HP LaserJet P1006 Printer
by hp
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Our Price: $353.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $65.00 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of HP LaserJet P1006 Printer
Customer Review: Good Design and Value for Home Printing Needs
Summary: 4 Stars
After years of depending on inkjet printers for simple documents to photos, I was tired of watching the expiration date on the ink cartridges. Having re-assessed my printing needs, I realized I should have switched to a laser printer even before.
Of course prices were a factor in terms of ink and toner replacement as well as the unit itself. Not these days.
PROS:
- HP LaserJet P1006 has an attractive price point going for below $100
- Combined ink and toner in one. No need to purchase two accessories for printing as HP combined it in one.
- Because it's dry ink to start with, there is an infinite ink life which is perfect for people who don't print as often anymore and just need a printer that's ready when called for after a long dormant rest.
- For a laser printer, this is a very compact unit that can fit in more spaces than ever before where it was once impossible for laser printers
- Design. Modern and professional looking silver and dark grey scheme with round, smooth edges.
- Relatively quiet. I was expecting a blatantly loud printing start up, but HP has managed to make this very decent and perfect for a home environment.
- Compared to the basic P1005, this P1006 has (a) more memory, (b) a bit faster printing speed, (c) extra slot for envelope printing
- I have to quote HP but it prints "bold, crisp text and sharper images". It really does!
CONS:
- HP became more cheap to ensure you replace the ink cartridges sooner because the included "starter" cartridge is only half the original supply at 750 pages versus 1,500.
- At this day and age, wireless and network printing should be an option that can be built into the unit versus having to buy an external product that needs it's own power supply.
- USB cable. How much does it cost to provide a cable to ensure trouble-free printing right out of the box without having to assess if the old cable has a tear.
- No auto-off feature that should shut itself if not used for at least 5 minutes to reduce phantom power. It only goes into powersave mode which still draws 3 watts just waiting for the next print which could be days or even months.
WIRELESS PRINTING CONNECTION VIA APPLE AIRPORT EXTREME DUAL MODE.
Since day one of installation, the printer was connected to an Apple Airport Extreme Dual Mode router. As for printing wireless with a Mac computer, there has been no problem passing the documents to the router. I simply installed the latest driver from the HP site and simply added the printer.
Not surprisingly for an Apple product, I did have problems printing wireless via a Sony Vaio laptop running Windows Vista despite downloading the latest drivers as well as Bonjour (which I've had no problems printing with the same set up under an older HP printer). Then after having given up, I decided to try again and it did print. Nothing changed except maybe one of those Windows Vista software updates down the line. HP drivers and Apple Bonjour software version were all the same. I won't be surprised if it wouldn't print suddenly one of these days again as I've read online with other people's experiences.
I do have to point out that direct connection via USB to either Mac or Windows computer hasn't given me any problems when test printing. So if you plant a direct connection, then wireless printing wouldn't be an issue.
OVERALL:
I love the look of the printer and the print quality it provides for the cost of actually having a relatively itsy bitsy laser printer.
I'm not a fan of the half-value sampler ink cartridge. I'm not a fan of the replacement cartridge cost which doesn't surprise me why re-manufactured and third-party replacements are available. If this concerns HP, then they should simply lower the price so they have repeat customers.
For home printing needs that don't need everyday printing and require long life ink cartridge, I wouldn't hesitate recommending it at all.
Customer Review: The P is for personal!
Summary: 5 Stars
If you are looking for a quality "personal" laser printer, then this is the one. Hewlett Packard has years of experience building some of the best laser printers used by businesses the world over. Now you can have that same technology at an affordable price in your home.
The Hewlett Packard LaserJet P1006 is a small size desktop laser printer intended for the home user or student on a budget. It should not be rated against other small footprint laser printers built for business use or ink jet printers which are quite a different technology.
The P1006 is very quiet for a laser printer. I can barely hear it when in standby mode and the noise level is very tolerable when printing. The print quality is excellent which is to be expected since it is a Hewlett Packard laser printer. The printing speed is very good, close to excellent, and is only bested by its larger and more expensive cousins in the Hewlett Packard family. The mechanical design of this model is excellent. The ease of changing the wearable parts (the parts that wear out) is very well thought out and can be accomplished by just about any 7 year old child. So if you don't have a seven year old child borrow one when it is time to change the paper pickup roller and separation pad. Also being a Hewlett Packard you also get the support of an industry leader in laser printer design.
