall I can definitely recommend the 415NW if you''re in the martket for a printer in this price range. While it won''t do anything else (scan, fax, copy) it prints very, very well.
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10/23 Update:
As promised, I have rated this one star due to the fact that for the last time it has lost connectivity to the PCs. I can still see the printer in my router on the network and ping it, so it''s not a connectivity issue. It just refuses to be detected by devices. I tried a Win 7 PC, Retina Macbook Pro, and an iPhone 4S. None of the devices were able to print. A little hard to blame drivers since we''re talking three totally different platforms. I was hoping the issues were finally gone for good but this printer is way too unreliable to be any use at all and thus earned the one star review. I think you can tell by my updates that I''ve given it more than enough chances. Also as promised, I removed the paper, put it in my reliable Epson Workforce 630 (which has performed admirably since day one), and powered the Samsung off. Maybe if I have a need for a USB only printer I will one day use it again. Until then, into cold storage it goes. Honestly, had this been purchased and not obtained through Vine, I would have likely returned it long ago. The Vine program at least gave it an opportunity to be objectively reviewed without fear of the dreaded return window closing. Steer clear and find another printer.
10/4 Update:
In fairness to the printer, it has worked flawlessly since the last update. Therefore, for now, I have updated my rating to "okay" based on how well it performs WHEN it''s working. However, this is the final chance. If I try to print one more time and get a comm error, it''s dropping back to one star and staying there. It''s also coming off my network at that point. I''m just trying to give it a fair shot.
09/30 Update:
If you wish to read my entire review, feel free, but as of this morning, I just tried printing from my PC and once again I got a comm error. I can, however, ping the printer, reach the management interface through my PCs browser and print to it from my mobile devices and Mac. This thing seems to randomly lose communication with individual devices. I really wanted to like this printer and if you read my entire review(s), you will see that I tried everything humanly possible short of sending it in for repair. However, a product should not be ths much of a headache right out of the box. Maybe I got a lemon, but based on my past few days of frustration and thinking the problem was resolved only to have it keep reappearing in inconsistent manner, I had to drop my original rating from four stars to one. I will contact Samsung support and try to get it repaired. It''s pretty obvious at this point that there''s something wrong with this printer. The problem is not my router because I never lost total connectivity with the printer, just sporadically among individual devices. I also have ZERO problems with all other printers, computers, mobile devices, game consoles, and televisions connected to the same router. It''s not the drivers because I''ve lost connectivity on four separate platforms (Windows, OS X, iOS and Android) at different times. I honestly think it has something to do with the sleep wake function. Every time I fix an issue, the printer works perfectly until it goes into sleep mode. When it wakes, there''s usually a new issue with seemingly different devices every time.
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09/29 Updated Review:
The following update is my experience after writing my initia review. I left my initial review intact to point out the pros and cons of the printer when it works. However, I strongly suggest taking the advice in the update, especally if you are non-technical or a small business looking to avoid unnecessary IT costs.
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After completing the printer setup on my network, PCs and mobile devices, it initially worked like a charm. I was very impressed with the printing speed, quality and ease. I was printing from my PCs, an iPhone and a Galaxy tablet. The first sign of trouble was when I lost the ability to print from my iPhone about an hour later. I just assumed it was a flaky app, especially since the Samsung tablet and my PC were still printing fine. However, I now see that the Airprint experience (described below) was a portend of things to come. The PC printed fine all day yesterday, so I figured all was well. Imagine my surprise when I subsequently attempted to print from my computer today and encountered the same exact problem as Airprint! The printer simply lost connectivity to my PC. I verified the host name, IP and MAC address in my router and verified I could still print over the network from the Galaxy Tab (using Android version of same app used on my iPhone), so I didn''t think it was a connection issue. I then tried connecting from a Mac and installed the mobile printing app on my iPad. Both were unsuccessful as well. The only thing that still worked at that point was my wife''s Samsung Galaxy Tab Plus. I then downloaded and installed the Samsung Easy printer manager software. After installing the software, I was able to locate the printer on my network and restore printing on my computer. I was able to print for most of the day and I thought my problem was solved. After restoring printing to the PC, I figured I''d try troubleshooting Airprint using tips from the user guide. I tried to configure Airprint directly through iOS instead of the Samsung app. I typed the printer''s IP address into the Safari browser on my iPhone and it displayed the message "SyncThru Loading" and a status bar that never completed. After a few minutes, I realized it was frozen, so I abandoned my efforts to restore Airprint printing and went back to my PC. Guess what? I couldn''t print from the PC again. I tried accessing the printer by IP through my web browser and could not reach it. I tried reaching it through Easy printer manager and couldn''t reach it through there either. I then tried pinging the printer''s IP and it said "destination host unreachable". Finally, I went to the physical printer and tried to troubleshoot through the LCD panel. That''s when I dicovered the printer was completely frozen. None of the panel buttons worked and the LCD just sat there with "Ready" displayed. The only way to free up the printer was to do a hard power cycle using the main power switch on the rear. After powering the printer back on, I printed a configuration page using the LCD panel. The IP address was still the same, so it wasn''t a DHCP problem. I figured for kicks and giggles, I''d try setting a static IP. I logged into the printer using the web browser. Easy Print Manager was utterly useless because it still couldn''t find the printer, so I uninstalled it and will perform all management through the web interface instead. I set a static IP with a different last octet and viola! Everything now works, my PC, both tablets, my iPhone and the Mac. Hopefully, it simply didn''t like the original DHCP assigned IP and simply needed a change. I just wish it would have failed outright instead of working sporadically. For that reason, I''m not 100% confident that was the root cause. I''ll keep my eye on it and if it fails again, that''s it. Honestly, for the average home user or small business without a dedicated IT staff, I suggest finding something a little more reliable. I''ve installed hundreds of network business printers as well as dozens of personal printers for myself and friends and have never encountered a printer this hard to configure that wasn''t defective. That''s why I said I''m not 100% sure a "bad IP" was necessarily the final issue. I verified there were no conflicts on the network with that IP and the IP never changed from initial setup.
