Samsung ML-1630W review

We reviewed the USB-only version of this mono laser printer, the ML-1630, in What's New, Shopper 240.

This new version, the ML-1630W, costs less than its predecessor did when it was launched and it has extra features, the most significant of which are a built-in 802.11b/g wireless adaptor and an Ethernet port. Both add a lot of flexibility to a printer that was previously sold largely on its looks and compact design.

To configure wireless networking, we found it easiest to connect the printer to our router during installation and use the tools built in to its web interface to change its wireless settings. A simple wizard configured our settings in three steps, but didn't prompt us to carry out the necessary final step of restarting the printer. The web interface isn't particularly elegantly designed, but provides adequate access to the network settings and status information. Given the limited nature of the device, it's unlikely that most users will revisit the web interface once the printer has been fully configured.

Unlike traditional boxy grey or beige laser printers, this glossy black design wouldn't look out of place in the smartest living rooms, or the fussiest offices. Blue LEDs form animated patterns and numbers on the printer's surface to indicate its status and progress through a print job, and it announces its activation with a sequence of subtle electronic chirps.

Although equipped with an Ethernet port and wireless networking capabilities, the ML-1630W is a personal, rather than workgroup, printer. It has a maximum duty cycle of just 5,000 pages in a single month, and is limited by a tiny, non-upgradable, 100-sheet paper tray. It would suit a small office that does little printing, but the small tray and low duty cycle mean it's not suitable for shared use in most workplaces.

With a standard quality print speed of 14.2ppm and a time to first page of just 13 seconds, the ML-1630W isn't particularly fast. However, mono text was sharp and clear, while our greyscale document and photo prints were densely shaded, but with a touch of graininess. Pages emerged flat and uncurled, but this printer cannot handle envelopes. Print costs of 2.2p per page are a little high.

Despite its flaws, we like the ML-1630W. It produces good- quality mono prints at a decent speed without making a lot of noise or taking up much space. It's comparably priced to other small mono network lasers such as HP's LaserJet P1505n (Labs, Shopper 245), although it lacks PCL or PostScript. While it's not up to the workload of a medium-sized office, the ML-1630W is a good choice for a home or small office printer.