HP Color LaserJet CM1312 MFP review

HP's CM1312 MFP is a compact colour laser MFP that measures just 405x427x455mm.

We were pleased to find that the CM1312 MFP's driver defaulted to using A4 paper, rather than the Letter size that other HP printers we've reviewed have done. The paper type defaults to Unspecified rather than Plain, but printing with this setting has no detrimental effect on print quality or speed on standard 80gsm A4 paper.

Print quality was outstanding in both our text and image tests. Even at 5pt, text was perfectly sharp. Diagrams and graphs were smooth and reproduction of photo-quality images was among the best we've seen from a laser printer in this price range. The CM1312 has a native resolution of just 600x600dpi, but HP's ImageREt3600 image enhancement claims to produce an effective resolution of 3,600x600dpi. Fine detail on images and small fonts was excellent.

Mono photocopies of colour documents were too dark at default settings, with brightly coloured areas becoming muddy black. Lightening the copy settings helped a little, although fine text became difficult to read at almost the same point that graphics became distinguishable. Colour copies were clear and sharp, although some colours were too bright when compared to the original. Copy speeds were reasonable; a mono copy took 24 seconds, while a colour copy of the same document took 39 seconds.

We were less impressed by the CM1312's mono print speed, which was among the slowest we've seen from a laser printer. A mono text print speed of 7ppm is slower than most of our favourite inkjet printers and MFPs, while 33 seconds for a single page is incredibly slow. However, we were pleased with a colour print speed of 5.7ppm, which exceeded most of the colour lasers in our recent group test.

A more expensive version, the CM1312nfi, adds fax and networking capabilities. These would be useful in a small workgroup, but the slow print speeds may cause tempers to be frayed.

The scanner's maximum resolution is 1,200dpi. Scan speeds and quality were good, with sharp detail and accurate colours. Tiny 5pt fonts were clear and legible even at 150dpi. Sadly, the interface makes it difficult to make multiple scans as there are no auto-cropping features and the interface software closes between scans. HP's scanners and MFPs of late have been let down by poor scanner interfaces. The CM1312's scanner driver has been improved with additional image and colour adjustment options. Sadly, many annoying aspects of the old driver interface remain, and some vital settings have been buried in obscure locations. Scan resolution has been moved among the options to resize your image output, for example.

Another problem is the high print costs. A single page of mixed colour costs 9.8p (mono costs + colour costs), which will quickly mount up if you use the printer heavily. Fortunately, its low purchase price gives a total cost of ownership of just £300 over three years of light use - that's 2,400 mono and 1,200 colour pages in our calculations.

The CM1312 produced stunning prints, but we were disappointed by its scanner interface and poor mono copy quality, since both are key features for a business MFP. The 150-sheet paper tray is also small for a laser printer. However, it's inexpensive and its compact dimensions make it a reasonable choice for a home office, especially if you need high-quality colour prints.

Author: Kat Orphanides