Samsung ML-2955 Laser Printer Drivers and Software

If you’re short on space in your home office but need a laser printer to pump out pages quickly, the Samsung ML-2955 monochrome laser model is a good option.

Design and Functions

The Samsung ML-2955 is tiny compared to most laser printers I review. Its footprint is only 348 x 338 mm and it is only 197 mm tall. This makes it ideal for use in home offices, especially those where space is limited.

While I wouldn’t call this model stylish, the combination of its small size and nicely rounded edges make it look rather cute by laser printer standards. The cream color scheme is a bit unimaginative, however.

The 150-sheet output tray is located on the top of the printer. This has a dust cover that must be opened when the printer is in use. As with most laser models, there is a cassette-style paper feed tray on the bottom of the case. This sticks out from the back of the case and Samsung doesn’t provide a cover for it. If the printer is not used for a while, dust may accumulate on the top sheet of paper.

There is a door above the input tray that you push inward to release and expose the multi-purpose input bypass. This can take one sheet at a time and is handy for printing non-standard paper sizes such as envelopes and labels.

Unfortunately, the control panel at the top right does not contain a display. Instead, only two LED indicators show the status of the printer. The symbols above these LEDs are not very clear and you will have to refer to the manual to see what most light and flashing combinations mean.

Below the LEDs are buttons for Eco mode, Wi-Fi setup, job cancel, and power. The lack of a screen means it’s a printer that you manage primarily from your computer rather than the control panel.

However, the Eco button is handy as it puts the printer into a power saver, paper saver and toner saver mode. Here it prints two pages per sheet and also prints on both sides of the page while using less toner during the process. The results are well suited for office tasks such as printing a printout to review your work off-screen or for use as notes in a meeting.

This model supports USB, Ethernet and Wi-Fi connectivity and setting it up is an effortless process. The instructions are even printed on the top of the box. All you need to do is insert the included CD into your computer and follow the on-screen instructions to connect it locally via USB or share it across multiple computers on your home network.

Print Quality and Speed

Print quality was uniformly good for both text and graphics. Black text was very crisp and sharp and looked deep and dark on the page. It also handled shading very well in my graphics tests. Even the photos on my test site retained many of the more difficult shadow details.

It’s not the fastest printer on the block, but given its smaller size, the Samsung ML-2955 doesn’t do badly. My 10-page text document was completed in 34 seconds and it took 57 seconds to create a two-page version of it. A 10-page graphics test took 32 seconds, while my 10-page business presentation completed in exactly the same time.

Printing Costs

The printer comes with a starter cartridge that is good for 1,000 pages. The standard cartridge has a lifespan of 2,500 pages. Using this cartridge, printing costs will be around 3.6p per page, including 0.7p for paper costs. That’s pretty high for a monochrome laser model.

Related Printer: Samsung ML-2950ND

Conclusion

The Samsung ML-2955 has a lot to offer. It’s easy to set up and use, it produces good quality prints, and its small size will be welcomed by people with cramped work spaces.