Samsung CLP300 Vs. HP CLJ1600 - the colour laserjet wars
Are low cost Colour Laser Printers are now a better buy than Inkjet printers?
Over the course of 2007 we have seen a significant shift in the prices and entry points for colour laser printers. Recently I have seen the Samsung CLP300 colour laser printer advertised for under £100. Asda are now stocking HP Colour laserjet 1600 in their stores for sale at about £135 – pop it in your trolley!. This has prompted me to do a quick comparison of similar priced laser printers and compare their value and cost per page.
Samsung advertise this as the worlds lightest and smallest colour laser printer. They have achieved this by changing the technology of the laser toner cartridges. Instad of a cartridge which is the length of the printer they use a small drum of toner which clips very easily into the printer and replenshises itself as necessary using their No Nois print engine, which also promises to be very quiet. This is used in their professional series of colour printers and gives quiet operation and simple toner changes.
Print Speed is 4PPM in Colour and 17PPM in Black text mode. Available with USB and also Network connectivity, it is advertised as being installed with 4 clicks of the mouse.
The Black cartridge should give about 2,000 pages (at 5% yield) and the colours 1,000 pages each. With a set of compatible cartridges at £88 or a rainbow kit of original cartridges at just over £100 your cost per page (in colour) is:
Samsung original £0.10
Compatible £0.088
The HP CLJ1600 colour laser printer is HP’s lowest-priced laser printer and is advertised to print at up to 8PPM in colour and black and white, with a fast first page out. The printer is advertised as having a very low noise level and is designed to fit on your desktop. Supplies are available online and again you can choose between quality remanufactured toner cartridges or HP originals. You should get about 2,500 pages from the Black at 5% yield and 2,000 pages from the Colour cartridges (again at 5% yield) and the comparative prices are:
HP Original £0.118 per page
Remanufactured: £0.078 per page
Both printers offer a high quality colour output, and it is a difficult choice. I personally like the design of the Samsung CLP300 a lot and would probably plump for one of those if Santa is listening