Product Reviews

Single-pass colour laser printers are nothing new these days - in fact, they're fast becoming the norm. However, while many have already gone down the single-pass route, HP has lagged behind, until now. The Color Laserjet 4600hdn is the company's latest colour laser, replacing the four-pass Color Laserjet 4550 as its mainstream colour workgroup product, and represents an original approach for its class.

One of the 4600hdn's main distinguishing features is its vertical cartridge system. This means that the toner cassettes are stacked on top of one another, rather than horizontally - the usual for other single-pass lasers such as Brother's HL-4000CN (see Reviews, issue 94, p126). Far from being a marketing gimmick, this is an innovative feature that reduces the printer's depth considerably compared to horizontal single-pass engines. This means the 4600hdn can fit into the space of many mono lasers - a clear benefit to offices with less room. Naturally, the printer is taller as a result, but the compromise is a good one.

HP has also placed all the connections - parallel, 10/100BaseTX Ethernet and power input - on the side of the unit. This means you can place the printer close to a rear wall, maximising space saving and, as you don't need to fumble around the back of the device, it simplifies connection too.

These features aside, the remaining specification is similar to recent single-pass laser printers in its class. Thanks to the in-line engine, print speeds are increased to 16ppm in mono and colour at an output resolution of 600dpi. HP includes its ImageREt 2400 technology to boost the effective resolution, which helps to compensate for the lack of a true 1,200dpi mode, as found in Brother's HL-4000CN. In addition to ImageREt 2400, SmartEdge Control is included, which aims to smooth jagged edges on light-coloured text, as well as a colour-trapping technology designed to improve colour blending. A 400MHz processor is also standard across the range, as is PCL5c and PCL6 language support. Adobe PostScript 3 support is by emulation only, though.

The hdn version on review adds duplexing, 160Mb of RAM, a network card, a 10Gb hard disk (for job accounting, secure printing and so on) and an additional 500-sheet paper tray, boosting overall paper handling to 1,100 sheets.

Also present is HP's Embedded Web Server (EWS) and Embedded Virtual

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Machine (EVM), which are standard issue these days. EVM is looking less like a feature waiting for an application too with programs such as J@mail, which allows the 4600hdn to receive and print emails that are sent over the Internet.

Performance testing began with our standard 50-page plain-text document, printed at the standard 600dpi settings. This proved little problem for the 4600hdn, which finished the test in just under three minutes at a speed of 16.8ppm. Text quality was top notch too, with razor-sharp characters giving a professional look. The 4600hdn also printed 50 letters - each with a colour logo and some coloured text - at the same speed, and the results were noticeably crisper than those of the HL-4000CN.

To test the new colour engine more rigorously, we printed a 20-page high-resolution PDF newsletter containing numerous fonts and several colour photos. The 4600hdn breezed through the test at its full engine speed and the results were up with the best we've seen. Black text quality was excellent and, while coloured text was slightly bland, photographic images looked fantastic, with smooth blending and good colour fidelity.

In fact, the 4600hdn's photo performance on plain paper was in a league of its own, even approaching the quality offered by four-colour inkjets on plain paper. Our photo inkjet test image printed with smooth blends, pleasing colours and excellent detail. Granted, a closer look reveals some speckling and banding, but it's still superb.

The excellent colour performance extended to Excel spreadsheets as well. Background shading was solid and the text remained sharp even at small font sizes, again bettering the HL-4000CN.

A duplex unit is always a welcome addition, especially for a colour printer, as it provides the ability to print small booklets and brochures. The only disadvantage is a drop in print speeds to just under 5ppm (ten faces per minute), although this is on a par with the HL-4000CN.

With four separate toner cartridges, colour printing is inevitably more expensive than mono. Unfortunately, though, the 4600hdn is generally expensive to run, largely due to the higher price of HP's smart printer supplies. With mono print costs of 1.9p per page (5 per cent coverage) and 9.9p per page in colour (20 per cent coverage), the 4600hdn is about 50 per cent more expensive per page than the HL-4000CN. If running costs are a concern, Kyocera's four-pass FS-8000C (see Reviews, issue 88, p149) is still the best choice.

The HP Laserjet 4600hdn typifies the quality we've come to expect from HP printers. Its novel design helps to save space, and the print quality is exemplary in both mono and colour. The price of £3,291 is also good considering the inclusion of a hard disk and second paper tray, although running costs are among the worst we've seen. If you're planning to migrate from mono to colour, the 4600hdn is the best printer for the job, although not the most economical.