After seeing pics of Samsung’s new slim and sexy printers, I fell in love. Exclusively sold through Apple, the ML-1630 ($200) and multi-function SCX-4500 ($300) feature an unconventional design with a high-gloss black finish and slim form. After wiping off the drool off my face, I dashed to the Apple store in San Francisco and picked up the multi-function version.

Here are pics from the unboxing and my initial raves and rants:

Unboxing

What I like

Black is beautiful
I’m a sucker for good looks, and this printer doesn’t disappoint the eyes. Despite its unglamorous name, the SCX-4500 is one sweet piece of eyecandy. The black case, slim design, and high-gloss finish elevates the printer to the level of high-end stereo systems.

Less is more
With a tiny San Francisco apartment like mine, I’m usually very careful about buying new appliances and furniture. Since I bought this on a whim, I took a chance on the printer being bigger than expected. Fortunately, the printer turned out to fit nicely into my small home. Although a tad tall, it’ll look great on a desk next to a new iMac.

If you must hide it for some maniacal reason, you’ll also have an easier time fitting it into a cabinet than most other printers.

Shhhh
I also like the printer’s relatively quiet operation. While it’s not totally mute, it’s much quieter than the cacaphanous rumbling of typical laser printers.

Super-easy toner installation
If you hate installing toner cartridges, you’ll love how easy it is on this printer. The entire top portion of the printer lifts up effortlessly and locks in place while you slide the toner cartridge in. Though you won’t need them, instructions are also clearly printed near the toner slot.

What I don’t like

Unboxing is unsexy
When you open an Apple product, it’s like opening a present. Both the inside and outside packaging are thoughtfully considered and put-together. Since Apple is exclusively selling these new printers, you’d expect the Samsung unboxing experience would be as nice as opening a new Apple product. It’s not.

While the outside of the box has a fairly nice design—it could be simpler—the inside packaging is terrible. Instruction sheets are unceremoniously loose in the box, likely to fly away if you have the windows open. The printer and cables are wrapped in ugly plastic. Finally, the welcome letter, registration cards, and warranty information all look like they were designed by different people.

Other companies, like Seagate, have taken a cue from Apple and have designed unboxing experiences that enhance the emotional experience of using an electronic device. Samsung needs to catch up.

Paper-catcher is janky
In all official product shots of the printer, you see a nice clean square black box. What you don’t see is the extra attachment you’ll need to connect to catch the paper when it prints. This paper-catcher is a separate piece of plastic and not built into the printer. It feels very much like a last-minute design decision, and it scars the clean lines of the printer.

Small paper capacity
Here’s where my impulse buying gets me into trouble. I didn’t bother to check paper compacity before buying, so I was shocked when I pulled out the paper tray to see how shallow it is. It holds only 100 sheets of paper!

No built-in scanner sharing
I had no problem connecting the printer to my Airport Express and printing wirelessly from it. Scanning, however, requires a direct connection. This isn’t exactly a fault with Samsung, since Apple doesn’t yet support scanner sharing via Airport. But I do wish the printer had built-in networking. There is a solution with Belkin’s new Wireless Network USB Hub. But sadly, Mac drivers aren’t yet available.

My final word

While the packaging and unboxing experience won’t leave a lasting impression, the Samsung multi-function SCX-4500’s sleek look will certainly turn heads and ignite envy. Your friends might even confuse it for a stereo.

The printer’s stylish and slim design is well-suited for a swanky bachelor or bachelorette who wants to impress a date. But for heavy printing, scanning, and copying in a multi-user home, you won’t want to buy this on impulse.