Design & Features

The Samsung SCX-4500 is nothing like any other multi-function laser printer you have laid your eyes one.  Hands down, it is the sexiest MFC printer on the market.  In fact, some may even wonder if it is a printer in the first place.   Leave it to Samsung to finally break the norm and release such a exquisitely designed printer.

The printer is black in color and the top has a black mirror like finish that adds to its already appealing design.  This is also where you'll find the scanner cover and fully touch-sensitive controls. 

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If its looks wasn't high-tech enough, the Samsung SCX-4500 sports a highly unique touch-sensitive control panel to manage all jobs.  The somewhat covert buttons emanate a very pleasant sapphire blue glow and if you notice in the pic above, there's this clear line that divides the control panel from the scan area.  This has another purpose though that I will cover a bit later.  Finally, the printer also has a completely hidden LED display panel above the controls for status, option selection, etc.

The front of the unit is where you'll find a slot for the included clear paper guide tray and where you'll find the main paper tray.  Samsung likes to refer to it as a semi-auto slide out tray.  Yes, while it is a bit different that your typical laser printer, the eject button will simply unlock and release the tray far enough to be easily pulled out.  Not exactly "auto" by any means.  This will allow you to load your paper without having to actually pick the printer up slightly to pull out the tray.  On the rear of the unit is where you'll find both the power and USB jacks.  Also, like you're average laser printer, there's a feed tray cover here to help clear any paper jams and allow easy access to its feed rollers and other components for maintenance and repair.

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The Samsung SCX-4500 is exceptionally designed in all aspects of the word.  Accessing the toner and internal components is extremely easy. Just push the hidden latch between the top and bottom section of the printer and it will release and allow you to lift and lock the top section in place.  A look inside will impress anyone and is when you'll truly appreciate its overall design, even those who work with standard laser printers on a daily basis.

The Control Panel

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I will cover the excellent Control Panel in detail here and provide many pics.  It is that impressive and not something you would expect to find in such a product to begin with.  I'm a fan of touch controls and those found on the SCX-4500 are quite responsive.  Samsung has done a spectacular job with this printer in the area of design and you just won't feel as if you are actually using a laser printer and/or scanner.  I took some custom pictures to give you an idea of how it looks and functions.

It is when you start using the control panel that you'll discover that neat hidden LED display.  Like all controls, it is illuminated in a very pleasant sapphire blue to compliment its high-tech design.  It will clearly display the number of copies you choose to print, the reduce/enlarge percentage and the custom level of darkness you'd like to apply.

The display has some neat animations as well.  In addition, it will display the status of the printer under a number of conditions, such as whether the main tray or paper tray is open.  There are also some small notification icons that will light up in red when there is a problem that requires user action.

Finally, here's one of three videos featured in the article to further demonstrate how the touch panel functions.  You will need the very latest version of flash installed to view any of the videos featured here.

video clip

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This first video demonstrates how the panel works for its supported tasks.  It was also taken to show you that hidden LED display and how it interacts based on the status of the printer itself. 

More videos will be featured in the performance section of this article.

Next:  Software & Performance