Product Review: Samsung ML1740 Laser Printer: Getting Bang for Your Buck

I rarely do color printing and have always loved laser printers for their cost effectiveness and speed and quality of simple black and white and greyscale printing. Just 15 years ago a black and white laser printer could cost you 4 or 5 thousand dollars. When the printer broke down or needed some kind of repair, the cost to bring it to a professional shop cost more than what laser printers sell for now, new. It was time to get rid of my big bulky and heavy HP laser printer for something new. I had used HP ink jet printers before and mostly used them for black and white printing but still, even when designating the printer to only print in black, the color ink still got sucked up and was costly to replace. The HP inkjets I have used, left me impatient because they were slow to print, even when I was only printing in black and white. So, I decided for my main printer I wanted a laser printer again and I wanted the most economical printer I could buy. One feature that was important to me was to have a paper tray that could slide in like a drawer. I also wanted the printer papers to have a good deal of space to rest when stacked. One of the things I disliked about inkjets was that I had to frequently add paper and that I had to remove printed items almost as fast as they were printed because of how flim flam the unit was. Laser printers have spoiled me.

After visiting Best Buy, Staples, and MicroCenter in person. I also visited Office Depot and Office Max online and saw what my choices were. I was led again and again to the Samsung ML1740 Laser Printer which was priced at $99. When I read all the features and actually saw a few test pages printed in the store, I decided I would take a chance on this cheap laser printer which happened to have a 1 year warranty. I figured if it could last a year, I got my money's worth.

I have had the Samsung ML1740 Laser Printer for close to 3 years now and it is still going strong. I was surprising pleased with my purchase and it has exceeded my expectations.

The Samsung ML1740 Laser Printer has a 66 MHz processor, and 8 MB memory . It has a Toner save feature that reduces toner consumption up to 40 percent. It is PC and Linux compatible and it can hook up to a USB port or parallel port.

The Samsung ML1740 Laser Printer is able to print both letter and legal size and cards and envelopes and labels. It could also handle the occasional need for printing on coverstock papers. The Samsung ML1740 Laser Printer has the ability to print up to 15 thousand pages per month, which is more than I would need to print. However I do periodically print large user manuals of products I buy, or large print jobs that could fill a 3 ring binder.

The Samsung ML1740 Laser Printer has performed well on no matter which paper I have used. It has also been reliable. It is attractive and compact and the toner refills cost about $75. I refill toner about once every 8 months. The same amount of printing on an inkjet and I would be refilling ink about every month. So it is clear to me how much cost effective the The Samsung ML1740 Laser Printer is for monochrome printing.

The Samsung ML1740 Laser Printer comes with a paper tray, and a starter toner cartridge. You can hand feed printing or just print from your storage tray. I love having an internal paper tray, especially having pets, this feature is practical and convenient. It also cuts down on the amount of moisture and humidity your paper can absorb in the hot summer months.

The Samsung ML1740 Laser Printer prints much faster than ink jets. Refilling the toner cartridge is also easy and less tricky than when I have had to refill injets. The drum and toner are combined, so unlike some of the Brother and Minolta laser printers, the The Samsung ML1740 Laser Printer has a single consumable replacement cost. This laser printer has a sleep mode also.

The Samsung ML1740 Laser Printer has been good to me. I never had a paper jam, which is amazing. The software and drivers installed easily and cleanly. Also I keep my printer turned on all the time except during thunder storms. I find the printing to yield a fairly low noise level, I mostly hear a minor clickety clack sound of the rollers spitting out the printed pages, but it is a very low noise and I never even notice it. In fact I only remembered the noise because I just printed a page so I could comment on the sound for this review.

I highly recommend the The Samsung ML1740 Laser Printer for a small home office or for personal use, if all you need is a monochrome printer. Even if you use a color inkjet printer, it is worth having the The Samsung ML1740 Laser Printer for all your monochrome jobs. The speed and cost effectiveness will amaze you.