Samsung ML-2525W Laser Printer Review

Using the Samsung ML-2525W

This is a speedy little printer, printing at 24ppm. It also starts up quickly. In our tests pages began printing in 7-10 seconds, although the single-sheet feed was a little slower. The 1200 x 1200 dpi resolution produces text that is sharp and grayscale photos that have excellent contrast.

The ML-2525 has a generous 250-sheet paper tray. It also has a single-sheet feed on the front for printing envelopes, labels, and card stock. The printer handled these types of papers quite well. If the single sheet that you are trying to print on comes out wrinkled, you can adjust the pressure by using the pressure release levers which are located inside the back door of the printer. These small green levers are shown in Figure 10. While this is a bit cumbersome, it does work, allowing you to use slightly thicker papers and envelopes.

Figure 10: The pressure release.

Whether you print a single sheet or from the paper tray, the paper is fed out through the top of the printer which holds about 80 sheets. It supports only manual duplexing.

The ML-2525W has a suggested price of USD 149.99 and has a baby brother, the ML-2525 that retails for USD 119.99. Most of the specs of these two printers are comparable, including the speed and 12,000 page monthly duty cycle. The biggest difference comes in the fact that the 2525-W comes with a 360 MHz processor with 64 MB of memory compared to the ML-2525’s 150 MHz processor and 8MB of memory. The ML-2525W also has an Ethernet port that the ML-2525 lacks.

We were, however, disappointed to find that the more expensive 2525W lacks one of the really nice features of the 2525. The ML-2525 has an Easy Screen Print button which allows the user to press a button on the printer and have it print either the entire contents of the screen or the active window. We were stymied as to why this nice, innovative feature was left off the more expensive 2525W.

As is the unfortunately the norm for these types of printers, this Samsung comes with a 1,000-page starter cartridge. The standard cartridge is rated to print 1,500 sheets. One nice feature is that this printer also has a 2,500 page high-yield cartridge. At the time we write this, the Samsung website is offering the standard cartridge for USD 62.99 and the high yield cartridge for USD 74.99. Purchasing the high yield cartridge can obviously lower the cost of consumables.

The Samsung AnyWeb Print software that we mentioned earlier is a nice program. It installs on the Internet Explorer toolbar and allows the user to collect information from several different web pages and organize that information into a print layout. Clips from the web page can be dragged and dropped onto the page to be printed. The page can then be printed or saved in various file formats including PDF. This can be very useful for collecting and saving information as well as saving on paper and toner.

We have a few gripes about the software. First is the fact that it has no instructions. You have to either find your own way around or use the instructions in the help menu. Second is the fact that it can only be used with Internet Explorer, leaving Firefox, Mac, Linux, Opera, and Chrome users out. Third is the fact that it can install without any visual indication that it is available. You may have to click the “more” arrows on the toolbar at the top right of the screen to see the icon you need to bring up the program. Although this is typical for all programs of this type, it can be a problem for a neophyte user. We would like to see Samsung give detailed instruction for AnyWeb Print and give the user the option to install it with the other software.