Compact, Steady Workflow: HP Color Laser MFP 179fnw

Printers are getting more compact, and far more reliable than they ever were in the past 10 years. For its part, HP has been building on its foundation of research and innovations to create simpler and more flexible workflows. Proof of this is the HP Color Laser MFP 179fnw printer.

It’s a compact four-in-one color laser printer, which means it has the basic functions of a printer you’d expect: Scan, print, copy, and fax—yes, people still fax these days.

The setup is a no-brainer. Pull it out of the box and it’s basically a plugand-play solution, with only the HP

Smart app requiring you to take a few extra steps.

For mono printing the MFP 179fnw has an 18ppm print speed—HP said 19ppm. We got 4ppm for colored and that depended if what we printed was a document with colored headers or a colored image. It’s definitely not the fastest in the market but we found it reliable and satisfactory.

The maximum dpi for print and optical scan is 600 x 600, which is no problem for text-based documents and some images. If you’re thinking you can use the 179fnw to print colorful photographs, you should probably consider a different HP product, since they have those covered pretty well.

Shove aside performance, the MFP 179 is relatively compact, which should save you a ton of space around your home or office. However, to insert A4 paper, you need to bring out the tray, which then eats up a bit of space. So, if you’d want to keep things nice and neat, you’ll have store your A4 paper elsewhere and keep the tray closed until the time you need them comes. Otherwise, you can just place the printer somewhere anyone would less likely bump into the tray.

HP covers both wired and wireless connections, supporting Google Cloud Print, Apple AirPrint, and the HP Smart app.

The HP Color Laser MFP 179fnw is an easy-to-use printer that should work well for different situations.

The compact design is attractive, plus all the available connectivity makes it a flexible printer for users to print through the cloud. But as we always say here in the MB TechLab, don’t take our words for it, go see it for yourself .