Hewlett Packard 1200 Laser Printer

Aimed specifically at SMEs, Hewlett Packard’s entry-level laser printer, the 1200, must seduce a particularly discerning customer. SMEs need an inexpensive laser printer that achieves quality results quickly. They require good value. The HP delivers.

Take the HP out of the box, and it doesn’t impress you with a sleek design and tactile, quality materials. This printer is functional. But it’s reasonably compact, and the design begins to shine as soon as you connect the printer to your computer. It quickly hooks to the PC via a parallel port or USB interface, and the cabling set-up is as tidy as can be (although annoyingly, no parallel cable was supplied). Starting the printer up is also easy -- anyone could get this printer up and running in a matter of minutes. The whole philosophy of the HP is ‘avoid all hassle’. If you want a ‘plug and print’ laser jet, this should be straight forward enough for you.

But what about the print quality? Every bit as good as it should be. If your old printer is an ink jet, you’ll certainly be wowed by the quality and speed of this printer. It claims to print 14 pages per minute, and to have the first page out in under 10 seconds. We tested it with a 21-page Web print out (with plenty of pics and graphics) and it took 1 minute 45 seconds, which is less than it sounds. Resolution is set at a sharp 1200 x 1200 dpi. Overall performance is pretty convincing.

Unlike your inkjet, this printer will hold 300 sheets at a time in its input tray, and its output tray will hold 125. There’s no awkward tray to roll out and fill (this one’s open-top), and you can feed the printer with A5 and A6 sheets, or even envelopes. The printer also has a handy straight paper path printing facility - just click open the rear compartment and feed in the pages. Changing cartridges is fairly elementary, although the unit feels slightly breakable when you do this.

One of the best features of the HP – especially for SMEs – is that it’s upgradeable. HP has ensured that you can add many features to the basic model, most impressively a colour scanner attachment. Additionally, the printer is compatible with all Windows operating systems, making it straightforward and flexible when used with most PCs.

Our verdict is that this is one good printer. If your office is dependent on an inkjet printer, or even an ageing laser jet, we’d recommend the HP as the perfect upgrade. Yes, it is plasticky, and yes, it might not survive a desk-high drop. But the HP is easy to live with, simple to set up, and has a good set of specifications for a printer priced at around £290. If you’re looking for an efficient printer that cuts out the hassle and the headaches, it might just be the printer for you.

itwales.com rating: 9/10