Color laser
USB, Ethernet, optional Wi-Fi card, Proprietary external interface
8.5x14 inches
9,600x600 effective dpi
18.9x18.3x17.5 inches
63.1 pounds
USB, Ethernet, optional Wi-Fi card, Proprietary external interface
8.5x14 inches
9,600x600 effective dpi
18.9x18.3x17.5 inches
63.1 pounds
Depending on what you do for a living, you may find yourself suddenly in need of a large volume of printing in a hurry, making you wish for a Kinko's in your living room—like when you're asked to bring a dozen copies of a 1,200-page manuscript to a meeting in the morning or hundreds of double-sided card stock invitations and envelopes for a stuffing party. For these moments, you need a color laser printer that has the perfect combination of speed, versatility, quality, high duty cycle, and low-cost-per-page (not to mention a boatload of paper). A device very much like Samsung's CLP-770ND color laser printer.
The $899.99 CLP-770ND is clearly meant for an office environment. At 63 pounds (78 pounds, once you add four full toner cartridges and a ream of 20-pound paper), as well as being about half the size of an apartment dishwashing machine, the CLP-770ND is probably too large and heavy to rest comfortably on your desk. (While Samsung doesn't market a matching cabinet for any of its printers, adding a couple of optional 500-sheet paper trays and a rolling base effectively transforms it from a desktop unit into a floor model.) But since it's a network device (with built-in USB interface and optional Wi-Fi connectivity, should you wish to make it a local printer), designed for departmental rather than individual use, you can easily position it on any conveniently situated large surface.
Despite its hulking dimensions, the cube-shaped unit has an unobtrusive battleship gray and dark gray–topped appearance that will help it blend in well with many business environments. On the front is the pull-down, 100-sheet adjustable multipurpose tray. The tray design lies somewhere between simple and crude; it is noisy and takes a bit of strength to pull open. On both sides of the tray are rigid white plastic straps, and as they help slide the tray in position, a small plastic slot at the bottom opens mechanically, for feeding paper into the printer. Inelegant, but effective.
Underneath the multipurpose tray is the main 500-sheet adjustable paper drawer, for a total capacity of 600 sheets. If you require even greater capacity, the CLP-770ND has the ability to add one or two optional paper trays, which stack underneath the printer. This gives the CLP-770ND a total capacity of 1,600 sheets, 700 sheets more than the $699 Lexmark C546dtn (also a color laser printer), which has a 900-sheet capacity. (The Lexmark costs $200 less, however.)
Just above the pull-down multipurpose tray is a recessed handle that releases and opens the front flap, exposing the printer's innards, for replacing consumables and clearing paper jams. The four self-contained toner cartridges (black, cyan, magenta, and yellow) slide into color-coded slots stacked one atop another, while the transfer belt cartridge snaps into the front flap. The cartridges have solid-feeling plastic handles on either side that make the cartridges relatively easy to hold and slide into place. However, you must be extra careful handling them because, unlike HP's and many other manufacturers' toner cartridges, Samsung's cartridges do not have a movable shutter or flap to protect the organic photoconductor (OPC) drum from fingerprints, scratches, or light. (But they do ship with a removable cardboard protector.) Also, it's possible to insert them into the wrong slot: Even though the LCD control panel will warn you to put them in the correct slot, it does so only after you've closed the flap.
Each toner cartridge is good for up to 7,000 impressions, which translates into just about the lowest costs per page in its class. An average monochrome page costs about 1.5 cents, with color at 7.5 cents per page. By contrast, the Lexmark C546dtn is 1.6 cents per page for monochrome and 11 cents for a typical page of color business graphics. Given its large paper capacity and speed, the CLP-770ND is capable of greater sustained throughput than the Lexmark.
The transfer belt is good for 50,000 impressions; a user can replace it in less than 2 minutes; and its cost of ownership adds up to less than four-tenths of a cent per impression.
On top of the printer is the sloping control panel. It has only four buttons—menu, back, stop, and the power-saving instant off/on (the master power switch is on the right side, below the network, USB, and external device interface ports); in the middle is a circular four-way rocker switch with an OK button in the center. The illuminated four-line monochrome control panel doesn't provide much information, but its menus are well structured and logically nested, making navigation relatively easy, even for novices. Some of its parameters and settings are duplicated in the printer driver, which can occasionally cause confusion and conflict. For instance, we set paper type to card stock in the control panel menu, while selecting plain paper in the interface. Instead of defaulting to the interface, the printer simply displayed a conflict message and waited for the user to press the OK button manually before proceeding.
Surrounding the control panel is a bezel lid with finger indents, to help clear paper jams. Behind it is the paper discharge tray with a fold-out paper stop. It can hold up to 350 sheets, and the paper arrives face down. One nice feature: When the output tray fills to capacity, instead of jamming up or spilling paper onto the desk, the printer will automatically pause until the paper is removed.
