29 Jul 10 The Unswerving And Reasonably Priced Laser Printer: HP Color LaserJet 3800

With a price tag of less than $1000, the HP Color LaserJet 3800, with the HP Q6470a cartridge cartridge, is a very attractive printer. There are only a few color laser printers with around that are available for less than $1000. What attracts most is its color printing capability and its price. We are going to check if this printer has what it takes to be one of the best.

For any laser printer, it is important that it looks nice and does not take so much space. The LaserJet 3800 has a diameter of around 15.7 by 17.7 inches, which is about the same as a large oven toaster. It stands 15.7 inches, so headroom is not a problem. Even though it is compact, the LaserJet is quite heavy. With a weight of 59.7 lbs, this is one of the heaviest laser printers in its class. The design is marked with HP’s patented white and grey color scheme.

The HP Color LaserJet 3800 is powered by a 533 MHz and a 96 MB memory that can be expanded up to 544 MB. Both the processor and default 96MB memory has enough power to handle most printing needs. The expandable memory will come in if the device is connected to an office or home network. The expandable memory uses a DDR SDRAM or DIMM 200-pin.

Since this is a sub $1000 color laser printer, it does not have any built-in Ethernet port. However, this did not affect its cost effectiveness. HP was able to put up a whopping 65000 monthly page cycle. The monthly page cycle is double the amount of any sub $1000 color laser printers available in the market today. This number of prints can handle the printing needs of a medium sized office.

For any laser printer, it is important to have enough speed. Most counterparts clock in at around 18 pages for black and white. The HP LaserJet was able to get speeds of up to 21 pages per minute for both monochrome and color prints. In fact, it is one of the fastest laser printers in its class. Both of its paper trays can handle a total of 350 sheets. The total capacity for both is enough for average use.

With a max resolution of 600 x 600dpi, the HP is just about average. However, the ImageREt 3600 is what makes it stand out against other laser printers. The ImageREt 3600 is HP’s world-renowned image optimization system that can improve the quality of any image when you print it. When we unboxed it, the package includes four 6000-page yield toner cartridges. The toner cartridges were black, yellow, red, and blue. Printing cost is also very affordable. The HP LaserJet prints each page at a rate of 2.2 cents for monochrome and 2.8 cents for color, which is very economical for a printer that cost less than $1000.

Connectivity is pretty basic since it uses a single USB 2.0 hub. It does not have any wireless and parallel port. The package includes a USB wire, which is around 6 feet long. This freebie actually increases its value, since a USB like this will cost around $80. When the machine is in use, it uses approximately 737 Watts. If it is on standby, it brings it down to a measly 48 Watts.

The HP Color LaserJet 3800, with HP Q6471a cyan toner cartridge is one of best color laser printers around. You get the performance that you would expect from more expensive device. Its printing cost, speed, and quality definitely belong to the record books. HP was able to design a printer that truly delivered what it promised. If you need printer toner cartridge, get LaserJet 3800 toner.