Samsung SCX-4623FN Laser Multifunction Printer Driver and Software

The Samsung SCX-4623FN is small enough to serve as a personal monolaser MFP (multifunction printer) in any size office and powerful enough to share in a micro office. It offers all the MFP features you are likely to need. In many ways it’s just one of many, with speed and paper handling suitable for the job but far from dazzling. However, if text quality is important to you, this could be the MFP of your choice.

Printing high-quality text is one of the few things the Samsung SCX-4623FN does better than the Editors’ Choice in this category, the slightly more expensive Canon imageClass MF4570dn ($299 list, 4 stars). It also offers WiFi support which the Canon printer lacks. On the other hand, it does not include a duplexer for double-sided printing, even as an option, a feature that is standard on the MF4570dn.

Like the Canon MF4570dn, the Samsung SCX-4623FN is a bit large at 12.6 x 16.4 x 16.1 inches (HWD) to share a desk, but small enough that it shouldn’t be heavy, even in one Typical home space to find secretariat.

Basic functions include printing, scanning and faxing, even over a network, and operating as a standalone copy and fax machine. The 40-sheet automatic document feeder (ADF) allows for easy scanning of multi-page documents and accommodates legal-size paper that is too large to fit on the flatbed.

Paper handling is limited, but should be sufficient for a personal or micro-office MFP with a 250-sheet main tray and a 1-sheet manual feed. However, if you need more than that, you’ll have to look elsewhere. Samsung does not sell optional add-ons.

Speed

The setup of the Samsung SCX-4623FN was absolutely typical of the breed. For my testing, I connected it to a network using the Ethernet port and ran the tests from a system running Windows Vista.

The results were somewhat surprising, as the printer performed lower than one would expect from its 23 pages per minute (ppm) rating, which is close to the speed you should see when printing text files without graphics or photos.

I clocked the printer at an effective 6.3 pages per minute (ppm) in our business application suite (using QualityLogic’s hardware and software for timing), which makes it significantly slower than the less expensive HP LaserJet Pro M1212nf MFP ( $199, 3.5 stars). I reviewed last year.

Despite a rating of 4ppm slower than the Samsung printer, the M1212nf was 5ppm faster in our testing, at 11.3ppm. As another reference point, the MF4570dn came in at 12.3 ppm. Overall, the Samsung SCX-4623FN’s speed is fast enough that you gen

Output Quality

The text quality of the Samsung SCX-4623FN is a strength. Quite simply, even if you have an unusual need for small font sizes, you shouldn’t have any problems with it.

Graphics and photo output aren’t quite at the same high level, but both are more than acceptable for most business needs. The graphics in my testing were at the lower end of a very narrow range where most mono laser MFPs score, and were good enough for any internal business use.

You may or may not consider them good enough to hand out to important clients who you want to impress with a sense of your professionalism. Photo output is par for the course for mono laser MFPs, meaning it’s suitable for printing photos in customer newsletters or printing recognizable images of photos on web pages

Related Printer: Samsung SCX-4600

Although the Samsung SCX-4623FN doesn’t offer any particularly flashy features, it manages to offer a fairly attractive balance between speed, paper handling, MFP features, output quality and price. Even if text quality isn’t that important to you, it’s a sensible choice. However, if you absolutely must have the high text quality, this might be the MFP you’re looking for.