X-bit labs

Personal Laser Printers Roundup: Monochrome Printing (page 30)

Category: Other

by Vasily Melnik

[ 01/19/2006 | 06:23 PM ]

The small top cover conceals the heater. The sticker on the heater warns you about high temperature. Like the printer from Canon, the Samsung ML-1615 doesn’t have a cooling fan, and this is going to tell negatively on the heater service life.

The control panel is very simple and consists of one button (Cancel) and two LED indicators:

• Power (constant shine)/ Error (blinking)
• Toner-Saving mode (so that the user was not surprised at the strange look of the printouts)

Be careful with the button – it readily gets stuck in the case under too much pressure and you’ll have to lift it up again with something thin and sharp.

The cartridge compartment is combined with the input tray. An average user will find it easy to take the cartridge out, but installing one in may prove a more troublesome procedure. By the way, you will also have to use this “front entrance” to extract a stuck sheet of paper because there is no removable panel at the printer’s back (I had to do so two times during my tests, by the way).

The cartridge case is not separable, so you can’t detach the container with toner from the printing unit. The handle will help you install the cartridge into the printer. The photo-drum is partially open, so you should avoid exposing it to direct sunlight or touching it with your fingers.

Samsung demands that only original cartridges be used with its printers, so you will be denied warranty service if the people at the service center find any traces of your having refilled the cartridge. On the other hand, the cartridge for this printer is cheap.