A BMW for the price of a Ford

I purchased a Samsung ML-3561ND 3 weeks ago. It comes with a comprehensive, easy to follow manual on disk. Set up could not be simpler. Controls are logical and adequate.
Printing is 30+ppm and the print is sharp and black. The toner saver function is claimed to reduce toner use by 40%. I have only taken 550 copies to date and so cannot verify this, but I can say that it lightens copies a little and should give a substantial saving, resulting in very cheap copies, as even in normal mode copy cost is low. Toner saver prints are suitable for in-office use or for corresponding with suppliers, but normal mode is more suitable for your customers.
The included duplexer works flawlessly at 12 double sided ppm (equal to 24ppm single sided) and reduces the bulk of documents kept in paper form. It also halves paper cost for long documents, resulting in even lower printing costs. I would not do without a duplexer again. It is great value with this printer, as on many other high volume printers a duplexer costs hundreds of dollars extra.
Unfortunately the printer does not work out for itself if a page is single sided and it puts a single sided page through the duplexer even though there is nothing to print on the reverse side, thus taking longer and causing unnecessary wear. However, it is easy to set up the different printer modes so that one mode (say PCL 6) is used for duplexing and another (say PS) is used for single sided, and you can then quickly choose between them when starting to print
Warm up is an irritating 30 seconds but this is usual for lasers and, when warm up is not required, the 1st copy takes only 9 or 10 seconds, after which it goes like a machine gun. In a busy office warm up would not usually be necessary.
The 500 page main tray and 100 page supplementary tray mean you are not constantly adding paper. Paper handling is excellent, with no miss feeds or jams.
The Samsung comes network ready and the only extra anyone is likely to want (available at substantial cost) is a wireless connection.
The 150,000 page monthly duty cycle (an incredible 1.8 million ppa) means that it should easily outlast me, as I print only 1,000 a month and, coupled with the smooth paper path and general heavy duty impression, inspires confidence that the most troublesome components of a printer (paper feed and duplexer) will be trouble free. Although my usage is low, it makes sense to get a super heavy duty printer if it costs no more than a light duty model.
I paid $AU539 ($US395) in Australia, which is far cheaper than the competition, and unbeatable value as office equipment in Australia usually costs more than in the US. It would be good value even at $AU800. However, it is essential to shop around to get a good deal in any country or you could easily pay 100% too much. In some shops the ML-3561ND sells for as much as $AU1,300. $AU900 to $AU1200 is the usual price. Recommended Retail is $AU1,790 so even shops selling for $1,300 can misleadingly claim a great reduction.
I chose a mono printer as there no colour ones capable of good photo printing except at extremely high prices and I have no other use for colour. Mono printers and multifunctions have recently crashed in price and are far cheaper, faster, smaller and lighter than equivalent colour models. Samsung monos have dropped more than most if you look around carefully.
With 30+ppm, duplexing, networking, 150,000ppm, 600 page capacity, good quality printing , reasonable size and weight (18kg), very low running costs and unbelievable purchase price, what more could you ask for?
Very highly recommended (at the right price)!