HP LaserJet M1120 MFP review

HP's LaserJet M1120 MFP is taller than a typical mono laser, thanks to the scanner positioned above its output tray.

Fortunately it doesn't take up too much desk space. The printer arrives with the paper trays packed inside it, which have to be removed and slotted into place. Installing the toner cartridge involves raising the entire scanner unit. This version connects only through USB, while the more expensive LaserJet M1120n MFP has a 10/100 Ethernet port and costs around £30 more.

The mono LCD screen is just large enough to display two lines of very small text, and enables you to adjust the standalone copy settings using the printer's seven-button control panel. This is helpful as our first copy, at default settings, was dark, grainy and poorly defined. Several options are available, including brightness adjustment and preset copy modes for Text, Mixed and Picture. Our images were very grainy in all modes except Picture, which instead produced pale, fuzzy text.

Fortunately our test prints didn't suffer from the same problems. Print speeds for text documents were reasonably fast at 17ppm. Greyscale prints of our mixed text and graphics document appeared at 13ppm. Although print speeds were slower than we've seen in other devices at this price, we couldn't fault the quality. Text was dark and very clear, and images were accurately shaded. Some of our largest photo prints looked rather grainy, but the graphics in our mixed greyscale prints were consistently sharp.

Our scans looked great at the highest available resolutions, with accurate colours, clear reproduction and no unwanted visual artefacts. We noticed some grain at resolutions of 300dpi and below, although small font sizes were still clear at 100 per cent magnification.

The printer comes with a starter cartridge that lasts for 1,000 pages. Like most HP laser printers, the drum is built into the cartridge itself, so doesn't have to be replaced separately. This raises the price of replacement cartridges to £39 for 2,000 pages' worth of toner, which equates to a slightly expensive print cost of 1.95p per page. There's no high-yield cartridge available.

The ability to function as a fast, economical standalone photocopier is one of the best reasons to buy a mono laser MFP rather than a similarly priced colour inkjet MFP. Sadly, the M1120 MFP's poor copy quality is a big stumbling block.

It might have good print quality and decent scanning capabilities, but print speeds were unremarkable, as were running costs. For these reasons, it's impossible to recommend.

Author: Kat Orphanides