Samsung ML-4500

WHAT'S HOT: On a mission to save money? Samsung's laser printer is one of the least-expensive laser printers we've seen. The ML-4500 costs only $199, no more than a midrange ink-jet printer. But because it's a laser, it prints solid, professional-looking black text that suffers only a hint of roughness; it also does a creditable job on fine parallel lines. Plus, it's small, taking up only about 13 by 13 inches of desk space. For labels and card stock, you can switch from the standard U-shaped paper path to a straight path that exits through the front (the front exit has no tray, however, so the prints drop to the desk or floor).

WHAT'S NOT: The ML-4500 prints text at 5.6 pages per minute, while the next-slowest printer competing for our charts prints almost 25 percent faster. Graphics print at a lethargic 2.6 ppm and suffer from dark, smudged print quality (but to be fair, many monochrome lasers produce the same results). And the normal toner cartridge is specified for 2500 pages and costs $70, which comes out to 2.8 cents per page--the most of any of the printers we looked at this month. Worse, the cartridge Samsung provides with the printer is a "starter" unit good for only 1000 pages, so you'll have to stock up on replacements almost as soon as you unpack the box.

WHAT ELSE: The ML-4500 uses a parallel port connection only, so USB-connection users are out of luck.

BEST USE: A great price and sharp text quality make the ML-4500 a great buy for a home user who has light printing requirements but who also needs to print laser-quality documents.

SUMMARY

Samsung ML-4500 Rated 8 ppm, standard 2MB of RAM, 600-by-600-dpi maximum resolution, 150 sheets input, 100 sheets output. $199 888/388-2567 www.samsungusa.com