Monday, April 8, 2013
HP LaserJet 8150 Monochrome Laser Printer
PROS:
Before we discuss the specs, you need to know that the LaserJet 8150 comes in four different flavors: The basic 8150; the 8150n with plug-in Ethernet; the 8150dn with network and 2-sided printing capabilities; the networked 8150HN with a 2000-sheet high capacity tray and 3000-sheet stacker; and the 8150MFP model, a multi-function printer/copier with all the features of it’s siblings plus digital copying, hard drive storage, automatic stapling and collation. The duplex unit, high capacity trays, and network cards are available as optional accessories for the base unit and can be easily attached without tools.
Before we discuss the specs, you need to know that the LaserJet 8150 comes in four different flavors: The basic 8150; the 8150n with plug-in Ethernet; the 8150dn with network and 2-sided printing capabilities; the networked 8150HN with a 2000-sheet high capacity tray and 3000-sheet stacker; and the 8150MFP model, a multi-function printer/copier with all the features of it’s siblings plus digital copying, hard drive storage, automatic stapling and collation. The duplex unit, high capacity trays, and network cards are available as optional accessories for the base unit and can be easily attached without tools.
Right from the start the 8150 comes with some serious paper capacity. The LaserJet 8150 has two 500-sheet cassette trays that can handle sizes ranging from 4” x 7½”, up to ledger-sized 11” x 17” paper. A flip-tray on the side can hold up to 100 additional sheets of various cardstock, envelopes, labels and transparencies.
The 2-line LCD display on the control panel makes setting configurations and interpreting error messages simple and straightforward. On the network models, printer management can also be done with the provided web-access management utility.
Having a longer wake-up time than HP’s LaserJet P series, the 8150 will start chugging letter-size prints at 32 pages per minute. Using HP’s 600 x 1200 dpi enhanced resolution mode, the 8150 keeps text sharp--even at 6-point font sizes--and does a decent job with monochrome graphics.
This laser printer comes with 32MB of memory right out of the box, so the 8150 can easily handle workloads from multiple computer requests. Two additional DIMM RAM slots are available to expand printer memory up to 160MB, requiring only a screwdriver to access the memory bay.
Understanding the need to provide support for popular business software, HP has installed a full set for print emulators that should satisfy the most diverse office. Emulators include PostScript3, HP’s standard PCL5e, PCL6 and the PJL and PML languages. For printing of PostScript or large files, a good rule of thumb is to have at least 64MB; adding more memory if the printer is to be used heavily in an office or classroom where there’s constant printing across 30 or more networked computers. For even larger job requests, an optional 3.2GB hard disk drive can be installed.
CONS:
The 8150 shows its age with the connections it supports. None of the 8150 models support USB, having an IEEE 1284 parallel port instead. However, most buyers of this printer will not be using this LaserJet as a single-user printer. This means either opting for buying one of the “n” models or ordering the JetDirect Ethernet (and/or LocalTalk) card and adding it to the basic 8150.
INK / TONER NEEDS:
The LaserJet 8150 toner and drum are integrated in a single cartridge, making it easy to maintain. The toner has a 20,000-sheet yield--which is based on applying only 5% ink coverage on a standard 8½” x 11” page. Prints with graphics will drop that toner capacity down 50% and more. The high yield cartridges are great for a department or a classroom with heavy printing demands and little time for maintenance.
If your business intends to use this printer in Accounting or Payroll--specifically for check printing--a special Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) ink cartridge is available for this model.
