As a small business owner, finding a quality printer that does everything you need is not an easy task. Do I need duplex capability? How often will I need to print in color? Will it be on the network? Do I need to scan files or fax documents to clients? How often do I want to refill the paper tray and replace the toner cartridge? These are all important questions to ask yourself before swiping your card at Staples for your next printer. If you know what you want, Samsung's website can help pick out a suitable printer for your needs.

For the small office user or home network, the most common features required will be duplex and network capability. The duplex feature cuts down on how much paper you use and network capability allows you to easily share the printer amongst various computers. It's hard to find a printer that doesn't come with these features. The Samsung SCX-5635FN Monochrome Multifunction Printer does all of this and more. It is capable of scanning and faxing as well as printing in duplex and serving all your network users.

Page 2 : Package Contents & Printer Overview

The SCX-5635FN comes in a rather plain brown cardboard box with blue print outlining the features of the SCX-5635FN. The thick Styrofoam inserts do a good protecting the printer and accessories on the inside.

Included in the package we have the toner tucked away in a little padded pocket and the cables, manuals and software packaged in another pocket.

The printer itself is wrapped in a plastic bag and we can see that it is centered in the box with either an air gap between the printer and the cardboard or fitted into a section of Styrofoam.

While the printer is multifunctional, it does not take up an enormous amount of retail space. Over the years I have seen regular print-only printers shrink in size but most MFP office printers have expanded in capability but kept the same overall size. The SCX-5635FN is almost a 47cm cube.

On the front of the printer we have the paper output tray capable of holding 150 sheets. The front panel also pulls down to allow for toner installation or for the use of the manual feeder. The input paper tray is located at the very bottom and we'll take a look at that during the setup of the printer.

The sides are fairly plain; we do have access to the motherboard for additional RAM installation.

On the back we have the power plug, USB and network connections. There is also a pull down tray to allow for once-through printer, drum replacement and paper jam maintenance.

On the top of the printer we have the scanning glass, control panel and automatic feeder for mass scanning and copying. The top of the feeder can be lifted for maintenance or removal of paper jams.

The last bit to look at the printer is the bottom. There's not too much to see but it's worth pointing out that the printer sits on four non-adjustable rubber stubs. The stubs provide adequate vibration dampening and the weight of the printer ensures it doesn't get easily pushed around.

With our tour complete, we'll focus on the specifications followed by setting up the printer and doing some test prints.

Page 3 : Features & Specifications

A quick Google search lead me to the specifications and features of the SCX-5635FN.

Here are the features:

Here are the specifications:

This is no doubt a very capable printer for the home office. I would say that it's not as great for a home office where there are students around as they may actually need a multi-functional printer that prints in color for reports but for everyone else, a black & white printer, copier and color scanner will do 99% of your work load.

Page 4 : Setup & Software Installation

The setup of the printer is quite easy and can be completed in less than 30 minutes by any user. The first step is to pull the front cover down to install the toner. We saw in previous pages, a starter toner is included in the package. It's good practice to turn the cartridge over a few times to break up any clumps and ensure uniform distribution.

Once the toner has been installed you will need to fill the paper tray. This tray can be pulled out from the bottom and a stack of 250 sheets can be stored.

Once the paper tray has been returned to the closed position, you will need to plug in the power and whatever data connection you prefer (USB or network).

At this point in time you can start using the SCX=5635FN as it will scan and copy any document you throw at it. However, a printer is far more useful when a computer can print to it. A driver CD has been included to provide you with print drivers as well as applications to monitor health and provide tools to utilize all of the features included with the SCX-5635FN. To begin, the installation is very simple and the installer will only ask you a few questions to streamline the installation.

The software gives you access to the online web management tool, on-screen display for printer performance through the proprietary SmartThru Office.

The On-Screen Display gives you a quick overview of the printer status but let's you dig deeper into the printer and driver settings.

It covers the basics: paper orientation, quality, layout, duplex, paper details: copies, options, scaling, graphics: font/text, toner save mode, advanced settings: watermark, overlay, output order, Samsung help, updates, supplies and registration.

The SmartThru Office software allows you to manage your entire scan and adjust some settings as well as fax documents.

One of the nicest features of a network printer, apart from being able to print from any computer on the network, is that you can manage all of the printer maintenance details from any computer.

