Hp Color Laserjet Pro Mfp M477fdn

At a Glance

Expert's Rating

Pros

Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and deject-printing connectivity
Low initial buy price

Cons

No automated duplexing
Pricey toner

Our Verdict

This inexpensive machine has swell wireless and mobile connectivity, just its pricey toner and sluggish performance are drawbacks.

These days, colour laser multifunction printers don't come at much lower prices than the HP LaserJet Pro 100 Colour MFP M175nw. At only $350 (as of August 29, 2011), it offers print/scan/copy/fax capabilities–and a lot of connectivity–in a compact, shiny-black package. Unfortunately, the machine is rather wearisome and limited for decorated abode- or modest-role users, and its toner is expensive.

The LaserJet Pro 100 Colour MFP is pretty easy to install via USB or ethernet; though the WPS-only Wi-Fi setup is relatively bothersome, you'll demand information technology to savor the machine's compatibility with cloud-press services from HP and Dell.

Using the 1.0 version installation CD, we encountered smeary-looking output when printing on heavier paper (including HP's own 220g glossy newspaper for colour lasers). The trouble arose only with sure applications, including Microsoft PowerPoint, and Adobe Acrobat, Illustrator, and Photoshop. HP has incorporated a ready into the 1.one version of the installation CD–and you lot can too find the gear up online–merely nosotros wish that HP had made the update available for automatic download during installation.

The driver update couldn't solve all the Laserjet Pro 100 Colour MFP's performance problems. Chief amongst these: It'due south slow, printing plain text on manifestly paper at a charge per unit of less than 11 pages per minute whether on the PC or the Mac—below the average for this product category. Copying speed was poky, and scanning speeds were interminable. On the Mac, a total-page photos took about 80 seconds to impress; that works out to a speed of 0.75 ppm.

Output quality ranged from competent to disappointing. Color images showed a subtle backdrop of very fine horizontal lines, which fabricated images look slightly fuzzy. Scanned images had a distinctly yellow bandage and harsh shadows. Line-art scans showed jagged curves and busy moiré patterning in intricate areas.

The HP LaserJet Pro 100 Color MFP has just enough features to handle a basic minor- or dwelling house-office situation. Paper-handling features include a 150-sheet paper tray on the bottom of the unit of measurement, and a 35-canvas automatic document feeder for the letter-size scanner. The 50-sheet output tray is pocket-size, and duplexing is manual just. At that place are no media-carte du jour slots.

The LaserJet 100 M175nw uses a fairly unique rotating cartridge system. A button on the control panel positions each cartridge for removal, even so, y'all must shut the cover before you lot rotate to the next cartridge, which makes replacing multiple cartridges quite wearisome.

Of greater concern is the price HP charges for its toner cartridges. The 1200-folio black cartridge costs $50, or 4.ii cents per folio, while the 1000-page magenta, xanthous, and cyan cartridges cost $56 apiece or 5.four cpp. Altogether, a four-color folio costs a whopping 20.4 cents. Nosotros've seen remanufactured and compatible toner cartridges offered online for about xl pct lees.

The documentation is well written and thorough, but information technology's available online simply. We remembered why we didn't similar this approach when we ran into a dead end ('page not constitute') while seeking aid on how to alter the toner cartridges.

The HP LaserJet Pro 100 Color MFP M175nw sports a low cost tag, but it makes you pay in other means, from time idling every bit you await for output to announced, to loftier toner costs. In that location aren't many proficient options at this low end of the category, merely the Dell 1355cnw is a piffling faster.