kengland4's Full Review: Hewlett Packard LASERJET P1006 PRINTER 266MHz PROC...
BACKGROUND
I have been lusting after a laser printer ever since I first experienced the ultra-fast, smooth printing of scores of pages, many moons ago. In nearly every case (and mostly in educational institutions), the object of my affection was an HP. I've even seen ancient HP laser printers loyally churning out flawless prints.
THE ACTUAL PRODUCT
This is a compact machine-much smaller than my Epson R380 Photo printer-measuring 13.7 x 8.8 x 7.6 inches, and weighing 10.3 pounds. It prints up to 17 pages per minute-monochrome only-at up to 600X600 (1200 effective) dpi. It's specified to take 8.5 seconds to print the first page, from power-save mode--but more on that later. The tray holds up to 150 pages, has a continuously-adjustable width to accomodate envelopes and other non-standard paper sizes, and there is a 10 sheet priority tray. The output tray can hold up to 100 pages.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
This unit has a 266 Mhz ASIC processor, and is maxed out with 8 MB of memory installed. It has a USB 2.0 connection (backwards-compatible to "USB;" I've tested it with "1.1" spec, but I presume this to mean it works with any USB, including "1.0"), which it is networkable by (it does not have an ethernet connection, but it will work like any other USB printer, through your operating system's networking functionality, which I can personally vouch for using Windows XP).
It works with Windows 2000 through Vista , and Apple MacOS X 10.3, Apple MacOS X 10.4, and Apple MacOS X 10.5, officially--but I'm sure that Linux, and other operating systems have provisions to make this usable (and likely even Windows 98, 2nd edition--which confers USB functionality). You also need 120 MB free disk space (Mac & PC), at least 128 Mb of RAM (for Macs), and a CD drive to use the included driver (although its always a free download from HP's website, or could be transferred from another computer with a CD-ROM via a USB Flash drive or hard drive). It has a monthly duty cycle of 9,999, and can churn out up to 1,500 pages per month.
IN USE
This is a quiet unit, but I've discovered that mine takes 3 times to sense that there is a single sheet in the tray, since this is usually how I use it. Just as with some copiers, you might need to put a few more sheets in for the sensor to realize that YES, there IS paper in there! Sometimes, I have to physically move a single sheet around a bit, if it doesn't start on the first set of tries (which it does, on occasion). You'll just have to try again if you get the "load paper" message. Each subset of printing tries takes about 9.5 seconds--finally printing after 19 or 29 seconds, but multiple sheets have always followed quickly, and without delay. I now realize that this could prematurely wear the printer out if you print enough. In my case, however, I have the Epson Photo printer-as well as other inkjets-for photographic, color or non-letter-quality work, so the printer does not see a heavy load.
Resolved
I have not been using laser paper. Instead, I have been using 15 year-old dot matrix paper, complete with the perforated loading strips (which I was wise enough to remove). It has occurred to me that this non-laser paper may not be thick enough for a single sheet to be properly sensed. When I loaded 7 sheets of this same paper, it printed the same test page at an average of 8.6 seconds--to paper absolute stillness, sitting in the tray. So I guess that was just it.
Paper Sizes
This unit prints on everything-from double-size Japanese postcards, to Monarch and other envelopes (with a continuously-adjustable, sliding paper bin)-all the way up to 8"X14" legal paper. I haven't used it with anything but letter-size paper, though. Another reviewer states that it will print on transparencies, but I haven't found that option or information in the driver or documentation.
DRIVER
The driver exerts a moderate amount of control over the P1006--about what you'd expect for a monochrome printer. There are options for "print pooling," bidirectional printing, print spooling, a print processor, a separator page, and selectable time availability and priority. There are also options for color management (I guess even grayscale needs this), defeatable automatic jam recovery, adjustable print density (1-10), an option to start a "cleaning page," manual duplexing, and regular or "dark" Courier font selection. Lastly, you could turn off the status messages.
PRINT QUALITY
The print quality is in line with what you'd expect from other Hewlett-Packard laser printers--outstanding, and what I'd expected. Photos print OK-with continuous tones-but I prefer the color photo printer for that. The only issue was I had to use a color printer to see the route superimposed by Mapquest.com--it just doesn't show up in monochrome. I tried tracing the route with a color marker, but it was so much easier just using a color inket in the end (too sloppy); you don't want to have anyone squinting at a map while driving.
WARRANTY
Hewlett-Packard backs this product with a 1-year limited warranty.
WHAT ELSE?
As is almost always the case with lower-cost printers, a USB Cable is not included; you could easily pick up at least a 1.1-spec for $1 at a thrift shop, though--so it's no big deal. I also just realized that I have been using a USB 1.1 port (but a 2.0 cord) for printing, which could explain the perception of slower printing. For the sake of absolute completion (and absolution, if you will), I have just connected it to a bona-fide USB 2.0 port--the speed seems the same (8.6 seconds per page). For complete disclosure, the aforementioned port is supposed to be a 2.0 port, but I sometimes get the message "a high-speed device has been connected to a low-speed port," when I connect an external hard drive; the problem is probably an intermittent one with my computer, so presume that all testing was done with 2.0 ports.
It must be mentioned that, when I first got the printer, I had to reinstall the software (which is relatively fast compared to a modern, HP Officejet, with all of its "bloatware" options). There was a problem with the unit being recognized and working. I haven't had any issues since, however, and it may've-again-had more to do with my computer. I also had trouble following the minimalist illustrations on the quick-start poster, but it all worked out.
A Funny Story
In the course of this review, I opened the printer's cover and, much to my dismay, saw a screw. Immediately, it leaped into a deep recess of the printer's bowels. I spent about 10 minutes carefully shaking the printer around-at various angles-only to not be able to extract the screw. Thoughts went through my mind...Was that screw a part of the printer? Is this really a piece of crap? Am I out of seventy bucks? Undaunted, I grabbed my trusty, excellentCraftsman 19.2 volt cordless drill, poked and prodded around, and finally managed to get the screw out--it happened to be a standard-issue screw that one commonly finds on the back covers of computers, so I knew it wasn't one of the very distinct screws the printer uses. The printer still works, so I guess that attests to its durability! That's how committed I was to this review! CONCLUSION
The Hewlett-Packard P1006 laser printer is a great value. You may experience some initial issues, regarding type and/or amount of paper in the input tray, but it should be easily resolved. It has been on sale often, of late-around $79-and I got mine from Dell.com, using a $50 e-certificate from American Express Gold Card rewards.
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