• Information

• Machine Status: General
• Machine Status: Other
• Supplies Status
• Billing/Counter
• Network Information
• Firmware Version
• Print Information

• Machine Settings

• System Setup: Machine Setup
• System Setup: Paper Setup
• System Setup: Sound/Volume Setup
• Printer Setup: PCL
• Printer Setup: PostScript
• Copy Setup
• Fax Setup: General Setup
• Fax Forward Setup: General Setup
• Fax Forward Setup: Fax to Email
• Fax Forward Setup: Fax to Server
• User Authentication: General Setup
• Email Setup: SMTP Server Setup
• Email Setup: SMTP Client Setup
• Email Setup: Individual Address Book
• Email Setup: Group Address Book
• FTP Setup: FTP General Setup
• FTP Setup: Server List
• FTP Setup: Clear Memory
• SMB Setup: SMB General Setup
• SMB Setup: Server List
• SMB Setup: Clear Memory
• E-Mail Notification Setup
• Interface Setup
• LDAP Server Setup
• Secure Web
• Reset

• Network Settings

• General
• EtherTalk
• TCP/IP
• Raw TCP/IP, LPR< IPP
• SLP
• IP Filtering
• UPnP
• SNMP: Traps
• SNMP: SNMP Community
• SNMP: SNMP v3
• Reset

• Maintenance

• Firmware Upgrade
• Security

• Support

• Contact Information
• Link

Alternatively, if you prefer to configure and troubleshoot at the printer, the on0screen display is not as detailed but provides sufficient information to solve most problems.

On-Screen Display Menu:

• Scan Feature

• USB Feature
• Email Feature
• FTP Feature
• SMB Feature

• Scan Setup

• Change Default

• System Setup

• Machine Setup
• Paper Setup
• Sound/Volume
• Report
• Maintenance
• Clear Setting

• Network

• TCP/IP
• Ethernet Speed
• Clear Setting
• Network Info.

Let's do some printing!

Page 5 : Performance & Power Consumption

The primary purpose of any printer is to print. As the SCX-5635FN is a multifunctional printer we will also be doing some scanning. I find copying is a combination of both scanning and printing so we won't be focusing too much on that.

The SCX-5635FN has a listed print speed of 35 pages per minute. Using this text document, I managed 36 pages per minute with the first page hitting the output tray around the 9 second mark. Samsung lists 8.5 seconds. Switching to duplex mode, I managed to reach a print speed of 18.4 sheets per minute, Samsung lists 18. So far it looks like we're spot on.

The print quality is pretty good; there are no streaks of toner on any of the lines. Here's a scan generated by the SCX-5635FN. The print and scan are set to the best quality possible.

I also printed 5 color pictures in black and white: Image 1, Image 2, Image 3, Image 4, Image 5. I would say that it's not uncommon that you accidentally print pictures in text mode so I wanted to include the results of that as well.

Color Photos Printed Mono – Best Photo Mode

Color Photos Printed Mono – Normal Photo Mode

Color Photos Printed Mono – Best Text Mode

Color Photos Printed Mono – Normal Text Mode

There is definitely a very clear difference when it comes to text and photo quality. The shades are more gradual with the photo mode and the print job certainly has a much finer appearance. Even the difference between a normal and best quality level is apparent. If you want to save money and extend the life of your toner you will certainly save a lot by printing in normal text mode compared to best photo mode.

The last section I want to cover is power consumption. This is not an easy task as the power usage jumps throughout the entire print job. For my measurements I recorded the power usage display of my Power Angel as I printed my single-sided Word document. I did this for three print jobs and averaged the readings; I also recorded the peak recording. This should give a reasonable indication of how much the SCX_5635FN draws while printing, and it's a lot. The average wattage drawn during a print job was 537W! Scanning any document used a reasonable 35 watts and when the printer is sleeping, 12 watts are drawn.

At work where I use a variety of Canon and Xerox printers, copiers, scanners and fax machines, I frequently encounter paper jams bringing my productivity to a halt. I've owned a predecessor of the SCX-5635FN and it has yet to jam on me after a few thousand print jobs. Samsung has done a remarkable amount of engineering to ensure as little maintenance as possible required.

Page 6 : Conclusion

The Samsung SCX-5635FN multi-functional printer is definitely capable of doing many things for the home or office. It is able to print a single sided Word document at 36 pages per minute or 18 sheets per minute in duplex, essentially saving you paper while not slowing down your print job. The level of detail on the scanning and capabilities offered through SmartThru Office and on the printer itself makes for a very versatile unit. You won't have to spend time copying at one machine and faxing at another – it can all be done with the SCX-5635FN.

The various levels of print quality are no gimmick and the ability save toner will only extend the life of the printer and save you money. The SCX-5635FN retails around $430 to $500 and a replacement 5,000 page yield toner will set you back another $90 once the starter toner runs out. While this isn't chump change and costs more than the competition, a quality printer you can rely on is worth spending money on. The last thing you want to deal with hours before a deadline is dealing with a paper jam or poor print quality.

• Advantages

• Variety of features covers most user requirements
• Fast print speed
• Reliable printing – no paper jams

• Disadvantages

• High power consumption
• Expensive to own

I'd like to thank Samsung for making this review possible.