HP LaserJet Pro MFP M130nw
HP’s LaserJet Pro range has traditionally tended to focus on the corporate market, offering high-speed workgroup printers for larger businesses. However, its new M130 range represents a slight change in direction, being aimed at individuals or small offices with up to five people sharing the printer.
Price
There are several models in the line-up, all based around the same 600x600dpi mono laser printer. Prices start at £130 for the entry-level M130a, although that model provides only simple USB connectivity. We preferred the midrange M130nw instead, which costs a still competitive £150 and adds both Wi-Fi and Ethernet for wired connections, as well as AirPrint support for Apple’s iOS devices, and Google Print and HP’s own ePrint for non-Apple devices. If you want to cover as many options as possible then there’s the top-of-the-range M130fw, which steps up to £230 and also includes a fax machine, automatic document feeder and 2.7in touch-screen control panel. The only real omission here is that the M130 models all offer manual duplexing for two-sided printing.
Design
Installation is very straightforward, as the toner cartridge and separate drum unit are already inserted into the printer. The installer program provided on disc automatically detects your Wi-Fi network and gives you the option of joining an existing network, creating a direct Wi-Fi link between the printer and your computer, or simply opting for wired USB or Ethernet connections. It’s not the most elegant printer we’ve come across, but it is relatively compact for a multi-function laser printer, measuring just 398mm wide, 482mm high and 388mm deep. The 150-sheet input tray in the base of the printer projects another 105mm out in front of the printer, as does the 100-sheet output tray just below the flatbed scanner, but the M130nw will still fit comfortably on a desk.
Performance
Print quality is extremely good, producing the smooth, detailed text that you’d expect from a laser printer. It’s fast too, turning out 20 pages per minute (ppm) in our printing tests – almost matching HP’s quoted 22ppm – although the paper feed mechanism can be a bit noisy when the printer is going at full tilt. Graphics output is, of course, limited to mono, but the 600dpi colour scanner will allow you to import photos and other colour documents if required, and there’s OCR software provided for scanning text documents, too.
Running costs
Our only minor complaint is that running costs proved a little higher than we might have liked. The M130nw includes a ‘starter’ cartridge with enough toner for 700 pages, although HP’s replacement cartridges cost £56.40 with a higher yield of 1600 pages. That works out at 3.5p per page, which is at the high end of average, but not too bad. However, the M130 printers are old-school lasers that use a separate drum mechanism to fuse the toner powder onto the paper. This costs another £61.20, although HP says that the drum should last for around 12,000 pages, but that still adds another 0.5p per page to the overall running costs. But, to be fair, the M130nw is so new that the drum and toner cartridges aren’t widely available from third-party retailers as yet, so those prices will hopefully come down a little in the future.
Verdict
The M130nw will be a good option for any small office that needs a fast, mono multi-function printer that you can share. Print quality and speed are both superior to comparably-priced inkjet printers, and the only caveat is that you should shop around to see if you can save some money on the replacement toner and drum cartridges.