Samsung CLP-550 Toner Cartridges

The Samsung CLP-550 color laser printer is a budget-friendly model aimed at small and medium office users. It includes some nice features such as an LCD panel and a duplexer, but is somewhat marred by unimpressive color print quality. The upgrade to this model that solves many of these issues is the Samung CLP-660 toner printer.

Many budget models skimp on features to keep the cost low, but the Samsung CLP-550 color laser printer includes duplexing as a standard feature, a surprising inclusion for the price. Duplexing is the capability of printing on both sides of the paper. This allows users to save paper and also to have more flexibility in printing options, allowing for the printing of booklets, pamphlets, and other media that require two-sided printing. Another surprising feature is its LCD screen, a rarity for a budget laser. The screen is small, but useful, as it displays all the pertinent information about the unit's status as well as showing when paper trays are empty or if you are nearing empty toner cartridges.

The unit also has expandability options for the growing office. The initial paper tray can hold 250 sheets, but an optional 500-sheet tray can be added later as an upgrade. While the base model only includes a USB connection initially, an optional ethernet connection or even a wireless connection can be added later. The CLP-550N model has ethernet networking included.

Monochrome print quality is quite good, with sharp text and good graphics quality, though very small fonts begin to show some defects. The main drawback of the unit, however, is its color print quality. Colors are generally inaccurate, and color prints show many inconsistencies with contrast and tonal range. Print speed is average, at 14 pages per minute in monochrome and only 4.4 pages per minute in color. While it won't win any awards for speed, this will likely be fast enough for most users.

Samsung CLP-550 toner cartridges have a capacity of 5,000 pages for each color laser toner cartridge, and 7,000 pages for the single black printer toner cartridge. Toner costs are kept lower since this model uses the same cartridge as the Samsung CLP-510 toner cartridge.

Overall, the Samsung CLP-550 is a well-designed printer with some nice extra features, such as duplexing and an LCD screen. Its low price comes with some flaws, however, such as poor quality color prints and average print speeds.