Two New Sub-$1,000 Color Printers For SMB Market

Laser printer prices have dropped dramatically over the past few years, with several color lasers now selling for less than $1,000. The CRN Test Center looked at two color printers priced in the $1,000 range that still offer high quality.

Samsung CLP-500
The CLP-500 is the first color laser printer to bear the Samsung name. It features built-in duplexing, prints at 600 x 600 dpi and has a street price of less than $700. It prints up to 5 ppm in color and 21 ppm in monochrome. The printer features parallel and USB 2.0 interfaces, but networking is optional. A standard 250-sheet input tray and 100-sheet document feeder are included, and a second 500-sheet cassette is available as an option. The printer measures about 20 x 18.5 x 16 inches and weighs about 80 pounds.

MARC SPIWAK Technical Editor

Samsung's Power Partner program has been in place for about five years. Revamped in January 2002, the three-tiered program ranks solution providers based on sales revenue and market potential. The average solution provider margin is 15 percent. Resellers can take advantage of a sales incentive fund, a rewards program, focus programs and rebates, and have access to a dedicated toll-free technical-support line. The program also includes a dedicated solution provider Web site with product catalogs, technical information, forms, drivers, brochures and other tools.

The CLP-500 is easy to set up; the solution provider only has to install the imaging unit, transfer belt and four toner cartridges.

Test Center engineers tested the printer using various Spencer & Associates test images designed to push printers to their limits. The CLP-500 meets its rated specs, but printing text in color takes four times as long as monochrome. As for processing speed, three graphical image files printed quickly. However, the printed photos contained little contrast and detail. But for a small office that's concerned primarily with basic business correspondence, the CLP-500 is adequate.

Xerox Phaser 8400
Xerox's solid-ink printers use blocks of colored wax instead of powdered toner. The blocks are keyed by shape so they cannot be put in the wrong slot and are the only thing a solution provider needs to install in setting up a Xerox printer.

The new Phaser 8400 prints at 18 ppm in standard mode, in color or monochrome. Like the Samsung unit, this printer has standard parallel and USB 2.0 interfaces, and network connectivity is optional. The printer has a 100-sheet multipurpose tray and 525-sheet second tray.

Note that engineers tested the "DP" model, which costs $1,699 and includes networking, 256 Mbytes of memory, duplex printing, an embedded Web server, remote printing capability, e-mail alerts and more.

The base model, which costs only $999, offers the same basic performance and image quality at a price that's more palatable to small businesses. Xerox offers an average solution margin of 10 percent.

Xerox reaches out to SMB solution providers through its Peak Alliance Channel Program and its feature-rich Peak Partner Web site, which includes tools to help partners build co-branded Web sites and promotions. Customizable print and e-mail marketing materials and training presentations are also available online. In addition, Xerox provides excellent in-person training and marketing assistance.

Very small in size, the Phaser 8400 measures just 16.3 x 14.5 x 21 inches and weighs 59 pounds. Aside from a 12-minute warm-up wait, this printer is easier and faster to set up than most laser printers. But because it has to stay hot to keep the ink in liquid form, the Phaser 8400 uses more power than a laser printer will when sitting idle.

But once warmed up, this little printer will keep up with the best. The first page of any text document popped out in about 6 seconds; 10 pages, in color or monochrome, printed in just 51 seconds. Processing speed is competitive, and text, photos and graphics look great. Photos are bright, vivid and full of contrast, and the detail level is high. The Phaser 8400 offers image quality and speed that no sub-$1,000 color laser printer can match. This is the perfect printer for small offices with 15 users or fewer for average printing use.

CHANNEL PROGRAM SNAPSHOTS
> SAMSUNG CLP-500
COMPANY: Samsung Electronics America
Irvine, Calif.
(800) 726-7864
www.samsung.com
DISTRIBUTORS: D&H, Ingram Micro, Synnex, Tech Data
TECH RATING:
CHANNEL RATING:

> XEROX PHASER 8400
COMPANY: Xerox
Stamford, Conn.
(877) 362-6567
www.xerox.com/office
DISTRIBUTORS: D&H, Synnex, Ingram Micro, Tech Data, United Stationers
TECH RATING:
CHANNEL RATING:

Note: Vendors can earn up to five stars for technical merit and five for their channel program. If the average of these two scores is four stars or greater, the product earns CRN Test Center Recommended status.