When color laser multifunction devices began appearing for small/home office environments several years ago, the idea of ever finding one for less than $500 seemed far-fetched; most color laser units cost a few thousand dollars at the time. Now, however, Samsung has reached this desirable price point with its CLX-3160FN.

The CLX-3160FN prints text very well, both in terms of speed and quality; color prints, however, are produced much more slowly than those that are fashioned by most other color laser devices.

This unit's copier function offers standard features, including the ability to make up to 99 copies at a time. Its fax feature offers no high-end special features, but it performs adequately. The scanner does a good job of creating images, but it operates more slowly than those of many other laser multifunction devices. The scanner also allows you to scan directly to the unit's USB port.

The 50-page automatic document feeder is a nice feature if you frequently deal with multiple-page faxes and copies. This unit also features an Ethernet networking option, although it offers only 128MB of memory, which is far less than is offered by most laser devices.

The CLX-3160FN is one of the lighter laser multifunction devices that you'll find, weighing in at only about 45 pounds, which will appeal to those who intend to use it in a small-office setting. Unfortunately, the unit's standard paper tray holds only 150 sheets, which means that you might find yourself filling the tray more often than you'd like. (You can purchase an optional 250-sheet tray for greater capacity.)

Overall, you won't quite receive the performance level -- especially in terms of speed -- of more expensive color laser devices from the CLX-3160FN. But if you don't mind waiting, it's a solid machine that will work well in a variety of situations.


Pros: Great price, very good print quality, solid all-around features, light weight
Cons: Overall performance is slow, memory amount could be higher, paper tray could be larger

Warranty
1 year, limited