Remember the bad old days when new appliances came without a plug, and if you were foolish enough not to buy a separate plug, you had to wait till the next day (and the opening of shops) to purchase one and be able to use your brand new toy? Well, I was certainly reminded of this when we unpacked our new HP LaserJet printer. I checked everywhere, no sign of a USB cable. Perhaps a mistake at the factory? The box the printer came in details what should be inside. No, no mistake, this printer comes without a USB cable. After the initial annoyance, I am in two minds about that. OK, people who have a computer at home are likely to have one or twelve USB cables already, from previous printers, etc. And I hate waste, I hate that I have an assortment of cables in a cupboard that I will probably never use for anything. On the other hand, having untangled them all, I find that not one of the USBs I have will match the printer. It's a bit like giving a child a new toy for Christmas
and then telling him/her they have to wait a day or two to play with it because although you have a range of batteries in the cupboard, you do not have AA batteries. Anyway, after much huffing and puffing, we found that our scanner's USB would work with the printer, and we knew we were unlikely to use both at the same time. Problem sorted, but I wish we had known about this when buying the printer.
We bought this because the printer we had before - and still have - was too expensive to run. This Epson Stylus C44UX was cheap, and produces nice prints, but it gets through ink very quickly and is also quite noisy. Both my husband and I are teachers, and as the printer is used a lot for producing worksheet for photocopying, colour is not necessary. (I don't think I said this yet, the HP 1020 is a monochrome printer).
So with a scanner sitting on the desk, our colour printer, an old-fashioned (not flat screen) monitor, and quite a bit of clutter too, space is at a premium. Laser printers are usually quite big, but this one measures 37cm by 24.2 cm and is 20.9 cm high, barely bigger than our inkjet. It looks quite nice and well built, and weighs considerably more than our other printer.
~Installing the printer~ *************************
Nothing unusual to report there, this printer comes with a 'quickstart' guide which basically tells you to put the installation CD in the drive and follow instructions and not to attach the computer until prompted to do so. The whole process was fairly quick and painless, and soon we were ready to print our first page. Note that a more detailed manual is installed on the computer and can be accessed by clicking on 'start', 'programmes', 'HP'. I haven't really had any need to use that, but looking at it, it seems pretty comprehensive. For instance, if you ever need to print booklets, it explains very clearly, with the help of diagrams how to do this. It also contains advice about using HP media to print on of course, which to me is more to do with advertising than a user guide.
~Printing~ ************
So now we are all set up, let's see what this baby can do. We open a word document and hit the 'print' button. The printer spring into action, with a slight noise, but nothing we can't live with. It is certainly quieter than our inkjet printer, as that sounds like a cross between a train and a washing-machine (OK, slight exaggeration, but you get my drift)! The sale pitch for this printer boasts the first page will be out in less than 10 seconds, so the moment I click on 'print', I start to count "One Mississippi, two Mississippi, 3…" And sure enough, before I reach my 10th Mississippi, out pops a freshly printed page, subsequent pages following in quick succession. The claim here is 14 pages per minute, which seems about right. Now this was a straight text document, but having tried to print documents with high picture content, I found the speed to be roughly the same. For me, this is a very impressive feature of this printer as I can be a little impatient. Our computer is fairly old and doesn't have a high-speed USB port and it is quite possible that this would make the printing process even faster, although not by much as it is already very fast.
~Print quality~ ****************
Speed, as we know, is not everything. What does the printed page look like? Very nice and crisp is the answer to that. The technical specification is that it has a resolution of 1200 dpi (it means it can print as many as 1200 dots per square inch of paper). It also produces a nice range of greys for pictures. I have printed labels on this too, and was very satisfied with the resuts.
~Running costs~ *******************
I was going to wait till our first toner ran out to write this review, but as I said above, I am very impatient… I have ordered a replacement cartridge at £37.94 (as always, it pays to shop around for these things, and to order through a website that offers cash back, but I won't give you a list of suppliers as they are widely available) and the box informs me that it should print 2,000 pages at 5% coverage. Now, as I have no intention to count how many pages I get from each cartridge, I don't see the point in waiting to tell you about this useful little printer. The printer itself cost us about £80, and the price included a toner cartridge. I feel this is really excellent value. If my maths is correct, it works out at less than two pence per page, not including the initial cost of the printer as that would depend on how many pages you print during the printer's lifetime. I also know from putting in the first cartridge that this is quite an easy procedure.
~My verdict~ **************
I am very happy with this little machine as it is perfect for our needs and not overly expensive. Its size, speed and ability to cope with graphics, along with its relative quietness make it a useful tool for producing worksheets. I have no hesitation at all in recommending it for home use, and the reason I only gave it 4 stars is the lack of a USB cable. I don't think it would be ideal for a business as you can only put in 150 sheets at a time.
