Portable Laser Printers Showdown: Samsung vs. HP
“In the left corner, weighing in at 14 lbs, also known as the Miracle Monochrome Machine … the Samsung ML-1630 Monochrome Laser Printer! And in the right corner, weighing in at 17 lbs, also known as the Never Upset LaserJet … the HP LaserJet P1006 Printer! Okay portable laser printers, let’s have a fair fight. No ink-spewing at one another. Touch toners and good luck. May the best printer accumulate more sales.”
Let’s look at the tale of the tape prior to the bought. Then you can put your money on what you think will be the winner. The Samsung ML-1630 Monochrome Laser Printer has a list price of $237. This is well within the range for high quality portable laser printers. However, this machine can be found for only $99 on Amazon. And if you’re looking to buy a refurbished model, they’re currently selling for as low as $75. Of course, these prices are subject to change. Amazon is by far the most popular online retailer in the world. This leads to heavy volume and constant changes in what’s available and at what prices. If you’re looking for the price listed here, consider visiting soon.
When it comes to speed, the ML-1630 can print up to 17 pages per minute. The first page out will take 15 seconds. These are pretty good numbers for a portable laser printer. As far as quality goes, prints can reach resolution as high as 1200 x 600 dots per inch. This is also pretty good for any portable printer. The ML-1630 has a 100-sheet automatic paper tray, which is one of its best features. Touch sensors (opposed to buttons) are also a nice convenience and add to the simplicity of the machine. Samsung advertises the quietness of this machine heavily. It will only reach a maximum decibel level of 45, which is lower than the average conversation. The ML-1630’s dimensions are 13.1 x 14.8 x 4.7 inches.
The HP LaserJet P1006 Printer has a list price of $232. That said, it can also be found on Amazon for as low as $99. Used models are currently selling for as low as $90. That’s not enough of a difference to downgrade to used. You might as well spend the extra $9. The P1006 qualifies for Energy Star. So, if you’re into the Green Movement and the environment, you should feel good knowing you’re helping out.
The P1006 black and white laser printer can also print up to 17 pages per minute. But the first page out will only take 8.5 seconds. Resolution of prints can reach as high as 600 x 600 dots per inch and 1200 output. There is a 150-sheet paper tray that doesn’t need to be reloaded until it’s emptied. In addition to that, there’s a 10-sheet priority tray for special paper. This machine can print up to 5,000 pages per month, which is extraordinary for a portable laser printer. It supports a high-speed USB 2.0 interface and is PC and Mac-compatible. There’s 8MB of memory. The dimensions for the P1006 are 13.7 x 8.8 x 7.6 inches.
On the surface, it looks as though HP’s P1006 would be the favorite, but the most important stat of all has yet to be listed. It’s also a stat that proves customer feedback is more important that advertised features. The P1006 has a customer satisfaction rating of 69%. Not bad, but it doesn’t compare to the 88% score received by Samsung’s ML-1630.
Result: 3rd Round knockout by Samsung ML-1630.
