[Bobobox]

Grr.. I just bought a Samsung ML-1710 USB based laser printer for my OS X based home office. I bought it because i heard that Samsung laser printers had good OS X support...

Well, they don't. The Samsung GDI 1.0 driver for Jaguar supports only the most basic functions. It can print letters, and a few standard paper sizes.

-Custom paper sizing is BROKEN. You can set whatever custom sizes you like, but the printer ignores the custom size, and treats the sheet like a standard U.S. letter. I need to print 3x5 index cards, which is an advertised feature of the Samsung, and it does not work.

-There is no software control over the printer in OS X. Windows, OS 9, and Linux get a software control panel, but not OS X. You can't even clear the print queue! The high tech OS X solution for printer jams or accidental jobs in the queue is apparently to pull the power plug out of the printer....

Gah! This thing is giving me gray hair.



Does anyone here have a Samsung laser? Are these problems only happening to me, or is there something i'm totally missing here?

thanks


Bobo

[tobes]

Ive got an ML-1210 and I agree it is so f!**ng slow under os X. Like 3 minutes to print a page. But under os 9 it would spit out 10 or so pages a minute. Its ridiculous.

Any body got any ideas on how to speed it up?

tobes

PS sorry it is kind've a highjack but I have a feeling that the soln to both our problems is the same.

[OreoCookie]

I will never get a GDI laser printer after my parent's HP LaserJet 3100. Simply not worth it. Call me old-fashioned, but I'll save up for a Postscript laser next time.

[escher]

Originally posted by tobes:
Like 3 minutes to print a page. But under os 9 it would spit out 10 or so pages a minute. Its ridiculous.

That's so weird. I have had a smilar experience with my Epson EPL-5700i USB laser. It did alright under OS 9, even though the driver was pretty crappy. When Epson finally release an OS X driver, over a year after 10.0, the printer would take several minutes to print a page. I now simply e-mail files to be printed from my OS X iBook to my OS 9 iMac for printing.

I need to get a new laser printer. And this time I'm not going to be cheap and skimp out. I'm planning on getting an HP LaserJet 2100 with PostScript, Ethernet, and duplexing later this year. I know I'll never look back.

Escher

[milhouse]

Go to linuxprinting.org/macosx and check out the GDI stuff for Samsung.

I'd also recommend the gimp print package from sourceforge.net (also via versiontracker)

I've been using those drivers with my ML1210 and they've been great.

HTH

[tooki]

To anyone looking for a cheap laser... I'd actually sooner advise you to buy a used high-end LaserWriter or LaserJet than to buy a new cheap one.

I've been eyeing a LaserWriter 12/640 PS myself... it's cheaper than the comparable LaserJet. The 16/600 PS is another candidate.

As long as your printer has PostScript Level 2, or PostScript 3, it will work fine under OS X (although you may have to tweak with PPDs to activate all functions -- Apple's OS X PPDs are... funky).

But anyway, yeah, as long as you can live with 600dpi instead of 1200, then an old LaserWriter may fit the bill -- they're incredibly reliable (designed to print 300-450K pages!), fast enough, and as long as you get one with PS Level 2 or higher and ethernet (and preferably with TCP/IP support), you'll be set for a fraction of the cost of a new one.

The two LaserWriters I mention above sell for well under $200 on eBay in good condition.

tooki

[tobes]

Originally posted by milhouse:
Go to linuxprinting.org/macosx and check out the GDI stuff for Samsung.

I'd also recommend the gimp print package from sourceforge.net (also via versiontracker)

I've been using those drivers with my ML1210 and they've been great.

HTH

I could've sworn I had a look at gimp print and it didnt have drivers for it. I guess Ill have to have another look.

tobes