So far, I have not experienced paper-jams or any other problem, but I will update this review if necessary as HP 1020 is still a relatively new addition to our home. Similarly, the rating below about manufacturer support doesn't apply as I have not needed this.
Thank you for reading.
Pictures of HP LaserJet 1020
The user manual
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Thank you for a full review... I will looking at this printer more closely.
S
Beberis 27.09.2006 12:27
Review isn't bad. But this printer has one big problem: if you are linux user it is a problem with drivers. To make it works you must search and read half a day. If you are microsoft user it's no problem.
claireyrosey 11.08.2006 11:15
excellent review - i ve brought one now, based on your review. thank you
You will receive 1high quality Toner Cartridge (Remanufactured),fully compatibleand ... more
guaranteed tofit 100%!Our toner cartridges are remanufactured to highest standards according toDIN Norm 33870,notto be confused with refill and rebuilt. We do not practice refilling, or we could not guarantee the quality standard. Our quality specifications are oriented on those of the OEM manufacturer (OEM = original equipment manufacturer) and partially exceed the DIN requirements. Even the recognized AMES test officially certifies our toner poses no hazard to your health.Every recyclable product undergoes a rigorous receiving inspection. Only modules released are disassembled and cleaned. All consumables are replaced with new parts. We only use toner which stands up to our high demands. Finally, each part undergoes a rigorous final inspection.This is why we can guarantee to you a quality consistent with original products with sometimes 10-20% longer service life. This allows you to reduce your printing costs. We believe we are considerably contributing to the environment with our processing method.This product is compatible, not a printer manufacturer original product and is not produced, supported or recommended by the printer manufacturers. All brand names, trademarks and product designations are solely for compatibility indication and are not connected with the original products of the respective manufacturers and are property of the respective holder of rights.
Postage & Packaging:£3.91 Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days......
You will receive 1high quality Toner Cartridge (Remanufactured),fully compatibleand ... more
guaranteed tofit 100%!Our toner cartridges are remanufactured to highest standards according toDIN Norm 33870,notto be confused with refill and rebuilt. We do not practice refilling, or we could not guarantee the quality standard. Our quality specifications are oriented on those of the OEM manufacturer (OEM = original equipment manufacturer) and partially exceed the DIN requirements. Even the recognized AMES test officially certifies our toner poses no hazard to your health.Every recyclable product undergoes a rigorous receiving inspection. Only modules released are disassembled and cleaned. All consumables are replaced with new parts. We only use toner which stands up to our high demands. Finally, each part undergoes a rigorous final inspection.This is why we can guarantee to you a quality consistent with original products with sometimes 10-20% longer service life. This allows you to reduce your printing costs. We believe we are considerably contributing to the environment with our processing method.This product is compatible, not a printer manufacturer original product and is not produced, supported or recommended by the printer manufacturers. All brand names, trademarks and product designations are solely for compatibility indication and are not connected with the original products of the respective manufacturers and are property of the respective holder of rights.
Postage & Packaging:£3.98 Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Highest quality Compatible toner cartridge for Hewlett Packard (HP) Product code Q2612A ... more
(12A) Suitable for the following printers Laserjet: 1010, 1012, 1018, 1020, 3015, 3020, 3030, 3050, 3052, 3055&M1005MFP Every recyclable product undergoes a rigorous receiving inspection. Only modules released are disassembled and cleaned. All consumables are replaced with new parts. We only use toner which stands up to our high demands. Finally, each part undergoes a rigorous final inspection. This is why we can guarantee to you a quality consistent with original products with sometimes 10-20% longer service life. This allows you to reduce your printing costs. We believe we are considerably contributing to the environment with our processing method. This product is compatible, not a printer manufacturer original product and is not produced, supported or recommended by the printer manufacturers. All brand names, trademarks and product designations are solely for compatibility indication and are not connected with the original products of the respective manufacturers and are property of the respective holder of rights.
Postage & Packaging:Free! Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Black laser toner cartridge prints approximately 2,000 pages at 5% coverage For use with: ... more
HP Laserjet 1010 1012 1015 1020 3015 3020 3030 1021 1022 1022N 3052 3055 1018 M1005MFP Ansa is a partner of Green Tech International&all toners will be dispatched from Green Tech's warehouse via next day delivery if orders received before 2PM Toners which are not in-stock with Green Tech International will be placed on back order Invoices will be posted via Royal Mail from Ansa
Postage & Packaging:Free! Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Mar 25th, 2006
exceptional by (6%):
very helpful by (94%):
