Need the speed and quality of a laser with the features and size of a compact multifunction? This HP may have your name written on it.
HP's LaserJet 3030 hails from the firm's new range of laser All-In-Ones. The rather low 14ppm rated output and 7,000 pages per month duty cycle mean this unit is more suited for a small office rather than the rigours of a larger workspace. Still, this AIO earns points for its reasonable startup cost as well as decent performance.
The AU$785 LaserJet 3030 departs from the boring, large beige look and transcends to the reasonably compact grey ensemble that most of the manufacturer's OfficeJet line is settling into. Measuring just 497 x 399 x 378mm, this LaserJet is roughly the same size as the larger inkjet AIO arriving in the market. However, it weighs a rather hefty 12kg, so you probably won't want to move the unit around too often.
Aesthetically, the LaserJet 3030 is strongly influenced by the company's OfficeJet range as well. It bears a nice blend of straight edges and pleasing curves. In what is becoming a norm for most lasers, the top of the print portion doubles as an output tray. Disappointingly, the paper is similarly held up by a piece of plastic. While the support is considerably better constructed than, say, Samsung's range of personal lasers, the one found on the LaserJet 3030 will still be unable to withstand a full load of the device's input capacity. Still, the rated 125-sheet output tray comes awfully close to pulling it off.
The LaserJet 3030 has some budget tradeoffs. Neither its 32MB of installed memory nor its paper capacity (150-sheet input) is upgradeable. However, its redeeming feature stems from its ability to allow for networking--both wireless and wired--through an optional Jetdirect print server.
It's easy to get the LaserJet 3030 up and running as a basic printer. The installation program gives you two choices: Typical or full. In distinctive HP fashion, the software is a resource hog and the full installation takes up a rather large 355MB of hard disk space. This also means that installation will take a rather long time. On our HP Pavilion 3GHz test system, the setup process took about 20 minutes from start to finish. While there are clear setup directions, there is no troubleshooting section in the quickstart guide. If you run into problems now, the guide does provide a URL for more support information--so have an Internet connection ready.
While the LaserJet 3030 supports the Mac platform, Apple users should be aware that this is without the use of the Toolbox function. For the Windows platform, this particular function is basically the nerve center of HP's collection of software. Therefore, Apple users will not have the ability to perform various device functions from this rather useful tool.
The LaserJet 3030, rated at 14ppm, performed reasonably well in our tests. It finished our normal-quality 10-page test in about 51 seconds, which translates to about 11.7ppm. Although no slouch, this still puts the 3030 behind even Samsung's affordable personal lasers such as the ML-1710 and ML-1750. Fortunately for HP, even though the print speed wasn't exactly stunning, the duration from sending the print job to the first page being printed was a zippy 13 seconds--which can be attributed to the "Instant-on" feature found mainly on the higher-end LaserJet 5100 series.
In terms of print quality, text output was average, staying clean and legible down to a 3-point font size. Although the marketing jazz says this laser is capable of 1,200dpi, this is achievable only through HP's REt (Resolution Enhancement technology). Still, we doubt there's really any need for anything more than 600dpi for text. With respect to graphics, the LaserJet 3030's images were mediocre. While the printouts gave off good contrasts, photos lacked crispness and detail--there was noticeable dithering and edges looked slightly jagged.
The LaserJet 3030 comes with a 2,000-page toner cartridge worth AU$193. This translates to about nine and a half cents per page, which is quite expensive. However, frugal users will like the EconoMode option in the software drivers, allowing the use of less ink. This will probably increase the yield with a tradeoff of slightly lighter output.
The HP LaserJet 3030 will prove to be a good choice for the home or small office only. Given its lack of expandability and rather low duty cycle, making it serve a larger workgroup may lead to more headaches from possible breakdowns. In addition, the cost of consumables does hurt this HP's score slightly. But if all you're looking for are reasonable print quality and speeds paired with an affordable startup cost, this LaserJet AIO will have relatively little competition.
HP LaserJet 3030 all-in-one
Company: Hewlett-Packard
Price: AU$785
Distributor: Selected resellers
Phone: 1300 305 018
2%
4%
