Comparative Study Test Results
Throughput Speed, Print Quality Analysis, Ease-of-Use/Functionality
HP Color LaserJet 2600n and Samsung CLP-300N Color Laser Printers
spencerLAB DIGITAL COLOR LABORATORY
Catherine Fiasconaro, Director
Spencer & Associates Publishing, Ltd.
David R Spencer, President Melville, New York 1.631.367.6655

January 2007

www.spencerlab.com

Agenda

Executive Summary
Project Objectives Test Results Overview
Throughput Speed Performance

Methodology Test Results

Print Quality Analysis
Ease-of-Use/Functionality
Executive Summary - Project Objectives
Conduct Comparative Testing and Analysis Throughput Speed Performance
Test from printer Ready and Powersave (sleep) modes Time intervals, including First Page Out and Total Print Times

Print Quality Analysis

Including elements of Text, Lines, Tints, Blends, and Images
Compare typical user experiences based upon set-up and installation, control panel interaction, printer driver/software, functionality, technical support, reliability, and general observations
Executive Summary Test Results Overview
Comparative Test and Analysis
On tested documents, the HP CLJ 2600n had TOTAL PRINT TIME speeds up to twice as fast as the Samsung CLP-300N On tested multi-page documents, the HP CLJ 2600n had faster FIRST PAGE OUT times than the Samsung CLP300N
HP CLJ 2600n produces higher quality output, superior to the Samsung CLP-300N in elements of Text, Black and Color Lines, Tints, Blends and Images HP CLJ 2600n renders excellent Images on specialty glossy and matte media
HP CLJ 2600n offers user-friendly features and reliability HP CLJ 2600n provides knowledgeable technical phone support The HP CLJ 2600n LCD control panel display and user-friendly printer driver interface, enable easy printer and consumable monitoring Samsung CLP-300N is lightweight and has a small footprint The Samsung CLP-300N does not support printing on glossy media Samsung CLP-300N phone support was inferior
Throughput Speed Performance Methodology

Test Documents

User-representative documents selected from the SpencerLab Printer Test Suite
Letter with Chart (MS Word) text with logo and graph, 1-page, 1 copy Newsletter (Adobe PDF) mixed text, graphics and photograph; 1-page, 15 copies Color & Print Quality Report (Adobe PDF) compound text, graphics and images in report format; 22-pages, 1 copy

Test Environment

PC configuration
3.0 GHz Dell OptiPlex Intel P4 workstation with a 40 GB hard drive and 512 MB RAM running Windows XP SP2 Connectivity via a 100Mb Ethernet network, one-at-a-time
Latest available printer drivers downloaded from manufacturer website
HP driver, version 5.6.1112.0. Firmware date code, 20051206 Samsung driver, version 1.63 for Windows XP
Print Driver and Printer State Modes
Plain Paper, default settings
HP CLJ 2600n = Plain, NORMAL Samsung CLP-300N = Plain Paper, NORMAL

Ready Mode

Printers forced to Ready state by sending a printer test file immediately prior to printing of test document

Powersave Mode

Printing from a Powersave (sleep) mode is typical of home/small office usage Test documents printed after having ensured that each printer entered its Powersave mode, at intervals of precisely sixty minutes Samsung CLP-300N set to enter Powersave mode at fifteen minutes of inactivity HP CLJ 2600n utilizes Instant-On Technology, entering Powersave mode immediately upon completion of print job

Test Timings

All measurement intervals begin with request-to-print (clicking PRINT in the applications print dialog box)
Engine Start, First Page Out, Last Page Out or Total Print Time
Timings over several iterations to assure accurate results within one percent +/- one second
Throughput Speed Performance Test Results
Letter with Chart 1-page, 1-copy

from Ready mode

from Powersave mode
HP CLJ 2600n delivered Faster Total Print Times than Samsung CLP-300N
- from both Ready and Powersave modes -
HP 6% faster TOTAL PRINT TIME than Samsung from Ready Mode HP 53% faster TOTAL PRINT TIME than Samsung from Powersave Mode
Testing performed using default driver settings for Plain paper
Throughput Speed Performance Test Results (contd)
Newsletter 1-page, 15-copies

0:32.3

0:33.0

0:52.6

HP CLJ 2600n delivered Faster Total Print Times and Faster First Page Out than Samsung CLP-300N
HP 43% faster TOTAL PRINT TIME than Samsung from Ready Mode HP 48% faster TOTAL PRINT TIME than Samsung from Powersave Mode HP 39% faster FIRST PAGE OUT TIME than Samsung from Powersave Mode
Testing performed using default driver settings for Plain Paper
Color & Print Quality Report 22-pages, 1 copy

0:26.6

0:26.3

0:28.9

0:49.7
HP 49% faster TOTAL PRINT TIME than Samsung from Ready Mode HP 52% faster TOTAL PRINT TIME than Samsung from Powersave Mode HP 47% faster FIRST PAGE OUT TIME than Samsung from Powersave Mode
Print Quality Analysis Methodology
Enhanced Black Color Spectrum Graphic RGB

