HP Laserjet M175nw

Excellent & Easy

I bought this as a Christmas present after doing much research. I was looking for a laserjet vs. inkjet, required wireless networking support, a decent sized paper input tray, (ideally a full ream, but negotiable), and of course, it had to be multi-function.

I purchased this one as a Christmas gift, and have had it setup & running for a few days now. Setup was very easy and took less than 15 minutes. It found my wireless network and I was able to configure it easily. I did get momentarily confused during setup as the process directed you to update the firmware to get the latest/greatest functionality and to enable ePrint. But the printer wasn't listed in the printers supporting ePrint, which led me to a brief online chat session with HP's support. Essentially they directed me to ignore that step, and I was able to confirm that ePrinting was functional, (the ePrint logo on the control panel clearly indicates the printer supports ePrint - so the website is simply behind). There was a step in the setup process where I had to connect the printer via the USB cable, but that was removed in a later step, and the printer's functioning flawlessly on my wireless network now. I've updated a couple of laptops to add the printer, (via the control panel process, and pulling the driver off the internet using the Windows Update option during printer setup).

The ePrint setup was extremely easy as well - the printer generates a unique printer code, which it prints for you. You type in the code on the ePrint website and select a unique email address for your printer and you're done. I didn't read the fine print regarding how HP deals with any sensitive documents you send through their yyy@hpeprint.com domain, but I don't anticipate using it for sensitive information anyway. You'll want to research that before sending anything really sensitive.

So far, I've been extremely pleased with the printer. It prints quickly, even when it's in sleep mode. I informally timed it, using the second hand of the Windows clock, and within 45 seconds of sending a 7 page newsletter-type document, (light graphics & text on every page), it was printing the first page, and the entire document was done about a minute later.

Copying is extremely easy, via the two front-panel buttons, (one for color, one for black & white). I haven't tried a multi-page job yet, but the document feeder works fine. The lid has a tendency to slam down when you're copying off-sized documents manually.

Scanning is great as well. The default install has an HP supplied product that will scan documents and import into PDF format or JPG formats. Multi-page support is included and is a breeze to operate. You can email or save as files directly from the interface. The purchase also includes a fully-functional version of Readiris Pro 12. This is a fully-functional OCR product that will save as MS Office formats as well. I've only tried Word thus far, and it was klunkier than I'd expected. The document was scanned in and saved as a Word doc, but when I attempted to open via Word I received several error messages about the file being corrupt prior to successfully opening the document. I'm not sure what happened there, as the error messages led me to believe it wouldn't work. Yet it did, so ... it bears some more watching. For my needs, the basic HP scanning product will probably be sufficient. If I use the Readiris software more, I'll update the review with any new observations.

And finally, it's nice that the printer's wireless, which means anyone can initiate scanning session without having to login to the "scanner pc" or whatever.

I would definitely recommend this printer to others, based on my usage thus far.

Great entry level laser color

I've long pined for an affordable AIO color solution that didn't fit the razor/razor blade dilemma posed by inkjet printers. Sure they were cheap, but they are expensive to own. This is the first entry by HP (I only do HP simply for compatibility reasons) that actually makes sense for a home office budget and presentation-level color. Shockingly it also appears that HP has actually improved their software so that it isn't 500MB of bloatware that is highly invasive on the PC and slow on a good day. In my first two weeks of using the LJ100 it is actually fast enough to be a usable scanner as well. Like HP's DeskJet series it is still incredibly loud as it cycles through its machinations, but I'm generally pleased with my $350 CyberMonday purchase. I hope the toner cartridges turn out to deliver good ROI versus inkjets!

Happy with this product!

I had been having issues with inkjet printers for ages. Most inkjet ink doesn't last long and as I am in school working on my master's degree, I need a printer that will print a large amount of pages without me having to worry that I have to replace my ink often. This printer has been a godsend for me.

The price was no higher than I've paid for the past inkjet printers I've bought, so that was a huge plus for me as well.

Set up for this printer was really easy. If you need this for wireless, HP has the instructions in one of the discs and was a breeze to set up--in fact, it practically did it for me! I'm used to having to jump through hoops to get wireless set up for my printers, but not when I set this one up.

I can only attest to the black ink, because I haven't printed in color since I bought it (2 months ago), but it prints perfectly and I'm very happy with it. The extra money for cartridges will be well worth the price because I no longer have to buy ink every time I need to print out a research paper. I use it on average to print out about 10-20 pages a week, sometimes more, and have yet to receive notice that my black cartridge is low.

Beware of replacement reconditioned units from HP.

I purchased this printer because its size is ideal for my limited office space. But I must caution buyers who receive a defective unit to immediately return it to the seller rather than involving HP Tech Support. In my case, the printer had a major print quality problem, so HP shipped a reconditioned replacement very promptly. That unit didn't initialize properly and failed to recognize the toner cartridges from the original one. After another call to another Tech Support representative, a second reconditioned unit arrived that had the same problem. After a final call to Tech support when the representative suggested that I purchase new cartridges to try (they would waive expedited shipping charges!) I decided to return the original printer to the seller for exchange with a new unit.

The replacement unit had no print quality problems but the HP Smart Install software that should be present in the printer had not been installed so I couldn't configure wireless networking following the rather sparse installation instructions. Although the unit functioned well as a USB connected printer, I could not get wireless networking configured because the E:\ drive to which the install directs you was "Not available". This had not been the case with the first unit; it networked properly. HP Tech support used remote access to load the software from the CD included with the printer (without instructions on running it) and that corrected the problem. They also considerately performed a second install on our other laptop and it tested correctly too.

This is a fairly new product (the four units I had were built in March or July 2011), so it is not surprising that some manufacturing defects are slipping by quality control. However, HP is not doing a very good job of collecting data via the Tech Support channel; most of those folks are not interested in diagnosing problems at all even when the customer is willing to provide information. For instance, I offered to provide copies of the original defective prints, but they were not interested. Likewise, they did not seem to attach any significance to the fact that the reconditioned units completed initialization in 10 seconds as opposed to the four minutes in the install documentation. One of these "script jockeys" even suggested that I purchase new toner cartridges (about $180) to try them in their reconditioned units.

None of this is to say that I don't like the unit I now have; it is performing quite well and is a perfect fit for my limited office space. Its scan, copy, and print functions very well and the wireless features work very well and avoids the medusa's head of cables and print sharing issues that made having his and hers PCs problematic.