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Samsung SCX 4725FN 4 in 1 Multifunction Network Laser Printer


OVERVIEW:  Now days, most of the “all-in-one” printers in stores today don’t have “all” the features of the older generation ones. As printers have gotten smaller and sending scanned documents via e-mail has become acceptable for many businesses, the fax feature has been eliminated.  However, there are still times when you run across a client or a business that will only accept faxed documents. The Samsung SCX-4725FN is a 4-in-1 printer that offers network printing, scanning, copying, and faxing.

PROS:
After a 30 second warm-up, the SCX-4725FN prints and copies at 24 pages per minute, with 10-second delays between print jobs. In operation, the 4-in-1 produces 53dB of sound and 35dB when idle. Think of 53dB as the sound of low conversations and 30 decibels as a quiet office.

The control panel on the SCX-4725FN provides functions for the copier and fax including a programmable phone book list. A pass-through external phone jack on the back of the printer allows for plugging a telephone or an answering machine. If a fax comes in while the copier or printer is in use, 4MB of memory is reserved to store incoming faxes until the copying or printing is complete. For security, incoming faxes can be stored in memory, requiring a 4-digit PIN to print out.

The SCX-4725FN comes standard with a 250-sheet tray, capable of handling up to legal-size paper. The single-sheet multi-purpose tray can handle transparencies, labels, post cards, envelopes, 3” x 5” postcards up to 8½” x 14” legal paper of various bond weights.

At 1200 x 1200 dpi resolution in print mode, the SCX-4725FN keeps text sharp--even at 6-point font sizes--and does a decent job with graphics. To keep from consuming too much toner, the printer has a 600 dpi resolution with a text-enhance or image-enhance switch.  The Toner Save feature allows for a 40% toner life increase while keeping images clear and readable.

The “N” in SCX-4725FN is for “networking”.  Having built-in Ethernet network support and a hi-speed USB, this multifunction is right at home either in the middle of an office floor or connected to a secretary’s computer. The built-in 32MB of printer memory enables the SCX-4725FN to handle printing workloads from multiple computers.

Understanding the printing needs of today’s businesses in providing support for the major software applications, Samsung has installed print emulators that should satisfy the most diverse office. Emulators include PostScript3, HP PCL6 and Samsungs own proprietary print language, SPL.

CONS:
The only downside is the software package seems to skimp on features, especially for Mac OS users. It would be nice if Samsung’s SmartThru4 software expanded its Windows features to Linux and Mac OS systems.

INK / TONER NEEDS:
The monochrome toner that is included is only 50% full, which is something to remember before you decide on copying several hundred pages a shot. Samsung’s so-called “high yield” cartridge has an average yield of 3,000 pages. (No standard-yield cartridge is offered.)

SOFTWARE:
Being a multi-purpose printer, one would expect the software to provide full functions for all the computer platforms Samsung claims it supports.  The software in the CD-ROM is primarily for Windows compatible machines. For Windows users, the SmartThru4 software provides the most features, supporting not only scanning and printing, but offering an advanced printing section that allows for booklet printing, creating a large poster mosaics, and watermarks.

The Linux software package is not included with the CD and has to be downloaded from Samsung’s website to support printer and scanning functions. The Linux Unified Driver Configurator software allows for scanned images to manipulated and edited.  For Macintosh users, the CD-ROM has a couple of basic drivers for printing and a TWAIN driver for scanning. There is no additional software support: you either must have a 3rd party application that manages scanners or use the Mac’s own Image Capture (only available on Mac OS 10.4.7 and higher).
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