Analysis Procedure

Results based on element types, including:
Text Lines Tints Blends Images Newsletter Photo Suite
SpencerLab Test Suite test documents utilized
Range of test documents, covering a variety of printing requirements Printed on each of the printers in a range of print modes Printed on regular office paper and specialty laser glossy and matte media A single printer of each manufacturer was used in analysis and assumed to be representative Test documents printed using Adobe Acrobat Reader 8.0

Castle Covered Bridge

Print Quality Analysis Results
Overall, the HP CLJ 2600n Print Quality is superior to Samsung CLP-300N

Black & Color Text

HP Text exceptionally sharp and well-rendered

Lines

HP Black and Color Lines are smooth and sharp

Tints

HP Tints are vibrant and smooth

Blends

HP Blends are uniform with even transitions Highlight areas appear a bit blown-out, and shadow areas overly dark

Images

HP Images are pleasing with sufficient richness and vibrancy High saturation sometimes results in loss of fine shadow details
HP CLJ 2600n color image reproductions are of excellent quality on regular and specialty media, particularly from a laser printer targeted for a typical office environment
Print quality generalizations apply to default modes, unless otherwise stated.
Print Quality Analysis Results (contd)

Black Text

HP CLJ 2600n
Superior to Samsung CLP-300N in sharpness and clarity Text is well-defined and fairly smooth Text legible to 2-point size and dropout free to 6-point size

Samsung CLP-300N

Text lacks sharpness and contains noticeable dropouts
Serifs not properly produced
Text is rendered a bit thick
Lower point sizes have reduced legibility
Magnification of 12-point Text

Color Text

Superior to Samsung CLP-300N with sharp, uniform, smooth, legible characters Excellent screening Legible to 4-point size
Text is grainy Screening patterns result in unsharp (fuzzy) Color Text Exhibits noticeable ghosting on colored background
Magnification of 10-point Text
Black and Color Lines are sharp and crisp
Color Lines produced on the Mazda car drawing are of exceptional quality, highlighting very fine details
Lines are clear and correctly rendered at requested thicknesses Thin Curved, Radial, and Angled Black Line renditions are good
Minor stepping on Thin Curved Lines under magnification
Black Lines are rendered a bit too thick, resulting in loss of fine detail Lines are not reproduced at the requested thickness
300 dpi, 600 dpi, 1200dpi, and 2400 dpi lines are produced with same thickness Thin Near Horizontal and Vertical Lines appear to merge
Thin Color Lines show visible screening and lack saturation
Appear as broken and dotted, resulting in detail loss
Magnification at approx. 350%
Tints are vibrant and smooth compared to Samsung CLP-300N Free from banding, mottle, and grain Black Tints have good differentiation at varying percentages (10%-90%) Tints
Tints exhibit noticeable screening patterns Solid Tints appear less saturated when compared to HP CLJ 2600n Black Tints (10%-90%) are uneven and inconsistent, with an overextended highlight area

Blends

Overall, Blends have smooth, consistent transitions Highlight areas appear a bit blown-out and shadow areas overly dark Minor screening patterns visible

Blends are comparably smooth Shadow Blends appear plugged and highlights washed out Harsh transitions and non-linearities present
HP CLJ 2600n Samsung CLP-300N
Magnification at approx. 210%

Images

Overall Image quality is superior to Samsung CLP-300N Images produced with excellent richness and high color differentiation, resulting in pleasing output
Skintones are a rendered with a magenta cast, but are pleasing Images can sometimes appear too saturated, resulting in loss of fine shadow detail
Images are smooth in comparison to the Samsung
No visible banding, mottle, grain
Highest quality image rendition when printing on HP Color Laser Photo Paper, Matte media
Images were realistic and vibrant, without being overly saturated
Images lack richness and contrast
Colors produced are flat, resulting in dull and lifeless prints Lack of detail, depth, and clarity
Images have noticeable print artifacts
Horizontal and vertical banding visible Machine streaks noticeable in large blue (sky) regions
Images have acceptable color fidelity
Skintones and grass areas are a rendered with a yellow cast
Magnification at approx. 100%
Ease-of-Use/Functionality Findings Installation & Set-Up
Easy installation of both HP CLJ 2600n and Samsung CLP-300N printers
The HP CLJ 2600n printer is ready to be used out-of-box, with toner and consumables factory installed During Samsung CLP-300N initial toner cartridge installation, user failed to seat one of the toner cartridges properly
This resulted in disturbing machine noises; the control panel failed to generate an error signal Problem was fixed after powering down the printer and re-seating the toner cartridges
Samsung CLP-300N is lightweight with a small footprint, and can be lifted and moved by one person HP and Samsung ship with easy-to-understand setup poster and CD-ROM containing all required printer drivers/software Simple, easy to follow on-screen installation instructions
HP CLJ 2600n and Samsung CLP-300N ship with CD-ROM based User Guide, not printed hardcopies Samsung CLP-300N ships with a printed Network Printer Quick Guide