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Original Review
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After unboxing this printer, the first thing I did was make a bee line to Samsung''s web site to download the latest drivers. I never used bundled driver disks unless online drivers are unavailable or not newer than bundled driver. I downloaded the basic driver and figured I''d start there. The basic driver package (under the drivers tab on the site) worked just fine. It installed the printer on both my WiFi network and PC. All other software is optional (mainly for management, etc). I chose the USB setup option. They supply a USB 2 cable with the printer. If you don''t want to connect via USB to configure printer, you can try to set the WiFi via the LCD panel, but it''s only a two line basic display, so it''s not quite as efficient or as quick as configuring WiFi during the driver install over USB. Most users will find that the basic drivers alone will suffice. Once I completed the printer setup, the printing was fast and great. I printed a photograph on plain inkjet paper. The first page scared me because it had white specks all over the image. I (correctly) assumed it was likely due to it being the very first print after the printer had been transported and jostled all about. I printed the same image a second time. The second print was flawless with rich color saturation, accurate colors, decent sharpness and no artifacts on the image. So, now that I''ve setup the printer and had a couple days to print with it, here are my pros and cons:
Pros
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Fast printing. Unlike the CLJ printers at my job, this one doesn''t "warm-up" with random clicking and whirling sounds for a minute or two after jobs are sent. It processes and prints immediately, like my inkjet
Excellent print quality, better than an HP 3550 color laserjet and rivaling a Xerox 9303 color wax printers that I use at work. Granted, these printers are older, but the 3550 never looked as good as the results from the Samsung. The newer (both in age and technology) Xerox is closer in quality.
Android mobile printing is reliable and great. I installed this on a tab 7.0 Plus and Galaxy S3 and it works like a charm. I wish the same could be said about iOS and Airprint (see the below cons for more info on that)
Auto-sleep function with separate sleep and power buttons to conserve energy
Management software for your PC is available to monitor the printer, see toner status and change printer settings
Cons
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The LCD panel is not backlit. Some of the buttons are lit but not the LCD. It seems minor but the LCD is all but impossible to read without optimal light and placement conditions
The USB port is loose (at least on my printer). The slightest pressure on the cable caused it to pop out several times while I was connected to configure WiFi. It wasn''t that big of an issue because I knew it was temporary but it may be an issue for those planning to connect via USB instead of through their network.
The top "power" button (circle with intersecting vertical line at top) only wakes the printer. It doesn''t put it to sleep.
Although the mobile printing works fine on Android devices, iOS devices are more finicky. I downloaded the Samsung mobile printing app and connected to the printer with my iPhone 4S, but after the printer went to sleep the first time, I could no longer connect from my iPhone. Whenever I try to print, it searches and says no printers found. I get the same result through the Samsung app. I tried everything, even rebooting the phone, but it will not connect to the printer neither through native airprint nor the Samsung app. For the record, the printer is on Apple''s list of Airprint compatible printers. I''ll keep trying to figure it out, but at least the Android devices print, for now.
The price of the toner cartridges is very expensive. Replacement cartridges are a hundred bucks and it takes four. It almost makes $30 inkjet cartridges seem cheap by comparison. On the plus side, at least the toner won''t dry up on you before you can get full use from it liek a lot of inkjet cartridges do.
Although I''m not thrilled about the cost of replacement toner, I''m hoping the actual usage and less replacement frequency will make it at least as evenly cost efficient as an inkjet, if not more. Other than the iOS problem, all other aspects of this printer are very good. If that changes in the future I will certainly report back to advise.
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I''m happy with the print quality, but frustrated with the network stability.
Once the initial set-up was complete I could print from my Mac and iOS devices (AirPrint and mobile print). The next morning none of my devices could locate the printer. A power cycle resolved it and I was able to print again. A few hours later the printer disappeared again. I can ping the IP, but no AirPrint.
Samsung suggests updating the Firmware, but the updater is only available for Windows.
Bottom line: This could be a great printer if Samsung can solve the network issues, until then I''d look elsewhere, especially if you''re looking for Mac and/or AirPrint support.
Update:
AirPrint is still unreliable. I''ve found if I reset the printer I can print for a few hours before it disappears again.
I''ve attempted to contact support twice. The first time they said to enable SNMP (already was). The second time they told me to look for timeout settings in the SyncThru Web interface (no specifics, just look around and try to change something).
The issue with Samsung support is continuity. There''s no case number assigned and they don''t accept replies to their e-mails. Once you get a message the only way to follow up is to open another request and start over again.
I''m giving up and sending it back to Amazon.
