Product Reviews

Cheap all-in-one inkjet printers have been around for a fair while now, but it's taken their laser equivalents much longer to achieve budget status. Samsung has brought the market up to speed, however, with its latest multi-function device, the SCX-4200, a 600dpi laser printer with scanner attached. At just £129 including VAT, this printer is even cheaper than some inkjet-based devices.

The machine lacks the extra bells and whistles of some other all-in-one machines, but it's impressive nonetheless. A 250-sheet paper tray is integrated into the unit. This keeps the already svelte dimensions down and means your paper isn't covered in dust. There's also a manual sheet feeder for smaller papers and envelopes, which sits between the input and output trays.

The scanner captures images at 600 x 2400dpi and communicates with your Mac using USB 2. On the front of the SCX-4200 is a basic operating panel to take you through copying options and basic setup, while a one-line LCD informs you of any status changes. The unit is incredibly compact and quiet for a laser, especially considering the added copying facility. A network adaptor is available as an optional extra, but this machine is certainly aimed at home or small office setups.

The Mac software is less impressive than its Windows equivalent, as there's no control software for the scanner and you have to have either Adobe Photoshop or Elements to use the supplied Twain driver. However, Image Capture comes to the rescue for those

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without either of these applications. The printer driver works without further software, although the watermarking option isn't available. We can't say we're impressed by the rather half-hearted attempt at Mac compatibility from Samsung, especially as the Windows side gets a full utility, but the printer and scanner do function on the Mac.

Print speeds are really impressive. A full page of text was out and ready in just seven seconds - faster even than Samsung's claimed 11 seconds. Ten pages were out and ready after just 37 seconds. The text on the page is, as you might expect from a laser, crisp and sharp, with a deep black to each character.

Scan speeds are impressive as well. It took just 17 seconds for a full A4 size preview and then only 35 seconds to produce a 300dpi, 24MB scan. Colour accuracy was good, but the final result wasn't as sharp as we'd wanted at the extreme edges.

As with printing, copying is very fast: a full-page copy was ready just nine seconds after pressing the copy button. Results from the photocopy function were acceptable rather than stunning, with darker areas of the document losing detail. The speed and low price more than make up for such minor quality issues, though.

Overall, the SCX-4200 is an impressive device. At just £129, it's attractively priced, especially when you take into account that some standalone budget lasers cost more than this. Print and copy speeds are really impressive, and text output is crisp and clean. We'd have liked the results from the photocopy to be a bit less harsh, and we were disappointed with the software bundle, in that Windows users get a utility to manage their device, while Mac users get a print driver and Twain plug-in for Photoshop to scan - but those are our only gripes.

Overall, the Samsung SCX-4200 is pretty impressive. For relatively little money, you have a photocopier, scanner and laser printer in a small package with a great specification. Couple that with great-quality text output and you have a cheap device that's going to be perfect for the small home or office setup.