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Sunday, September 16, 2012

New acquisition: Samsung ML-2165w printer

Last week I ordered a laser printer for me in a Brazilian web site (I live Brazil by the way). I made the order on last Monday night and it arrived here last Saturday morning, that's half of the ETA :-) I chose ML-2165w because it is cheap (around USD 125 with shipping) and is wireless. I am not going to print a lot of documents, but some of them contain sensitive data that I prefer to print at home. My brother also own an ink jet printer, but it is usually out of order because its cartridge ink is dry (not empty, the ink is not fluid after several weeks without using it).

It took me sometime to find the correct driver for the printer, believe or not it is on Samsung's website [1] :-) Unfortunately, Gentoo does not come with an ebuild (package) to install the driver. The calculate overlay [2] contains an ebuild to install an old version of the driver (net-print/samsung-unified-linux-driver/samsung-unified-linux-driver-1.01.ebuild), so I copied the ebuild from there to my personal overlay, edit it to updated SRC_URI url to [1], commented the part that install sane configuration, which this newer version of the driver does not have anymore, run ebuild digest comand to calculate the checksums used to check the source code integrity used by the ebuild, installed the new ebuild and voilà. cups-1.6.1 recognised the printer and after configuring it as network printer (URI == socket://:9100) it printed my test document like a charm.

A short review of this printer:

PROS:

. the printer is cheap. However, the toner is very expensive, in some cases more expensive than the printer.
. toner lasts longer than ink cartridges when not used for long periods of time. That is the main reason I bought a laser printer, besides the fact that the cost per page of a toner is better than ink cartridges.
. comes with USB cable. You must be asking why USB cable if it is a wireless printer, well, you need the USB cable to configure the wireless part :-) If you have an access point that supports WPS (Wifi Protected Setup) then you do not need USB cable, that is not my case though.
. it is small and fast.
. it is wireless.
. I think the printing is very good even in toner economy mode.
. it is easy to configure even in Linux :-D as long as you know where to find the driver. As a side note even Win7 does not come with the driver for this printer, I needed to use the supplied DVD to install it in the Win7 that came with my notebook. OBS: when in doubt always reset the  network configuration and start from zero instead of overriding the current configuration. It took me sometime to re-configure the wifi configuration because of that detail.
. I read on the Internet that Samsung implemented the Easy Printer software for Linux as well. That is the software used to configure the printer on Windows. I have not tried it though. I used its Windows version to set up the wireless (wifi) configuration, if you do not have a Windows computer or a special access point that supports WPS you will probably need to install the Linux version of Easy Printer to set up the printer's wifi configuration. I also fixed the printer's IP on my wifi router, so it will always get the same IP from my router's dhcp server.


CONS:

. toner is very expensive.
. supplied toner prints up to 700 pages. That is enough for me, may not be for everyone.
. manual duplex printing, like most cheap printers.
. it consumes a considerable amount of energy (gets hot easily too).
. curles the paper considerably.
. does not come with printed manual, which is available on Samsung's website.
. documentation is a bit confusing regarding wireless configuration. It explains how to configure it but do not explain how to re-configure the wireless part. Repeating the configuration process does not work (it never associates to the access point even though it finds it when scanning) until you reset the printer's network configuration using Easy Printer. That crutial detail is not written in the manual.

[1] http://org.downloadcenter.samsung.com/downloadfile/ContentsFile.aspx?VPath=DR/201110/20111019151150392/UnifiedLinuxDriver_1.01.tar.gz

[2] overlays are like unofficial repositories, usually with unstable programs or data (firmware, drivers, etc).

16 comments:

Blackpaw said...

Good luck - I got the exact same model and it was a nightmare :( Totally failed to get the wireless to work, so ended up using the USB. A search on the interent revealed many *many* people unable to get the wireles working under windows or linux.

Also as yiou said, it consumes a lot of power. Runs alarmingly hot, very tinny constructions, the paper feed tray is open and collects a lot of dust.

I was not impressed with the quality of the print either, uneven and curled the paper badly.

I checked mine and got a Brother HL-2270DW. *Much* better, wireless works very well, automatic duplexing and very fast. Much solider construction and clone toner cartridges are availble very cheaply. Works well with Linux.

Lamarque said...

The wireless part works as long as you do what I said: always start from the begining (click on the button to reset the network configuration in Easy Printer and then restart the printer). Then set up the network configuration, if you try to override the configuration and click on the "Save" button in Easy Printer it will not work. Mine is working in wireless mode here without problems in Linux and Windows.

I like the tinny construction, I do not need print a lot so the less room it takes the better for me. I already have problems with dust here at home, so any other printer or equipament would have problems. For example I had to clean my notebook's fan two weeks ago, they were stopping working because of the dust, now they work Ok. I am using the plastic that came with the printer protect it from the dust. Of course, I keep the printer unplugged from the power outlet to prevent the plastic from melting or anything worse.

The printer curles the paper indeed, fortunately that is not a big problem for me. The duplex part is also not a must have for me. I still think it is a good printer for my needs. Sure the points you noted can be a no go in a different situation.

Mark said...

If you are using Ubuntu, Debian or a derrivate, you can use http://www.bchemnet.com/suldr/ as a repository. It contains the original Samsung driver, but it fixes a lot of problems, alows clean install/ deinstall and has updates. There is also a long forum thread http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=341621

Robert Marmorstein said...

I bought a Samsung ML-2851ND a few years ago. It's been awesome. Samsung's Linux support is great and I've saved a ton on toner. It's nice to have real duplexing, too.

Anonymous said...

I bought a Samsung ML-2851ND a few years ago. It's been awesome. Samsung's Linux support is great and I've saved a ton on toner. It's nice to have real duplexing, too.

Anonymous said...

I bought a Samsung ML-2851ND a few years ago. It's been awesome. Samsung's Linux support is great and I've saved a ton on toner. It's nice to have real duplexing, too.

casino printers said...

thank's a lot that you have shared this to all of us, by making us aware of not using this kind of model..its a great help for all of us.

Lamarque said...

@Mark, @Robert Marmorstein thanks for the info.

@casino printers, well, if you are not concerned about the toner price then this is a good and cheap printer.

Zebra Printers said...

Really, this one is very nice and excellent information of the professional printing service. Thank you for sharing...........

Zebra Printer said...

Samsung Printers are popular for a variety of reasons. Although they may be within the lower price range when it comes to the market, this does not mean they are lacking in quality or technology - quite the reverse in fact.

Thermal Binding Machines said...

It is also important for you to choose a good brand of printer that you can use on your business or on your office work.

Federico said...

Got the same problem in resetting the network configuration for my 2165W wifi: the default is a DHCP configuration, but it's crazy! If you keep the printer off for a while and lose the lease, printer IP changes!!!, and you would need to reconfigure manually all the PCs using the printer. Better to use static IP instead, but the setup program doesn't work to change it, you need to use EasyPrint! Thanks for the hint

Unknown said...

Can i use it for plastic cards printing or can you suggest me what is the best for me....

Safdar Ali said...

What a great post. Which kind of printer can print the Metal business cards?

Anonymous said...

Over here in los Estados Unidos - Colorado.

Printer is cheap and runs hot, but for light printing - it works so far. I bought it primarily for my Samsung tablet and a spare printer on occasion.

I fumbled with the setup until I found the "Setup wireless" by connecting to the printer and my USB port on my Netbook. Very easy after that.

I'll probably find used toner cartridges - and do not anticipate this being a heavy duty printer.

So good, so far - - nice, small foot print.

Best,
Rico

druckerpatronen said...

Had the same problems with wireless.
With your guide i i managed it.
Thanks a lot!