The centralized print option does have performance impacts from WAN bandwidth and latency factors, so it will definitely be slower the LAN printing. Even reducing the bw by 90%, all the packets still have to get to the print server, be processed, and return over the WAN to the printer. I would also have the print server admins double check that the server is running OK and is sized appropriately for extra print queues. Another thing I ALWAYS check is speed/duplex settings on the server/switch, WAE/switch, and printer/switch. I have seen a lot of times where a mismatch there really shows up more with WAAS then without it as optimized traffic may have to back off to wait for a client to catch up.
If you are starting to explore local options of printing, I always start with the Windows on WAAS option running on a virtual blade. This is great if you have the hardware, however requires the WAVE appliances. This is not an option for everyone, so I would look at the Samaba server last. It is deployed at quite a few of my customers, but can be rather cumbersome to administrate. It definitely works, but it is considered legacy going forward in new code.
Hope that gives you some ideas...
Dan
