Saturday, September 7, 2013
Oversized Printing Not Overpriced The HP LaserJet 9040 Monochrome Laser Printer
OVERVIEW: The LaserJet 9040 is part of HP’s line of laser printers capable of providing medium to large-volume printing of ledger-size paper with good B&W image resolutions and print speeds up to 40 pages per minute. The 9040’s scalability to grow from a desktop to a floor unit: adding from an 8-bin mailbox attachment, to a finisher to create stapled 8½” x11” catalogs and booklets. With two 1-ream trays, Adobe PostScript 3, and 64MB memory makes the 2007 LaserJet 9040 a great addition for any small-press graphics or reproduction business.
PROS:
Before we discuss the specs, you need to know that the LaserJet 9040 comes in three different flavors: The basic 9040; the 9040n with built-in network, a 100-sheet multipurpose tray, and double the memory; and the 9040dn with network, memory, multipurpose tray, and 2-sided printing capabilities. The duplex unit, tray, and network card are available as optional accessories for the base unit and can be easily added using only a screwdriver.
This LaserJet is designed to be placed on a desk or table, but accessories like the 8-bin mailbox, high-capacity tray, stacker, stapler, and multi-function finisher transforms the 9040 into an impressive floor model to rival many business copiers.
Right from the start the 9040 comes with some serious paper capacity. Two 500-sheet cassette trays that can handle paper weights from 16# to 36# paper, sizes ranging from 5 ½” x 8 ½” up to oversize 12” x 18½” paper.
There is no long wait with the LaserJet 9040. In less than 8 seconds, this laser can start chugging letter-size prints at 40 pages per minute. Using the 600 x 1200dpi enhanced resolution, the 9040 keeps text sharp--even at 6-point font sizes--and does a decent job with monochrome graphics.
This laser printer comes with 64MB of memory right out the box. That means the LaserJet 9040 can easily handle workloads from multiple computer requests. An additional DIMM RAM slot is available to expand printer memory up to 512MB.
Understanding the printing needs of today’s businesses by providing support for the major software applications, HP has installed a full set for print emulators that should satisfy the most diverse office. Emulators include PostScript3, HP PCL5e, PCL6 and PDF-direct.
If you think this printer has it all, there are still more options you can add to the 9040. For laptop printing support, HP offers a wireless LAN card that supports g-band standard. A 2,000 high-capacity unit can be stacked under the LaserJet 9040 to provide over 3,000 ledger-size sheets of additional paper capacity. For special paper and media needs, a 100-sheet multi-purpose tray is available. For small press and reprographic departments, an optional 3,000-sheet stapler, a stacker, a 2,000-sheet 8-bin mailbox, and multi-function finisher are available. All of these can be easily attached to the LaserJet 9040 by the end user with a few simple tools.
CONS:
The 9040 shows its age with the connections it supports. None of the 9040 models have any built-in USB, but have an IEEE 1284 parallel port instead. Most buyers of this printer will not be using this LaserJet as a single-user printer. This means either opting for either of the “n” models or buying the JetDirect network card and adding it to the basic 9040.
This is one printer you don’t want to keep by your desk. Sitting idle the LaserJet 9040 produces 57db of sound, and 74dB when printing. To give you an idea of what that means: 60 decibels is the level of typical conversations and 80 decibels is the loudness of a telephone dial-tone when listening through a normal receiver. If you have a quiet workplace, you don’t want to place this near any office cubicles, but its noise will hardly be noticeable in a copy room or break room.
INK / TONER NEEDS:
The LaserJet 9040 toner and drum are integrated in a single cartridge, making it easy to maintain. To keep images and print as sharp as possible, HP developed a microfine toner formula for this model’s print resolution.
The toner has a 30,000-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.
SOFTWARE:
The CD contains drivers for Windows and Mac OS 8.6 to 10.4 (using AppleTalk). The rest of the software on the CD is for the Windows platform, including their print management. Printer drivers for Linux, UNIX, and SAP are available on HP’s web site. Support is also available for all 32- and 64-bit Windows operating systems, including Windows 7. Mac OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard) has the LaserJet 9040 driver built-in, so there’s no additional HP software available.
According to the manual, if a new accessory is added to your LaserJet and you have an Apple computer, the printer driver must be completely deleted and reinstalled for the Apple to utilize the new feature. The HP LaserJet Utility software for managing the 9040 was not available for the OS X, but if you get the network option, printer management can be done through any web browser via the printer’s IP.
