Genuine OEM Samsung CLP-500 Transfer Belt, 50,000 (black), 12,500 (color) page yield. Samsung part number: CLP-500RT. Transfer Belt compatible with Samsung CLP-500, CLP-500N.
The Samsung CLP-500 color laser printer is designed for small or medium office environments. It has speed and capacity at an affordable price and is especially quiet.
One of the best features of the Samsung CLP-500 color laser printer is its quiet operation. While many competing models are too noisy to keep in close proximity to users, it is actually quiet enough to use near phones or in other areas where quiet operation is necessary. The design of the unit is somewhat bulkier than smaller personal or small office models, but not overly so. Its larger size prohibits it from sitting comfortably on a desk, but it won’t need a large surface area. At around 77 pounds, it will likely take two strong people to move it around.
Setup is fairly easy, though a little lengthy. The user is required to install the imaging units, the transfer belts, and the toner cartridges. This is quite a bit more than the average setup process, which often comes with all components including toner cartridges already installed. Still, instructions are straightforward, and installing the components only takes a few minutes. The CLP-500N model includes networking support, and network setup is fairly easy and straightforward.
Samsung CLP-500 toner cartridges have large capacities, at 7,000 pages for black printer toner cartridges, and 5,000 pages for each color laser toner cartridge. The downside is that the unit ships with low-capacity “starter” cartridges of 1,500 pages for color and 2,000 pages for black. While this makes the cost of the unit more affordable, it seems like a deception as this is never made particularly clear to buyers. Samsung is far from being the only manufacturer to use starter cartridges, but it is worth noting. This model and the Samsung CLP-510 toner printer require replacing many parts periodically, such as the imaging unit and transfer belt, while many lasers require only the toner cartridges to be replaced often. This results in extra costs and hassles, especially in high-volume environments.
Overall, the Samsung CLP-500 is an impressive printer with solid speed and good quality prints, and is surprisingly quiet. An extensive setup procedure, starter cartridges, and more than average maintenance needs might turn many users away.