Control Panel

HP CLJ 2600n control panel consists of a 2-line LCD display
Provides text information, including but not limited to, Toner Low, Paper Jams, Paper Out, Printer Errors, and Printer Status Advanced functions such as Paper Setup, Service/Maintenance, Network Configuration, Print Quality, etc. can be performed directly from the control panel

Samsung CLP-300N has no text display
Control panel has LED lights that provide basic information on Toner Low, Paper Jams, Paper Out, Printer Errors, and Printer Status Relies on printer driver interface for advanced printer monitoring and troubleshooting
Findings based upon evaluators' experiences during testing of single HP CLJ 2600n and Samsung CLP-300N printers, assumed to be representative. Some information based upon respective printer User/Owners Manual.
Ease-of-Use Findings/Functionality (contd) Consumables

HP CLJ 2600n

The HP ships with full-size toner cartridges: page yields of 2,500 Black and 2,000 Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow Print Cartridges (yields at 5% coverage) HP CLJ 2600n Print Cartridges are the only user-replaceable part Eliminates frequent human interventions due to simple and easy maintenance HP SureSupply allows toner re-ordering, with ease and real-time availability

Samsung CLP-300N

Samsung CLP-300N ships with starter-size toner cartridges: page yields of 1,500 Black, and 700 Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow at 5% coverage (as opposed to full-size replacement cartridges that have page yields of 2,000 Black, and 1,000 Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow) Samsung CLP-300N has additional user-replaceable components, in addition to the four toner cartridges
Imaging Drum Cartridge (manufacturer rated life of approx 20,000 pages) Waste Toner Powder Collection Bottle (manufacturer rated life of approx 5,000 pages)
Supply re-ordering through printer driver directs user to third-party websites; real-time data not always available

Operating Systems

HP CLJ 2600n currently supports OS versions of Windows and Mac Samsung supports OS versions of Windows, Mac, and various flavors of Linux
Ease-of-Use Findings/Functionality (contd)

Media support

HP CLJ 2600N supports glossy and matte varieties of Photo, Brochure, and Presentation media types, in addition to plain paper, envelopes, transparencies, labels, and cardstock
Not all supported media types are listed in the printer driver

Samsung CLP-300N does not support glossy media; only supports plain envelopes, transparencies, labels, and cardstock

Paper Input Capacity

HP CLJ 2600N has 500-page input capacity
Standard 250-sheet input is expandable with an optional 250-sheet tray
Samsung CLP-300N has 150-sheet non-expandable input capacity

Technical Support

HP Telephone Support was knowledgeable and helpful
Identified print driver settings for printing on new specialty HP glossy and matte photo laser media without difficulty or hesitation HP Instant Support Professional Edition not supported for HP CLJ 2600n printer
Samsung Telephone Support was unable to provide consistent, factual assistance on Sales and Technical issues
During the period from September 2006 through November 2006, Samsung CLP-300N printers were unavailable and subsequently, backordered at most retailers. Calls were placed to Samsung regarding availability, however Samsung support personnel were unable to provide detailed retailer (online and brick-and-mortar) locations, stock inventory information, or provide an expected ship date In the absence of satisfactory online support and documentation, calls were placed to Samsung Technical Support regarding printing on glossy and specialty media. Samsung staff were unable to recommend or advise on media alternatives or print driver settings; it was only during subsequent phone calls that user was cautioned against using any type of glossy media
Observations based on multiple calls, at various times, to both manufacturers
Ease-of-Use/Functionality Findings General Observations
HPs Instant-On technology allows for faster First Page Out times
Irrespective of sleep time (i.e. 5 min, 15 mins, 30 min, or overnight), the HP CLJ 2600N produced consistent Fist Page Out times
HP accommodates a variety of media weights and finishes
Handles up to 220 g/m2 weight paper Able to print on glossy and matte photo media
Samsung CLP-300N has restricted recommended media choices
Maximum basis paper weight restriction of 163 g/m2 Inability to print on glossy laser media is a significant disadvantage
Samsung CLP-300N not readily available in the marketplace
At time of test (9/06 -11/06), printer was on not available and was on back-order at most retailers Samsung sales support was unable to provide accurate and satisfactory information on printer availability
HP CLJ 2600n and Samsung CLP-300N displayed machine issues, on tested printers

The HP CLJ 2600n output had discernable toner splatter throughout the page, especially at right vertical edge The Samsung CLP-300N exhibited excessive banding
HP CLJ 2600n and Samsung CLP-300N experienced no failures or paper jams during the tests
This research was conducted by SpencerLab Digital Color Laboratory, under commission by the Hewlett-Packard Company. Research results and analysis represent our best knowledge at the time of publication, and are based upon testing procedures developed and implemented by SpencerLab in our continuing commitment to accuracy, integrity, and our broad base of industry clients. Usage of derivative works requires permission from SpencerLab prior to distribution.