HP Shade LaserJet Professional 4201dw evaluation: an absolute pleasure to make use of

HP Shade LaserJet Professional 4201dw

MSRP $569.00

“HP’s Shade LaserJet Professional 4201dw is a type of uncommon printers that is an absolute pleasure to make use of.”

Execs

• Lightning-fast print speeds
• Good print high quality
• Two paper trays
• Straightforward setup and use
• Dependable operation

Cons

• Fastened-angle, monochrome show
• Shade price per web page is simply OK

Printers aren’t precisely identified for innovation. However each as soon as and some time, one comes alongside that catches your consideration.

The HP Shade LaserJet Professional 4201dw did precisely that. The printer builds on the corporate’s lengthy legacy of high quality laser printers with its new eco-friendly and energy-efficient TerraJet toner and its distinctive dial-based person interface.

I put the brand new Shade LaserJet Professional via its paces to learn how nicely this new know-how works, and checked print efficiency, high quality, and long-term price. To earn consideration as among the finest coloration laser printers, it must excel in each manner — and I’m delighted to report that this one did.

Design

HP’s Shade LaserJet Professional 4201dw is a sexy printer with a daring marine-blue entrance panel on a white physique. It has a sturdy design however isn’t too cumbersome, with a footprint of 16.6 by 16.8 inches and standing 11.3 inches excessive. The load is 36 kilos, so it’s not too heavy to maneuver round when you want to.

The person interface of the Shade LaserJet Professional 4201dw is exclusive. To maintain prices down, printer producers typically embrace buttons and a normal display screen as a substitute of a touchscreen. Nevertheless, HP opted for a 4-line monochrome show and a dial, a intelligent selection.

Take into consideration how straightforward it’s to regulate quantity with a dial or set the temperature on an oven. With a fast twist you get precisely what you want with out repeated button clicking. I loved utilizing the Shade LaserJet Professional 4201dw’s dial to navigate and scroll. The dial acts as a button additionally, so I press to pick out or maintain to open a shortcut menu. 

A USB-A port on the prime left is hidden behind a flip-up mud cowl. That makes walk-up printing handy.

A 250-sheet paper tray is a drawer on the backside of the HP Shade LaserJet Professional 4201dw. The tall blue panel above tilts ahead to disclose a 50-sheet media tray for labels, envelopes, and various media.

Printing efficiency

The HP Shade LaserJet Professional 4201dw is constructed for velocity with out sacrificing high quality. The primary web page shoots out in as little as 9 seconds. For longer paperwork, pages roll out at 35 pages per minute (ppm). Shade prints simply as shortly as monochrome. Duplex speeds gradual barely to 31 ppm and save paper through the use of either side.

HP’s TerraJet toner melts at decrease temperatures, utilizing 27% much less vitality and offering extra constant colours. In my assessments, the Shade LaserJet Professional 4201dw dealt with images practically in addition to an inkjet printer and far more shortly.

To be clear, an inkjet handles refined tones higher, gives borderless printing and a few, just like the Epson EcoTank ET-8500, use a six-color ink system to increase the dynamic vary and coloration accuracy of photographic prints.

The HP Shade LaserJet Professional 4201dw is designed for the workplace the place you want coloration paperwork extra typically than shiny footage, and it excels at that activity. Blocks of coloration graphics print cleanly with no streaks, strains, or blotches.

It’s a fantastic coloration laser printer that’s versatile sufficient and quick sufficient for any job.

Particular options

HP’s Shade LaserJet Professional 4201dw has two USB-A ports: one on the entrance and one on the again. Each settle for thumb drives.

For walk-up printing, I attempted the entrance port and found I wanted to allow it earlier than it could work. The toggle is beneath superior settings within the HP Good app.

With the dial, I can choose any file on the flash drive, PDF or picture, regulate print settings and print with out the necessity to set up a driver on my pc or an app on my cellphone. That’s fairly handy in a shared workspace.

I didn’t strive the rear USB-A port, however HP says it’s for job storage. A thumb drive can maintain print jobs to make fast copies of typically wanted paperwork or maintain prints till a selected individual arrives on the printer. Once more, this can be a nice function for a busy workplace, however not as necessary for residence use.

Software program and compatibility

Setup was fast and simple on the printer. HP’s dual-band, self-healing Wi-Fi related to my community in seconds. I used the dial to enter my Wi-Fi password. On reflection, I ought to have pressed the WPS button on my router and selected that possibility from the Shade LaserJet Professional 4201dw’s menu.

There are USB-B and Ethernet ports on the again for direct connection to a pc. Home windows and Mac computer systems acknowledge the HP Shade LaserJet Professional 4201dw immediately, and the HP Good app for iOS and Android let me examine toner ranges and entry superior settings.

As soon as I enabled the entrance USB-A port, every thing labored as anticipated. I may print something on labels, envelopes, card inventory, or customary paper, shortly and with nice high quality.

Worth

HP’s listing worth for the Shade LaserJet Professional 4201dw is $569, but it surely’s straightforward to seek out for as little as $399. That’s a fantastic worth for a dependable and durable coloration laser printer with 35 ppm velocity. The Shade LaserJet Professional 4201dw’s sale worth makes it nearly as cheap as Brother’s HL-L3295CDW.

I researched toner prices, an necessary consideration to evaluate the long-term worth of a printer. HP makes 210A and 210X cartridges. The latter lasts thrice longer and gives vital financial savings over time.

A typical black toner cartridge yields about 2,000 pages, whereas the high-capacity cartridge provides 7,500 pages. Every customary coloration toner cartridge lasts for 1,800 pages, whereas the high-capacity mannequin supplies as much as 5,500 pages.

I calculated prices primarily based on the present cartridge costs and located monochrome printing to be cheap whereas coloration is inexpensive. The common price of monochrome paperwork is 2 to five cents per web page. The high-yield cartridges are extra necessary for coloration printing, which prices 12 to twenty cents per web page.

Shade print prices are decrease than Canon’s well-rated all-in-one imageClass MF654cdw, with higher velocity.

Is that this the printer for you?

HP’s Shade LaserJet Professional 4201dw is a superb coloration laser printer that’s a pleasure to make use of. I just like the retro dial interface. The print high quality is outstanding, and the velocity is spectacular.

For small companies, there’s loads of capability as your workplace grows. The really helpful duty-cycle is 4,000 pages monthly, however the printer can deal with as much as 50,000 pages to accommodate huge initiatives. An elective 550-sheet paper tray means you don’t need to reload as typically.

Whereas the Shade LaserJet Professional 4201dw is a perfect selection for small companies, it additionally works nicely for a house workplace. It’s inexpensive, not too giant or heavy, and might deal with something you want from a printer.

In case you want copy, scan, and fax capabilities, HP’s Shade LaserJet Professional 4301fdw has the identical print high quality and velocity however features a flatbed scanner and computerized doc feeder.