HP Color LaserJet CP3505n

...around the same as this HP colour laser does today, making it a real option for home printing, especially when you consider the per page costs of using a colour inkjet at home. when you also consider that the print quality is superb, even on plain copier paper, you can see why these machines are so attractive.

Ease of set-up
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We acquired this HP colour laser in our regional office and I was asked to ...
...on. As with all HP printers, there is a huge poster sized chart that shows, in simple pictures, how to set it up. You don't even need to be able to read! loading the toner cartridges is straightforward, as with any laser printer.

Connection
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Connection is by the now-ubiquitous USB cable, so nothing too hard there. You can also network this printer using HP's own Jet Direct technology. There is also a ... more

Why a colour laser?
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I am stunned at how much the price of laser printers has dropped in the last 10 years or so. Three years ago I bought a Samsung mono laser printer for just under £90, now that same printer can be had for less than £40.

With ever falling prices even colour lasers are becoming affordable, my first colour inkjet printer cost around the same as this HP colour laser does today, making it a real option for home printing, especially when you consider the per page costs of using a colour inkjet at home. when you also consider that the print quality is superb, even on plain copier paper, you can see why these machines are so attractive.

Ease of set-up
--------------------
We acquired this HP colour laser in our regional office and I was asked to set it up. It couldn't have been simpler. you install the software, connect the printer when prompted and switch it on. As with all HP printers, there is a huge poster sized chart that shows, in simple pictures, how to set it up. You don't even need to be able to read! loading the toner cartridges is straightforward, as with any laser printer.

Connection
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Connection is by the now-ubiquitous USB cable, so nothing too hard there. You can also network this printer using HP's own Jet Direct technology. There is also a free card slot so that you can install a Wi-Fi card, so that the printer can be shared on a wireless network.

Paper tray.
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The standard paper tray can hold up to 350 sheets, so you should be able to print out an average novel without having to reload.

Performance
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The book states that this printer does 22 pages per minute, and up to 65,000 pages per month, I would imagine that is enough for even the most wasteful family. From switch on to printing a page in black and white HP claim a warm up of 12.5 seconds. I didn't time it but it didn't seem very long.

Cost of consumables
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Take a deep breath and make sure you are sitting down.
The four cartridges: black, cyan, magenta and yellow will cover 6000 pages each. that's 24,000 pages, assuming even usage of each colour. The replacements, if you buy them full price, (and who does that nowadays), cost £83.99 each. OK, you can stand up again.
page for page, you can cover far more paper than the equivalent ink jet printer at far lower per page cost.

Compatible operating systems
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Windows 2000
Windows XP Home
Windows XP Professional
Windows XP Professional x64
Windows Server 2003
Windows Vista(TM) Ready
Mac OS X v 10.2
Mac OS X v 10.3
Mac OS X v 10.4
Red Hat Linux 7.x or highe;
SuSE Linux 8.x or higher

Summary
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If you have several computer users in one place, such as a large family doing homework projects and a keen photographer, this is well worth a look. it can certainly take care of the colour printing requirements of a small business. 

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