Printers

I purchased this printer through a local retailer and was debating between the HP and a similarly priced wireless printer from Brother. The replacement toner cartridges are a bit more for the HP, but then again, they come with the drum assembly built in. This greatly reduces maintenance and potential hardware failures.

Setup:
As for setup, under Windows it's a snap. Put the CD in and follow the directions.

Under Linux (I'm using Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx)) the install was easy. I visited [...] web site and downloaded the drivers. From there, I just followed the directions on the web page and it works like a charm.

I've not used it with a Mac, but I did note that OSX is listed on the box.

Printer quality:
As for the printer itself. It has a very small footprint on the desk when the paper trays are not extended, and a small one when they are. It has excellent monochrome print quality and is very fast. As with all laser... Read more

At my house in the country my deskjet printers got so little use that they were dried up when I did need them, so when I saw this Laserjet for $99 I jumped on it. The toner cartridges can be pricey at $65 or so, but it's cheaper than replacing dried up deskjet cartridges for me, and I don't need to print color.

Considering that in the early 1990s when the first home laserjet from HP sold for just under $1,100, and business models sold for about $3,500, this still seems like a bargain to me.

It also works well (and better than my wireless Lexmark printer that lasted all of two months, and that wouldn't print anything if any of the cartridges were empty (if one color was gone, you couldn't even print black).

Here's how to install the printer on a Mac with OS X (10.6) (if needed):

1. Click Finder on the Dock
2. Click APPLICATIONS under PLACES
3. Click SYSTEM PREFERENCES
4. Click PRINT & FAX
5. Click OPEN PRINT... Read more

I bought this yesterday and have already used it to print well over 100 pages of double sided text. Thus far, I'm satisfied.

Positives:
- Easy installation; very few steps and very clearly explained in brief instruction manual
- Product is well packaged and it seems to be a fairly study design
- It runs quietly and prints quickly
- I haven't had any significant problems connecting to my wireless network or printing

I wouldn't give it any negatives, but be aware of one quirk with the software...

When you do double-sided printing, it is manual. This means that you print the even numbered pages, then remove the stack and place it back into the tray. At this point, you are supposed to press a "continue" button in a dialogue box that pops up on your screen. The problem is that if you attempt to do any work in another window, then that dialogue box disappears and you cannot press the continue button. There is no way to get it to reappear... Read more

This printer was easy to set up. The quality of the print is good. The menu system in the computer desktop makes using all the features easy. Changing print cartridges is a snap

The overall quality of the printer is very good; better print quality on more types of paper compared to my old lexmark. The single digit LED display seemed a little outdated, but the software interface was clean and lean. The poor rating is due to the frustrating experience you will have when trying to replace the ink cartidges; they are impossible to find at brick-and-mortar stores. The cartriges that are currently stocked seem to be mostly for Cannon MP and MX series- consider those printers before buying this one.

I spent days trying to install the software. From the CD, and from Canon online. Very disappointed. All I can do is print, if I am lucky. Next time, I will purchase a different brand.
SOON!