HP LaserJet 1000 Series review

As soon as you take it out of the box, the HP has a look of authority.

Build quality is good, with a solid feel to the various flaps that allow you to get inside to sort out paper jams. However, we were less than convinced by the input paper tray, which doesn't feel like it's firmly in place even when it is.

Ease of use

The driver installation was quite accomplished. The setup routine didn't even complain that we'd already let Windows find the drivers automatically. USB support on the LaserJet 1000 is provided by an adapter that fits into the parallel port, which means that you won't be able to use both to connect to two PCs at the same time. Fitting the integrated toner/drum cartridge proved a straightforward task. The top half of the printer's front panel pulls away to reveal the drum compartment and the cartridge slots snugly inside, closing the printer shut in the process. The fascia is unfettered by buttons, with only two discreet lights on the front of the printer that flash when the unit is warming up. Paper is loaded into the sheet input tray, which sits flat in front of the unit. This can take a hefty 250 sheets of paper, though there's room for only 150 sheets at the other end, with the printed output appearing on top of the printer.

Print quality

Despite being HP's cheapest laser printer, the LaserJet 1000's output quality is impressive. Lettering was well defined without becoming too heavy.

In our newsletter test, the HP was the only one to correctly match the shade of the difficult tinted background of the masthead to a neighbouring bitmap, while the photos were the most natural looking of all the printers here. The only slip-up was the background of the graph of our graphics test, in which the HP failed to distinguish the black lines from the dark grey background. The driver is quite simple, with the only choices on offer being between 300 and 600dpi, and turning the Resolution Enhancement Technology (RET) on or off. A toner save mode is also available.

Performance

The HP sped through the graphics-heavy report and newsletter in only 15 seconds. Bizarrely, however, we couldn't get these to print at all under Windows 98, we had to use a different version of Windows. It took a 68-minute call to HP's technical support to be informed that a patch for Windows 98 was on its way. Windows 98 users should check it's available before buying.

The plain text test demonstrated that once the print engine gets going, it performs right on the nose of the claimed 10 pages per minute.

Overall

With the exception of the flaw in its compatibility with Windows 98, the HP impressed us greatly. The street price of £210 is reasonable for an HP, though the price per page is high if you're planning massive output.