Samsung SCX-4200 review

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Verdict:

You won't find a laser MFD that's easier to live with than Samsung's SCX-4200.

Review Date: 18 Jan 2007

Price when reviewed: inc VAT

Our Rating 5 stars out of 5

ExpertReviews Award

Review
Specs

Compact, quiet and capable, the SCX-4200 is a great multifunction device.

Samsung's SCX-4200 is the only MFD here that we've reviewed before, winning a Recommended award in our September 2006 issue. Samsung says that it's the world's smallest flatbed laser MFD. To achieve this compact size, the scanner sits very low on top of the case and you need to raise it up on its hinges to make room for longer print jobs.

Despite its small size and low price, the SCX-4200 is reasonably well specified. Its printer is faster than the HP LaserJet M1005 and can go for 50% longer between consumable refills. Samsung's 3,000-page supply combines toner with a new imaging drum, and has become more affordable since our last review. It's quiet too, even when it's using both the printer and scanner.

It produced far better graphics than the LaserJet and almost matched the Brother DCP-8060, which prints at a higher resolution. It printed accurately shaded greyscale photos and clear graphics

Samsung's print driver and scan interface are both among the best. It's easy to miss the neat sidebar that contains advanced scan settings, but you can open it when necessary and leave it hidden for most jobs. The scanner produces sharply-focused results with quite accurate colours, but it struggled to capture detail from light areas of the original documents. It isn't ideal for high-resolution scans of photos, but it's fine for everyday creative and office work.

When we first reviewed the SCX-4200, only its higher-than-average running costs prevented us awarding it five stars. It's always been good value to buy, but now the price of its toners has fallen, it's now better value to own, too.

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