Compact styling and design- The Samsung SCX 4521 printer has great compact styling and design. It weighs a feather light 10 kilograms and boast with compact overall dimensions of 14.5×17x14.7 inches. The smaller the footprint especially in home or small business environment the better. The customers’ or clients’ goal is to invest in a product that can print, scan, fax and copy without taking up all the space of each item individually.
Quality control- At a price of US$250.00 you cannot really expect much from this multi function printer and this becomes very apparent when the machines’ print quality is tested. Text quality can be described as good for everyday monochrome purposes. Characters are clear even at very low font sizing. Graphics and photo quality is average with visible flaws in the form of dithering. If overall high quality prints are required even on a daily basis rather opt for another make or model printer.
Media Type and size- Print media sizes compatible with the printer are Legal, A4, Letter, Folio, Exec, JIS, A4, A5 and A6. Media sizes for fax and copy purposes are Letter, Legal and A4. Media types accepted are Plain, Transparency, Labels, Cards and envelopes. Prints as well as copies are produced at speeds of 20 pages per minute at 600×600 dpi. First print or copy out-time is a mere 11 seconds from standby mode, thus there is very little warm-up time required.
OS Requirement- All major operating systems are compatible with the device including Windows 98/ME/NT4.0/2000/XP, Linux and Apple Mac.
Noise- Printer noise is most probably the greatest disadvantage to the Samsung SCX 4521 printer. It is easily the noisiest printers on the market. There is no way to fix or reduce the terrible sound, so if you get irritated quickly or if you are planning the use the printer in a low-noise environment, avoid this printer as it will drive you mad.
Connectivity- The printer comes standard with both modern and as dated connection options in the form of USB 1.1, USB 2.0 and Parallel port. Note that cables are not included with your purchase. Ethernet 10/100 for networking purposes is available as an optional extra.
Common headaches The printer unfortunately comes with a couple of headaches. If scan quality is important rather avoid the device as contrasts on scanned documents are uneven and just plain awful. Get use to paper spillages caused by a flaw in the output tray design. Paper jams are extremely common. Luckily the problem is a quick one to fix by a mere pushing of a button with no need for total printer dismantlement.
Toner- You will get Samsung SCX 4521 toner cartridge with your initial printer purchase. The starter Cartridge will need replacement soon, as the cartridge only has a 1000 page print cap. Normal cartridges have a print cap of approximately 3000 pages, depending on print quality. A fantastic toner saving feature is built into the machine in the form of a One Touch Toner function. A mere push of a button can save you up to 25% toner and increase print capacity to an extra 750 sheets per cartridge. Printer consumables requiring regular replacement are luckily few, limited to only a single toner cartridge. Samsung toner is trusted worldwide.