Plus the minimalist printer driver is what I have come to expect from Hewlett Packard. So many other printer manufacturers bog down your computer with printer drivers that are more flash than function. I use this printer with my laptop and only plug it in when I need to use it. I don't get annoying messages letting me know it can't find the printer when I reboot or come out of hibernation like others do. Windows Vista takes care of enabling the printer when I connect the USB cable to my laptop and disabling when I unplug. This is a true plug and play printer when coupled with a quality operating system. Yes, some Mac users have their undies in a bind, but they should not be using black and white printer anyway if you believe what their PC vs. Mac commercials tout.
There is really nothing to find fault with this printer considering this is a personal laser printer and should not be expected to meet the demands of a business. Some reviewers have complained about toner cost and paper curling. But neither is the fault of this printer.
The price per page is about 4 cents which is very reasonable. True the CB435A toner cartridge it is only rated at 1500 pages (700 for the one that is included with the new printer) but that is more than most home users will use in a year, especially for a black and white printer. Toner cartridges have a shelf life, so print quality degrades as the imaging roller in the cartridge gets older. So you want to purchase the printer than best fits your printing needs. If you are going to print more than a ream (500 pages) a month, then I would recommend a larger printer. Hewlett Packard rates this printer at 1,500 pages a month, but that is in my opinion excessive for this tiny printer.
To address the paper rolling concerns, 10+ years of certified laser printer repair experience will tell you that the quality of the paper is the cause, not the printer. When the paper goes through the fuser to attach affix the toner to the paper it is exposed to extreme heat that can cause low quality paper to curl as it makes the 180 degree turn out of the printer. Also paper that has been improperly stored can have higher than recommended moisture content and can also cause curling.
Another reviewer complaint was that the toner flaked off. This can be caused by a few issues, none of which are printer related (imagine that.) Toner that flakes off after it has been affixed to the paper can be caused by paper of poor quality, too glossy or too thick. Toner is a plastic powder that is melts onto the paper. If the conditions are not right, adhesion is not guaranteed.
Customer Review: HP: "We discontinue the good models so the bad ones sell better."
Summary: 1 Stars
I purchased this printer in January 2010 to replace my awesome HP LaserJet 1018, which ran out of toner after nearly one and a half years of light daily printing. A new toner cartridge for the 1018 was $65, and a whole new printer was $75 after coupon, so I figured I'd win by buying new hardware and selling the old printer on the Marketplace. You guessed right, I didn't win.
The LaserJet 1012 and 1018 were true small office workhorses. They had rock solid design, printed fast, and had a small footprint. I guess HP realized they had finally reached monochrome laser perfection and would have no new models to sell unless they really got off their chairs and started to innovate in the printer space (which they haven't done in at least a decade). Solution? A reboot to the 10xx LaserJets and introduction of the P100x line. The idea was to reduce footprint even further while supposedly retaining the features that made the old LaserJets good. The only problem is that those features are not there anymore. Let's break it down.
1) Flimsy design. This printer looks and feels like a toy, and while I tried to keep an open mind about the cheap silver plastic, my fears were immediately justified when I heard the rattling during the first pages printed by this thing. The P1006 screams cheap design and assembly. When brings us to point 2.
2) Noise. This thing is loud. If you're "upgrading" from a 1012 or 1018 (and HP does have the nerve to recommend this supposed upgrade), you will immediately notice how nasty the sound is. If you're switching from another cheaply designed printer, the noise may not bother you as much, but it bothers me tremendously.
3) Speed. The printer takes noticeably longer to warm up and print the first page compared to the 1018.
4) Less toner. Smaller footprint came at the cost of less toner per cartridge, while the price of the cartridge is almost the same as the ones with more capacity!
If all of the above hasn't convinced you that this line of LaserJets is a failure, here comes the dealbreaker:
5) Paper jams. It started jamming on the first day. This printer is super picky about paper. I like to recycle printed paper for backside printing of rough drafts or when I need a quick Google Map before leaving the house. Forget it. This printer will try to choke on any sheet that has already been printed on before. Even with new paper, it tends to gobble up and pass through several sheets at once.
