As we said, the feature set of the SCX-4500 is on the basic side. We haven't reviewed any other $250-to-$350 mono laser multifunctions, so we can only make comparisons to slightly more expensive units, but $400 can get you a lot more, if aesthetics aren't your first priority. For example, the $400 Canon ImageClass MF4690 comes with an automatic document feeder, a manual feed tray, fax capability, a front-mounted USB port that you can print from and scan to, an Ethernet port for easy networking, and a built-in duplexer--far more than $100 worth of features. While the SCX-4500 is certainly alluring, you should know what you're not getting.
Performance
In CNET Labs' speed tests, the Samsung SCX-4500 was a bit slower than the competition--not surprising, considering it's about $100 cheaper (though see the previous paragraph to see the difference $100 makes). It printed black text at 13.05 pages per minute (ppm), about 1ppm slower than the Canon MF4690 and far slower than the Lexmark X342n and the Dell 1815dn. It was similarly slower with black graphics prints, producing them at a rate of 12.68ppm. For both color and grayscale scans, it was roughly at the middle of the pack: 4.80ppm for color and 6.20ppm with grayscale.
Out of curiosity, we also compared the SCX-4500 to its sibling, the Samsung SCX-4200. The SCX-4200 is much cheaper at $180, but interestingly enough, its task speeds were on par with those of the SCX-4500. We also compared it to a $300 office-oriented inkjet multifunction, the HP OfficeJet Pro L7680, because the $300 price point tends to be occupied mostly by inkjets. The SCX-4500 was the faster of the two, though the HP offers more features.
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Thankfully, the Samsung SCX-4500 made up for slower speeds with better task quality. The black text prints were everything they should be: crisp, clean, and nicely dark. The grayscale graphics print was quite good, too. It had some minor cross-hatching that's fairly common to low-cost laser printers, but otherwise, photo elements were nicely detailed. The color scan was very good, as well, with excellent details and smooth color gradients. Our only major complaint is that the colors were a bit soft and washed out. The SCX-4500 had the most problems with grayscale scans. The image was overly dark, due to severe compression in the dark end of the grayscale. It also had problems handling some of the test patterns. Overall, the task quality was definitely good enough for general office tasks.
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Service and support
Samsung backs the SCX-4500 multifunction printer with a standard one-year warranty. Toll-free phone support is available 24-7. Samsung's site also has downloadable software and drivers, manuals, and FAQs, though currently there are no FAQs specific to this model.
