Editors' Rating
| Service & support |  |
9.0 |
| Design |  |
6.0 |
| Features |  |
7.0 |
| Performance | |
7.0 |
Published: 20 Apr 2009
The HP Color LaserJet CP2025n is a colour laser printer built with small businesses or workgroups in mind. At £299 (ex. VAT), the CP2025n can connect to a wired network and produces high-quality prints. However, it's not without minor faults: the output speed for text and presentation documents is slower than the competition, for example, and it's missing an auto-duplexer for double-sided printing. At the same time, HP redeems itself with a toolbox full of helpful settings, instructions and features that brighten the user experience. Although it's not perfect, the positives do outweigh the negatives and we recommend the HP CP2025n for offices requiring a dependable colour laser printer.
Design and features
We're past hoping for a well-designed, attractive laser printer: the CP2025n follows the standard formula of grey hues make up the majority of colour (or lack thereof) on the device, and the unit is 32.2cm tall by 40.4cm wide by 65.8cm deep with all the drawers tucked in. At a hefty 22.7kg, the printer requires two sets of arms to move and will definitely take up desk space. Shoppers willing to sacrifice output quality for office space should check out the Samsung CLP-315W.
The front control panel houses a small two-line backlit LCD for alerts and toner level graphics, a left and right directional pad, a cancel button and two LEDs to alerts users of low toner and print errors. The LCD itself sits fixed in its position, although we prefer the display on the Brother HL-4040cn that's mounted on a swivelling plate to allow for easier viewing from different angles.
A small two-line backlit LCD screen shows alerts and toner levels.
The main paper output tray sits at the bottom of the printer and can hold up to 250 sheets of plain paper. There's also a separate 50-sheet manual input tray with adjustable paper guides for longer media, and HP sells an additional 250-sheet tray on its web site for £96 (ex. VAT). Conveniently, the printer can detect a wide variety of paper types (envelopes, cardstock, labels and transparencies) and sizes and will automatically pull from the correct tray to get the job done. Alternatively, the comprehensive driver software lets you manually control the feeds. HP's ToolboxFX software also shows the status of the device in real time, current toner levels in an estimated percentage remaining, approximate pages remaining, usage trends and the option to receive email alerts when the printer malfunctions (mainly for IT professionals).
The CP2025n is compatible with a wide variety of operating systems, including Mac OS, Windows and Red Hat/SUSE Linux. We were also impressed that HP created an exclusive startup video on the installation CD to help with installation and illustrate how to optimise print quality, driver settings and the like. Few printer manufacturers take the time to put together such comprehensive step-by-step instructions for the user.
All of the ports and connectors are on the back of the device, including the power input, a USB port and an RJ-45 Ethernet jack for wired networking. We found it refreshingly simple to establish a connection to our router, and we were able to access the printer from several PCs with no hiccups. We're disappointed that HP doesn't include a front-loading PictBridge-compatible USB port for direct printing from digital cameras or USB sticks. The printer also can't do automatic double-sided printing since it doesn't have a mechanical duplexer, but the software shows you how to manually achieve the same goal. The top of the front door folds down and rolls out, revealing the four toner cartridges (one black, three colour) lined up in a horizontal row that use a single push-to-release tab for installation. We actually prefer this to the bucket-style loading on the OKI C3600n, which forces the user to fuss with awkward buttons and springs to replace the cartridges. The HP CP2025n uses a simpler method, using a single push-to-release tab.
HP provides a full set of laser print cartridges in the box, and according to the web site, a black cartridge with a 3,500-page life span costs £103 (ex. VAT), while the colour version is £97 for 2,800 pages. Strangely, there's no mention of high-capacity cartridges available, so the cost per page equation factors out to 2.9 pence per black page and 13.3p for a full-colour page. Finally, the CP2025n's monthly duty cycle (maximum number of pages per month) is reported at 40,000 pages, which will appeal to small offices and workgroups.
Performance
We compared the HP CP2025n's output speed with four other colour lasers and the results vary depending on the type of document printed. For example, the HP is quick to print colour text and colour graphics at 8.31 and 13.56 pages per minute (ppm) respectively, but its speed started to wane in the black page tests; it finished behind every other printer aside from the Samsung CLP-315W in the black text and presentation tests. Applied to real life, businesses printing a large portion of colour documents will be satisfied with the print speed of the CP2025n, but the Brother HL-4040CN offers much faster all-around output.
The CP2025n makes a more consistent argument for compelling output quality rather than speed. Both black graphics and colour spectrums appear to be solid and well formed with crisp lineation and clean edges. As expected, the black toner produces slightly more visually appealing text in smaller fonts than the colour toner, but this printer remains true to the quality we expect from a professional laser. We're particularly impressed with the graphical representations in our test subjects, which came out smooth and sharp — much better in comparison to the OKI C3600n.
Service and support
To complement the services built into its driver software, HP offers an online version of its Easy Printer Care Software that helps IT professionals manage up to 20 networked HP printers. The bundle lets you manage multiple printers from one aggregated tool, with provisions for monitoring and reordering toner cartridges, overseeing print jobs and private passwords, analysing user information and offering instructions on how to pre-emptively troubleshoot foreseeable mechanical failures. In addition to HP's comprehensive one year warranty, the web site also contains downloadable drivers, software and manuals, email technical support, FAQs and a troubleshooting guide.
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