Premier league printer (but with hidden costs)
 Apr 29th, 2004
Advantages:
Superb speed for text printouts, quality
Disadvantages:
Mixing text with graphics slows it down, no USB port
Recommendable:
Yes
Detailed rating:
Picture quality
Printing speed
Colour sensitivity
Ease of use
Value For Money
more
  leadboiler
About me:
Thanks to all the people who read and rate my reviews :-)
Member since:07.03.2004
Reviews:51
Members who trust:15
Review rated by 27 Ciao members on average: very helpful 
This review received a counterstatement by a party concerned
Read Comment
If you are seeking a high quality, speedy beast of a printer then look no further than the hp LaserJet 4200. It's great for large businesses and networked computers. However, the extra features are less impressive than similar models. I'l try not to blind you with technology and jargon for the benefit of those who, like me aren't the best of people when it comes to technology. _________
*The design*
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Call me shallow but one of the first things I look for in a printer is it's ability to look good next to the furniture. For home computers, stay away, this printer is better suited to the larger office or for buisinesses. Part of the reason for this is the size, measuring 16.4 inches in width x 16.9 inches in depth and 14.4 inches in height this printer isn't the most compact of printers. The shape is a near cube meaning it will easily fill a space on the desk. The weight is approximately 45 lbs making it difficult to manouvre around the office so once you decide on a place for this printer, leave it there. It takes about 2/3 of you to move
it and the shape makes it difficult to grip onto. The colour is your basic creamy colour which means it matches most standard monitors. From the front it displays a silver and blue embossed 'hp' logo and the pretty funky looking LCD screen.
The buttons on the printer are displayed around the screen in a dark grey, plastic panel (see picture). The buttons are bubbly and relatively large which makes them easy to press and they are colour coded for thickos like me who can't tell their head from their asses. The buttons are as follows...
Cancel job - RED
Pause/resume - LIGHT GREY
'?' help button - PALE BLUE
A tick - TEAL GREEN
Up - DARK GREY
Down - DARK GREY
And reverse! - DARK GREY The screen is pale blue in colour and lights up. The writing which is displayed on the screen is dark blue. The printer has 3 small, oval shaped lights on it for to indicate when the printer is ready for a job, when data is being sent and when it needs 'attention'.
Also embossed on the printer itself are a number '2' on the tray and a lever showing paper levels in the tray. There's little holes on the side of the printer and a half-moon shaped groove at the bottom to make opening the tray easier. These features combined make the printer relatively user-friendly.
As far as noise is concerned there is a constant, quiet hum when the printer is not 'doing a job'. When the printer is in action though it's a totally different story, paper flies about the office, the old tea lady clings to a table and displays fall off the walls (slight exageration)... it's very noisy! This meaning that putting it next to your computer(s) where you want to do some quiet work is a bad idea.
___________________________
*Features- what the printer can do*
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The memory on this printer is great, 48MB means that it can handle quite a nice queue of print-outs well. This is a great advantage for networked computers and for larger documents. The printer comes with software which can be used on most applications; Windows 95, 98, 2000 and XP as well as Macintosh OS 8.6 and every other upgrade following it. This means that the software is almost universal and can be used on nearly all computers. Pretty good.
The paper tray holds around 500 sheets making it ideal for most offices.
However, a downside to this printer is the fact that there are a variety of very costly add-ons for this printer. Extra tray space can be bought for around £250. This gives you three times as much space but is a lot to pay since you can buy a standard printer for this price. This printer does not have a USB port or duplex (meaning that it can print on both sides all by itself) although duplex add-ons can be bought. They cost around £150. __________________________
*Ease of use/Technical assistance*
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This printer is easy to use, the design makes the buttons easy to find and easy to distinguish. When the printer is not carrying out a job it shows "Ready, press *tick* for menus" this gives you a range of options which can be scrolled through using the arrows, you can go back using the 'reverse' button. Everything you need to know is displayed on the screen for you making it nice and easy.
Installing the thing is a pain though, as you can imaging due to the size you have to keep shifting it around to pop all the plugs in but once it's there, set up where you want it it looks like a masterpiece... well no, it looks like a printer but you know what I mean.
Technical support can be accessed through the hp site, this gives you all the information you need as well as how to by-pass software troubles.
____________________
*Speed and printout quality*
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This printer can manage a whopping 33 pages per minute which is around about 1 per 2 seconds, it can a lot longer if you mix text with graphics though- the speed is reduced to about 8 pages per minute, my bog standard epson nearly manages this and that only cost about £50! However, this is quite impressive for the quality, the print quality is very fine- you can barely see where the printer has done its business, no lines, no blotches, no nothing just high quality printouts. The lines are very clear cut. _____
*Prices*
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For a laser printer this is a relatively good price, at around £500 it's ideal for businesses but as I stated previously, this is a little too much for home use. The add-ons make you feel you are being conned a bit though. From £100-150+ for extra features eg.duplex you really feel you shouldn't be paying for it, especially since you just forked out for the printer itself and spent all day shifting it around the office. Cartridges aren't cheap either they can be bought for around £50 although prices vary depending on where you go. The catridges last a fair while, around 3 months ish. Although that is nearly £200 a year you end up spending on cartridges (did I tell you it's only a black and white printer?). The actual printer itself is reasonably priced, it's the accessories you need to go with it that really add up.
Overall this is a great printer, great quality, good speed and easy on the eye. However, the sound it makes and the extra hidden costs make this printer something for the standard office. The larger office may wish to purchase a printer with all the extra features built in.
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by (4%):
01.05.2004 01:43
Lovely review..but rather out of my price range..... I am so glad I just bought a new all in one Lexmark printer, coppier, scanner, fax for £54,99 ....... I had HP before that but, couldn't find one in my price bracket this time, so decided to try Lexmark, very happy with it so far.....Heatherx
29.04.2004 22:21
Dont worry people, I've reported this idiot!
29.04.2004 19:14
All our printers have been HP, looks a bit too big though! Sarah x