Samsung’s new Xpress M2875FD is a productive multi-function desktop device, suitable for a small but busy office.
This all-in-one unit is a monochrome laser duplex printer, document scanner and copier, and fax machine.
Samsung’s new Xpress M2875FD is a productive multi-function desktop device, suitable for a small but busy office.
Its form factor packs a lot into a fairly small physical size (roughly 16 inches tall, 14 inches wide and deep, weighing about 22 lbs), and the unit’s styling, with dark coloured top section, cream body and rounded edges, make it
attractive enough for a professional workspace. The front control panel includes a two line LCD screen, touch pad and coloured command buttons; cable connections (AC, 10 and 100 Ethernet) are on the back side.
Its functionality is good, and output of high quality.
The printer is rated up to 29 pages per minute (PPM), and there is a very capable Cortex 600MHz processor and 128 MB memory on-board to keep things moving. The M2875 is faster than some of the company’s earlier models in this class, and while the throughput is good, the unit as tested seemed just a bit slower than spec, with some 24 – 26 letter sized pages output per minute.
The quality of the Samsung Xpress M2875FD printed pages was quite good: the text was sharp; white spaces clean with no splatters or bleeds. Financial spreadsheet type pages were easy to read, as well, in part thanks to some printing features Samsung has built-in, like Edge Enhancement, which helps both text and images with its well defined edging and thin line capabilities (for both printing and scanning, by the way).
The printer is rated at an effective resolution of 4800 X 600 dpi, and its high resolution print output delivers small text and dense images with detail and clarity.
Most bar charts and business graphic printouts looked quite clear as well, but be careful if they were originally created with multiple colours, which may not translate well in greyscale.
The printer handles a wide range of target stock, as well. There is a handy 250 sheet feeder tray on the front of the unit, and just above that is a single sheet multi-purpose slot for sliding in all kinds of paper, from thin tracing paper to thicker card stock.
The printer handles a wide range of paper, from thin tracing paper to thicker card stock
Any printing paper up to 59 lb. stock and in various sizes, including labels, cards, envelopes and overhead projector (OHP) transparencies, can be used, selected first through the control panel and on-board drivers, and fed one at a time into the MP slot.
Paper exits just below the control panel and the auto feeder tray is right on top. The scanner glass is hidden under auto doc feeder, but the lid opens wide and its extendable hinges allow for books and magazines to be easily scanned.
A flip-down panel on the printer’s front side gives access to the toner cartridge, which as a base or starter model delivers an average yield of some 1,200 standard type pages. A high 3,000 page yield cartridge is also available.
The imaging unit or drum is rated to 9,000 pages.
Samsung’s Xpress M2875FD is priced around $280, with recent online specials as low as $170.
You’ll be looking at on-going consumable costs, too, which may seem just a bit high with this system and its two component parts: street pricing varies of course, but the 1,200 page toner is available for around $32, and the drum for about $48. The 3,000 page toner unit (MLT-D116L/XAA) is priced at $68, certainly a better per page price.
So Samsung has won top prizes and industry awards for its eco-mode features, functions and presentation, which can bring you both a greener peace of mind and a lower operating cost by using special print, duplex and multiple pages per sheet options.
There’s a One-Touch Eco Button, for duplex (two sided) and N-up (condensing two sides to one) when printing multiple document pages on a single sheet or document packages with wasteful blank pages.
A toner save mode can reduce toner use and bring costs down even more if you’re willing to forego some of the best image reproduction capabilities and concentrate on plain text rather than complex graphs or photos.
With the Easy Eco Driver, savings of up to 20% on toner and paper could be realized, along with a corresponding reduction in energy usage. It helps you cut down on page elements that use high amounts of toner, such as images and bold type fonts, or lighten text so that less toner is required.
The Printer Manager shows full reports on printer settings, device and printer supply status.
Documents printed with the eco-savings features can be previewed just in case, so the output is not an unpleasant surprise. The pleasant surprise comes when checking the printer’s Eco Results Simulator, which gives an estimated value for reduced CO2, electricity and paper.
Other visual feedback from the printer includes the Printer Manager screen, with full status reports on printer settings, device status, faxing and so on. Error reports and printer supply status are also displayed.
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