HP LaserJet 1300 Printer Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Don't let your first impression of the LJ 1300 fool you. It does look a bit more like one of HP's cheapie inkjet or photo printers than the serious B&W laser workhorse that it is.

It's chintzy-appearing plastic paper tray sticking out of the front and it's very inexpensive price (...) belies its rather impressive capabilities as a reasonably "heavy duty" home office or small business printer.

I'm a full-time, home-based medical transcriptionist. My printer output averages 5,000-7,500 pages a month -- a much higher output demand than most home offices and others who have posted reviews here. Because I work on production, I absolutely require a reliable laser printer.

The reason that I bought the HP 1300 was because a Brother HL-5140 I had recently purchased turned out to be entirely unsatisfactory after only a couple months of use (it's poorly designed and plagued with paper jams). I knew I should have stuck with HP in the first place.

I have now used the HP 1300 for about a month and printed more than 5,000 pages without a single glitch or paper jam. Yes, I am very careful about how I handle the paper I put into the printer, but I think that's pretty amazing. And after printing more than 5,000 pages with the small-capacity 13A toner cartridge (which is rated at 2,500 pages), I still have 25% of the toner left.

Over the past years I have used LaserJet 4L and 6P models extensively. The only differences I can discern between them and the current printer is that he HP 1300 is quieter and a whole lot faster. And, contrary to the observations of some reviewers here, I have found the print quality among all three to be consistenly excellent.

I don't give a 5-star rating easily, but the HP 1300 has earned it.

THE PROS:

1.Initial setup (at least for me, using a parallel port connection with both DOS and Windows drivers) was incredibly quick and simple. Anyone who has trouble installing this printer (as mentioned in a couple of other reviews here) probably didn't bother to read the instructions.

2.I found the online documentation to be quite adequate, and the online "Toolbox" is an extremely useful tool for both customizing the printer and monitoring its current status.

3.If output speed is what you're looking for, the HP 1300 delivers with HP's "instant-on fuser technology." No more waiting for the laser printer to warm up between jobs. For me, this "first page out" time is as important as the rated print speed.

4.Paper of all kinds, including envelopes, run through it without any problems, and the print quality is excellent.

5.It's about as quiet as any laser printer I've ever used.

6.The HP 1300 appears to be VERY well designed and built for very hard use. Changing the toner cartridge couldn't be easier.

THE CONS:

1.I remains to be seen if the HP 1300 will stand up to my very rigorous use as well as my old LaserJet 6P, which has over 120,000 pages through it and is still going strong.

2.As noted by another reviewer, like nearly all laser printers, it does tend to curl the top and bottom edges of the printed pages a bit sometimes, which can be a bit annoying. However, this characteristic is common to nearly all laser printers, and it depends a lot on temperature, humidity, and the type of paper you're using.

All in all, an absolutely fantastic, reasonably heavy-duty printer, and a terrific bargain for(...).

Bob

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Product Description:
The LaserJet 1300 from HP is a monochrome laser printer that offers high-quality output, fast print time, and expandability options. With a resolution as high as 1,200 dpi, prints are crisp and accurate, while speeds of up to 20 ppm (8 seconds for the first page out) mean you won't have to wait long for print jobs to finish.
A 250-page standard input tray can be supplemented with an optional tray for a total of 510 pages, while the 16 MB standard memory can be boosted up to 80 MB. The 133 Hz internal processor is capable of handling large print jobs, while the 10,000-page per month maximum duty cycle provides reliability even in heavy-use environments. The 1300 comes with standard USB and parallel port interfaces, and optional HP Jetdirect print servers allow you to add the printer to a network and print from multiple computers.
A wide variety of paper types and sizes are supported, including paper (plain, recycled), cardstock, envelopes, labels, transparencies, letter, legal, executive, and more. Energy Star compliant, the 1300's 110 to 127V (+- 10%), 50/60 Hz power supply consumes about 285 watts during normal operation or about 7 watts during standby. PC, Mac, and Linux compatible, the 1300 also comes backed with a one-year limited warranty on both parts and labor.
What's in the Box
HP LaserJet 1300 printer, HP smart print cartridge (in protective bag), getting started guide, software and electronic user guide on CD-ROM, power cord, print media input tray, printer priority input slot, parallel LIO adapter; printer cable not included