Performance
Relative to other similarly priced color laser printers, the CLP-315W is significantly slower than the pack in both black and white and especially color prints. It scored 13.15 pages per minute for plain black speed, slightly faster than the Dell 1320c. The CLP-315W also takes the longest to spit out any kind of color document, scoring a measly 3.64 pages per minute for color graphics and 4.07 pages per minute for color text. The rest of the units in the comparison lineup finished printing in less than half the time in both categories.
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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Color graphics speed | |
Presentation speed | |
Color text speed | |
Black text speed |
Unfortunately, the print quality hardly makes up for the slow print speeds. We experienced inconsistent results between black and white and color prints. As expected from any laser printer, black and white text appears well formed with sharp detail down to the smallest readable font size, but colored characters come out improperly layered, resulting in a thick, smeared composition. Settings embedded into the driver let you set the prints to "darken" or "fine," but we didn't notice any difference in quality throughout our presentation, text, and graphics tests. In the end, the graphic document is the only test we found to be remotely passable. Colors in the composite pictures appear true to form with clean edges and line separation. However, we noticed that the Samsung had difficult time transitioning between colors.
Service and support
Samsung backs the CLP-315W with an industry standard one-year warranty that covers parts and labor in the event of a manufacturer's defect. Telephone support is available everyday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT. Finally, Samsung's Web site contains useful information such as manual and driver downloads, a media guide, and a comprehensive list of FAQs.
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What You'll Pay
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