Samsung CLX 3170

The Samsung CLX-3170 is one of the smallest multifunction devices on the market. It is a color laser printer, copier and scanner all in one, although you might not believe it when you look at it.

It is also available in two colors, grey and black, which is a nice touch. It’s now possible to add a little glamour to the office with a sleek black device that can now compliment other colors rather than contrast them.

The print quality is good, even on fonts as small as 3pt at a resoltuion of 600dpi. The maximum resolution is 2400 x 600 dpi in which the prints are crisp and sharp with no jaggies or bleeding edges. The monochrome reproduction is the strength of the CLX-3170. While printing photographs isn’t a laser printers strength, the image quality is good enough for leaflets or brochures, with only a little dithering on full color pages. Speed isn’t too bad too at an average of 16 pages per minute either color or mono.

The control panel is fairly straightforward, and is divided up into functions which makes it easy to navigate, and avoids confusion when using the different functions. The only thing missing from the panel is an LCD screen, which would have been nice to see. While it certainly doesn’t stop you using the device, you have to think a little more about what you’re doing.

Setup is easy. The included driver CD has a good user manual which talks you through the install process. The CLX-3170 has a built-in network port which allows quick and easy connection to a workgroup. As with other Samsung Ethernet devices, the network will need to be configured to provide a static IP address as it cannot cope with dynamic ones.

Paper is kept in a 150 sheet paper tray which isn’t expandable. Toner is supplied as a starter cartridge which is good for 1500 sheets. The standard cartridges will last a good 1500 pages and are priced at $58 which is okay value for money. Color cartridges are the same price for around 1000 pages of printing.

Scanning is of equally good quality. Color reproduction is faithful to the original and the enclosed Samsung drivers allow for scanning to documents, PDF to USB or across the network. Faxing is standard faire, the 33.3K modem will send a legal-sized document in a little over 2 seconds. The built in 128Mb memory is enough to remember 500 sheets if the device runs out of paper.

The CLX-3170 is a good device. It looks better in black, works quietly and efficiently and won’t let you down. Consumables are readily available and won’t break the bank. For the small business wanting a new multifunction, this is a good contender.