Conclusion: Folks, don't buy this junk. If HP doesn't bring back a sub-$150 printer that actually works and is pleasant to own, I will likely switch to another brand of laser printers (after 15 years using exclusively HP). I have seen rave reviews of the low-end Brother laser printers and am strongly considering giving one a shot. Thank you for reading.
Customer Review: you should seriously reconsider this purchase
Summary: 2 Stars
The summary - if you are thinking of buying this printer, and you print 130 pages a month or more, than you should seriously reconsider your purchase.
I just bought the refill for my little laser printer a few weeks ago, and although there are some plusses for this printer/toner combo, in light of a new product release the P1006/35A is overall a pretty bad deal nowadays. Allow me to explain...
The 35A toner cartridge [...] yields 1500 pages [...]. I knew this was a little high when I initially brought printer about a year or so ago, still, at that time it was not that much more than anything that would yield comparable results anywhere near that price point. And at that point, and up to just a few days ago, I would have rated this four stars, knocking one star knocked off for value. I will outline all the plusses of this printer at the bottom, but do want to mention that functionally there is nothing wrong with the P1006/35A combo, in fact it gets many things right. What changes my evaluation of this printer is the introduction of the HP 8500. The HP 8500 comes in a few different flavors, but the base one currently runs [...] on Amazon. And the single most important thing about this new printer is the cost per page of black prints -[...]. Now, a great cost per page alone means little, however, [...], it prints very well too. It is listed as one of their top five printers at the moment. Had I known this at the time I ordered the toner, I would have forgone this purchase and gone with the new HP 8500 instead, most likely for the aforementioned base model, or I might even have possibly have sprung for the wireless version for the convenience of it. Regardless, I would not have gotten this refill with such a drastic cost per page difference.
[...].
The good things about this printer: the purchase price is inexpensive; you can get one with the starter toner package for $100. It has a very small footprint. It's been completely trouble free for me. It prints quickly. And text looks great from it. However, I would expect the same level of quality, plus affordable color prints from the 8500 (The cost of color is 1.9 cents per page). The larger footprint is not an issue for me. So, all in all, for my needs it no longer makes sense to keep buying these toner cartridges, as the cost per page is now prohibitively high given the now available 8500.
The P1006 is a great printer in many regards, but it has a huge drawback of being a bad long term value if you print even moderate amount. So that is what causes me to give this product a 2 star rating now.
Customer Review: A little bit better than inkjet for text.
Summary: 3 Stars
I have printed and compared prints of pages of text between this HP laser-printer (P1006) and the HP inkjet (Deskjet D4360).
The inkjet prints darker regular lettering, but too dark bold. However, if using WORD-software, you can highlight your bold text, and go to "Format", "Font", "Other Colors" (at the bottom), and choose the next-step-down from full-black. This slightly lightens your bold, making it easier to read, while keeping it bold, solving the problem.
The laser prints good bold, but a little light on regular lettering.
The laser has better shaped lettering.
The laser's light-text-printing makes it a little harder to read, especially for older persons with dimming eyesight. Yet, inkjet's not as sharp shaping of the letters makes it a little harder to read. So they equal out. Thus, the deciding factor for me was price. The inkjet was cheaper and the cartridges are much cheaper.
I do not believe any laser sales rep's claims of how many pages the laser will print on a cartrdige. I do not believe that the laser cartridges are cheaper than the ink-jet cartridges in the long-run. I believe it is the reverse. So, I believe the inkjet is a little cheaper cost up-front and in the long-run. I would welcome a comment citing an independent test by consumer-reports (with date of issue and page). I believe the computer-magazines say what the manufacturers want said, because the computer-magazines get money from the manufacturers in advertising.
I have seen text prints of larger and more-expensive laser printers, which are greatly superior to my inkjet prints in every respect. This HP laser does not have that vast superiority. This HP Laser is the best I found at this price range. If you are set on a Laser; I was interested in Xerox printers (Phaser and Pagepro), but they were only online and not in the stores near me. I heard Konica-Minolta makes good printers if you do not connect it to more than one computer at a time (no networking). Both these companies start at higher, mid-range prices of $280 to $350 in May 2009. I did not test them.