It doesn’t happen that one printer model has been available in stores for several years. Indeed, each manufacturer, striving to achieve excellence in price and quality, annually improves the technical performance of its devices and offers them on the market under the guise of new modifications. An exception to these rules is the Samsung SCX 3400 multi-function device . Having a low cost, the laser printer quickly found its fans due to the low cost of printing, low cost of maintenance and the availability of low-cost components on the market.
He who wants to save, chooses simple but reliable mechanisms
That is exactly what the Russian population makes purchases in the territory of the former USSR. Who can afford the extra costs, prefers more expensive brands like Kyocera or even buys a color laser printer, since recently the price of devices has dropped significantly. Other buyers will be interested in the low-cost Samsung SCX 3400 printer, reviews of which can be found in the media, and most of them will be positive.
In addition to the standard modification of the “harvester”, which can scan, print and make blueprints, the manufacturer presented models with Wi-Fi, built-in fax and LAN. However, the demand for these devices was so low that it was decided to leave only the basic model on the shelves. And the manufacturer did not fail.
Consumables - the main earnings of manufacturers
Maybe in Europe and America every month to buy new cartridges for office equipment is considered the norm, but in the post-Soviet countries this is equivalent to luxury. And what's the point of throwing out a cartridge that is fully operational? The MFP Samsung SCX 3400 is interesting in that any user can independently fill up the toner that has run out and continue to use the cartridge for more than one year. In addition, you also need to remove the protection in the printer, which looks like a chip installed on the device’s cartridge. The principle of its action is quite simple - the toner is out, the chip is closed. The printer sees the status of the chip and refuses to print. This problem can be solved in three ways, which depend on the printer firmware and cartridge modification.
- If the chip on the cartridge is green, it can be sealed with tape and the problem will be solved.
- The problem can be solved by the firmware of the printer itself, which was assembled by craftsmen and posted on the Internet. The firmware forces the printer to ignore the chip data.
- Buying a universal chip for Samsung SCX 3400. A cartridge with this chip will constantly inform the printer that it is full.
Options and appearance of the device
When you open the box with the Samsung SCX 3400 printer, the instructions for unpacking and assembling lies in the open form in the foreground and immediately catches your eye. In addition to the instructions, device, starter cartridge, interface cable and power cord, in the box the user will find several disks with software, digging into the contents of which, he will find a lot of interesting things.
In appearance, the device looks unattractive. For Samsung office equipment, this is quite acceptable, because the manufacturer is positioned on the market as an inexpensive device. Those who used laser printers from other manufacturers will like the cartridge installation compartment - installation is done in a split second, without dancing with a tambourine, as is customary with HP and Xerox.
Device functionality
The Samsung SCX 3400 printer is marketed as a device for the home and small office. According to the manufacturer, the monthly print load should not exceed ten thousand pages. Judging by the numerous reviews of many users, this indicator for unknown reasons is underestimated by the manufacturer twice, and the printer copes with a load of 20 thousand pages per month without much effort. The declared print speed is 20 pages per minute, and the output of the first print is about 10 seconds. Built-in memory of 64 megabytes is enough to print a large amount of information with pictures at a maximum resolution of 1200x1200 dpi. Copy speed is fully consistent with the characteristics of printing, and there is nothing to complain about. But the characteristics of the scanner have a lot of questions.
Oddities with the scanner in the MFP
The built-in scanner and software from the manufacturer are unique in the Samsung SCX 3400 MFP. Owner reviews confirm this fact. At first, everything looks natural. The software is installed without problems, the scanner is detected and scans very quickly, which is not surprising, because a CIS contact sensor with an optical resolution of 600x600 dpi is installed with the support of TWAIN and WIA standards. But if the user is immersed in the possibilities of software that offers high-quality photo scanning, problems appear. Firstly, the scanning speed, which drops significantly. The improved resolution of the scanner 4800x4800 dpi, which the manufacturer claims, is achieved programmatically and can not affect the scanning speed. In addition, there is a big negative for saving scanned documents. Was it really difficult to use popular formats, including batch scanning PDF? Fortunately, the third-party application VueScan is available on the Internet, which will save the user from all problems with the scanner.
Decent savings on everything
As with any other laser printer, it is better not to talk about energy savings during printing. Where there is a stove operating at a high temperature, rapid heating is also required, so 310 watts per hour is a completely natural consumption. But in standby mode 30 watts (and in anticipation of 1 watts) for Samsung SCX 3400 is a very economical indicator. In addition to electricity, the printer can save on toner, and for this you do not need to deal with the driver settings, looking for the desired parameter. There is an “Eco Mode” button on the device’s control panel, which reduces toner consumption by eight times when printing. Such functionality is very convenient when white streaks are detected during printing, indicating the end of the toner. Do not forget that with constant economical printing, the photo drum quickly fails, so Eco Mode should not be used on an ongoing basis.
There is something to complain about
About the Samsung SCX 3400 MFP, the majority of the reviews are positive. However, there are a number of questions that are unlikely to be answered by the manufacturers of this device.
- There is no paper limiter in the tray, which is why during frequent printing you need to constantly adjust the stack of paper, otherwise the pickup roller constantly tries to pick up several sheets.
- When the paper runs out of the tray, the printer pauses printing. The absence of a paper sensor and a button that enables continued printing will baffle even a specialist. To continue printing, open and close the cartridge compartment cover.
- The paper feed tray protrudes 10 cm from the front of the printer and does not have a protective cover. According to many users, the cause of the printer repair is the banal ingress of foreign objects into the printer mechanism.
Finally
If you think logically, without finding fault with the manufacturer’s minor flaws, then when you buy a Samsung SCX 3400 laser MFP, the user gets an inexpensive and very reliable device that will work for more than one year. In addition, as you know, the cost of laser printing is several times lower than that of inkjet competitors. Naturally, with the right chip and self-refueling, you can save a lot of money. To do this, the user needs only a little patience and desire to upgrade the device. And attentiveness during operation will help extend the life of the device by preventing paper clips and other foreign objects from being pulled by paper into the mechanism of this wonderful device.