Photos: HP releases largest ever printer range

Aimed at SMBs, the HP Color LaserJet CM1312 is a small colour multifunction device. While the printer isn't that expensive for a multifunction, the inks aren't cheap. Expect to pay US$70 for a black cartridge and US$64 for one of the three colour cartridges.

It features print, scan, copy and fax — with two versions available. The CM1312 is the standard version, coming in at US$399 while the CM1312nfi comes in at US$499 and includes a 50-sheet auto document feeder. It also has 160MB of internal storage rather than 128MB available on the CM1312.

Both printers will be available in Australia from 1 June.

While the CM1312 was cheap, the Color LaserJet CP1215 is cheaper, coming in at just US$249. That means if you load it up with three US$64 inks cartridges and a US$70 ink cartridge, the ink is worth more than the printer.

Perhaps that's why HP claims that 90 percent of printing costs occur after the printer itself is purchased.

The CP1215 has a claimed print speed of 12ppm (pages per minute) for black and white and 8ppm for colour with a printer ink yield of 750 pages for both black and white and colour.

The CM1312 is available now.

The colour LaserJet CP1515n printer is very similar to its smaller cousin, the CP1215 — but costs US$299. For a slightly higher price, it looks like the CP1215 features better print quality, although HP's specs sheets were thin on resolution figures.

The CP1515 also comes as a CP1515ni variant, which features a memory card and USB slot, which comes in at US$329.

The CM1515 is available now.

The colour LaserJet CP6015 kicks off the more serious business printers. Expect to pay between US$3,900 and US$6,000 for any of the CP6015 printer range.

Inks are also considerably more expensive in this range at US$112 for a black colour drum and US$315 for a colour ink drum. Black ink cartridges come in at US$303 while colour cartridges come in at US$303.

The HP printer range can print at 1,200 by 600 dpi with a claimed speed of 41ppm black and white.

The CP6015 range also features network support and a large paper capacity of 2,100 sheets. The CP6015 printers are available now.

The LaserJet M1120 is back in the budget range with a multifunction device priced at US$199. There is also the option of a HP LaserJet M1120n which costs US$249, but HP's specs sheets didn't provide information on what features are available for the extra US$50.

HP claims a copy speed of 20ppm and scan speeds of 12ppm. Inks cost US$68, and the printer is available now.

The LaserJet M1319f is a multifunction that looks like a fax — which is perhaps why HP sells this printer as having enhanced fax capabilities. HP said that this printer would suit small businesses in emerging markets, where the price of a second phone line for a fax is prohibitive, with the handset on the side of the printer acting as a phone.

The printer features inbuilt technology called FaxTel which determines if the incoming call is voice or fax — so you don't have to ever pick up a fax by mistake.

Expect to pay US$279 for this fax/printer, and US$68 for inks. The M1319f will be available in Australia from 1 May.

The LaserJet M1522 is another budget multifunction printer — which differentiates itself by offering a fax option. Expect to pay US$300 for this printer or US$350 if you want a fax — and US$68 for inks.

HP claims print and copy speeds of 24ppm. This multifunction device also seems to feature considerably more processing power than HP's other lower-end multifunction printers, with a 450MHz processor and 64MB of device memory.

M1522 is currently available in Australia.

The LaserJet P4014 Printer is HP's office workhorse, with a paper input tray of 1500 sheets and a claimed page yield of 24,000 pages on a US$265 ink cartridge. There is also a smaller 10,000-page ink available for US$149.

Expect to pay US$799 for this printer. HP said the printer can produce resolutions of 1200 by 1200 dpi and comes with 640MB of on-board memory — with the option expanding with an EIO hard drive.

HP claim a printer speed of 45 ppm, and the P4014 will be available from 1 May.

The LaserJet P4015 is the big brother of the P4014, ranging between US$1,200 and US$1,800 depending on configuration options. Similarly it offers use on HP's high yield inks cartridges: 24,000 and 10,000 pages.

If HP's print yield figures are accurate you can expect to pay 1.1 US cents per page on both the P4014 and P4015.

Although very similar to the P4014, for the extra price HP says you get this: "IPSec encryption, [which] limits unauthorised access with management features like 802.1X authentication and password protection and guards sensitive information with support for private printing by entering a unique PIN to retrieve documents."

The P4015 also has support for additional EIO HDDs and additional USB ports. However if printer security isn't an issue, it is our view that the P4014 is better value for money.

The P4015 will be available from May 1.

The LaserJet P4510 printer series are the big boys of the P series. Ranging between US$1,600 and US$2,180 depending on features, the P4510 comes with the security features available on the P4015 plus the addition of the multipurpose paper sorting tray.

Despite HP touting the environmental friendliness of this printer, expect to pay extra for automatic duplex printing.

In case you aren't remotely interested in environmental friendliness, and just want to print to high heaven — the P4015 takes a maximum of 3,600 sheets and has a claimed maximum print speed of 62 ppm.

LaserJet P4510 will be available from 1 May.

The Officejet J6400 All-in-One is a step up from HP's cheaper Officejet J4500 multifunction printer. As the image suggests, it's similar to the J4500 but offers a range of extra features for an extra US$100, coming in at US$220.

Unlike the J4500, it's also currently available in Australia.

The Officejet Pro K8600 is HP's office option for small office quality colour prints, and comes in at US$299. Inks are priced between US$15 and US$35 depending on the capacity.

This printer can produce images ranging in size from 3 by 5 inches to 13 by 19 inches — so it might suit an in-house small business marketing company. It is currently available in Australia.

The Officejet Pro L7590 All-in-One is another small business multifunction device which comes in at US$299.

Based on HP's supplied specifications, The Officejet Pro L7590 seems to be one of HP's better multifunction devices for business based on price. It includes imbedded wired and wireless networking and "duplexing capabilities to reduce paper use by as much as 50 percent".

Inks range between US$15 and US$35, and the Officejet Pro L7590 is available in Australia now.

HP Color LaserJet CM6040 and CM6030 Multifunction are HP enterprise level printers, and sport fast printing at 40ppm, advanced network capabilities, copying, faxing, scanning (also to e-mail), autoduplexing and multi-language support. At 140kg, this isn't a small printer.

You have two options when buying HP's enterprise level printers; they can be leased on a cost-per-page basis, or bought outright. If you choose to invest in a printer of this scale, expect to pay upwards of AU$20,000 for a printer in the CM series.

The HP CM series is currently available in Australia.

If the CM6000 series with a 200,000-page duty cycle is too small for you then you might be interested in the LaserJet M9050 and M9040 printers. These two printers have a duty cycle of 300,000 pages.

Bear in mind that the M9040 is black and white only — so it's substantially more niche and its ultra versatile smaller is sibling the CM6000 series. This is a bulk black and white printing workhorse. It does, however, include high-quality black and white scanning.

Once again, HP enterprise-level printers are available on a cost-per-page basis or to buy outright. The M9000 series comes with a range of additional options, including automatic stacker options.

The odd-looking N9120 comes in at US$4,000 — making it an enterprise-level scanning equipment. When we reviewed the smaller and older model in the series, the N8460, we found it to be heavy, ugly, hard to use, exceptionally capable and super fast to scan.

The N9120 will be available from 1 August in Australia.

This quite obviously isn't a printer — it's the Jetdirect 690n Wireless Print Server. For US$450, HP claims you get increased security on an 802.11g wireless platform.

The hardware come with broad compatibility: it works with Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Novell and Citrix. The Jetdirect 690n Wireless Print Server will be available in Australia from June 1.