Skip to navigation

PCPro-Computing in the Real World Printed from www.pcpro.co.uk

Register to receive our regular email newsletter at http://www.pcpro.co.uk/registration.

The newsletter contains links to our latest PC news, product reviews, features and how-to guides, plus special offers and competitions.

HP LaserJet P1505

in Printers

Verdict

Quick printing for a low price, but don't expect the features of dearer models.

Review Date: 3 Mar 2008

Price when reviewed: £95 (£109 inc VAT)

Buy it now for: £126.44

Overall Rating
4 stars out of 6

Features & Design
3 stars out of 6

Value for Money
5 stars out of 6

Performance
4 stars out of 6

Undercutting all of the mono printers in our recent Labs, HP's impressively compact Laserjet P1505 is clearly aimed at the entry-level end of the laser market. Instead of an LCD screen it makes do with buttons and coded lights, and whereas almost half the machines in that Labs complemented the usual USB connection with an Ethernet port for multi-user printing, the P1505 is strictly a standalone device for the home office or personal desktop use.

Should network printing be a high priority, HP does offer a P1505n model with an Ethernet port, although the price leaps by an unreasonable £70. Compare this to the £129 Lexmark E250dn, with its USB, Ethernet and parallel ports and the networked HP looks an unattractive proposition. It's most likely to be used as a personal printer, so the lack of features and the paltry 2MB of onboard memory shouldn't be too off-putting. As long as print quality and speeds are up to scratch, the low price will appeal.

Alas, there was evidence of cost-cutting in our print tests. Plain text is handled sufficiently well for the likely workload - HP's spherical toner technology means we saw little to no spidering around characters - but graphics aren't quite up to scratch. Gradients, for instance, were afflicted by plenty of banding, and the maximum resolution of 600 x 600dpi - half that of our favourite small mono laser, the Brother HL-5240 - means that areas of solid grey appeared grainy.

However, if print quality is merely average, print speeds are anything but. Our ISO test document - which encompasses both text and graphics - was handled with aplomb (hitting 22ppm in both normal and draft modes), as were a slew of Excel spreadsheets. In fact, its document printing rate is on a par with the Brother and faster than several dearer printers from the recent Labs.

It's only £104, so if you're just after a fast and affordable mono laser printer for the home office, the HP Laserjet P1505 may do a job - particularly if you don't print a lot of graphics. But if you require anything more than that - top quality output or a feature set above the mere basics - you'd be better off spending a bit more on the larger, but superior, Brother HL-5240.

Author: Mike Jennings

Be the first to comment this article

You need to Login or Register to comment.

(optional)

Latest Prices for Laserjet P1505

Seller Price Buy Now Seller Rating
Amazon Electronics UK £126.44 4 starts out of 5
2 reviews
Oyyy.co.uk £129.20 Shop 5 starts out of 5
544 reviews
Printware £131.18 Shop 5 starts out of 5
33 reviews
BT Shop £131.60 Shop 0 starts out of 5
77 reviews
Misco.co.uk £137.46 Shop 5 starts out of 5
3256 reviews
Compare reviews: Printers

advertisement

Latest Blog Posts Subscribe to our RSS Feeds

advertisement

Sponsored Links
 
SEARCH
SIGN UP

Your email:

Your password:

remember me

advertisement


Hitwise Top 10 Website 2008