Samsung to sell a $199 laser multifunction

Samsung is radically shrinking the size and price of multifunction laser printing. The $199 Samsung SCX-4200 laser printer and scanner could make comparable inkjet machines less attractive for small-business workers, cubicle dwellers, and college students. Laser printers print faster and are less costly to maintain than inkjets, but budget users have traditionally ignored lasers due to the high price tag. Samsung says that the SCX-4200 will print a speedy 19 pages per minute and scan in color or black and white at 2,400dpi. The 250-page paper capacity is generous for a device at this price. While the lack of faxing, the 600dpi print resolution, and the 8MB of RAM are less impressive, this model should suffice for small office or student use. Last year, Dell brought the size and price of laser printing to a new low with its $99 Laser Printer 1100, but we preferred the Samsung ML-2010. We're curious to see if the Samsung SCX-4200 can produce similar quality output in CNET Labs' tests. This multifunction will be available in March for users of Windows 98 or higher, as well as for several flavors of Linux.