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HP Laserjet Pro M276nw review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £274.49
inc VAT

A smart-looking, easy-to-use MFP, but prints are slow and running costs are quite high

Specifications

single-pass colour laser, 14ppm print speed, USB, 10/100 Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n wireless, 414x476x449mm

http://www.amazon.co.uk

HP’s Laserjet Pro M276nw is a laser multifunction printer (MFP) that lets you print, scan, copy and fax over a wireless or wired network. Instead of control buttons the M276nw has a large, responsive touchscreen through which you access functions.

HP Laserjet Pro M276nw

Despite having a good range of features, it isn’t especially well specified. HP quotes a 14 page-per-minute (ppm) print speed in mono or colour, and neither the printer nor automatic document feeder (ADF) supports double-sided (duplex) operation. Plus, we’re unimpressed by the shallow paper tray, which only holds 125 sheets, or the lack of a second paper input or bypass feed. Build quality’s decent, however, with the exception of the scanner lid’s hinges which offer no resistance. You must lower the lid with care to avoid it crashing shut.

HP Laserjet Pro M276nw

It’s easy to join this MFP to a wireless network using just its touchscreen, but we found we had difficulty connecting it to a wireless network when using HP’s setup program.

HP Laserjet Pro M276nw

In use it proved to be a disappointingly slow printer, coming nowhere near HP’s claimed speeds. It peaked at just 7.5ppm when tested over our wireless network. We reconnected via USB and repeated our mono letter and mixed colour tests, achieving a faster 12.3ppm and 9.1ppm respectively. Both speeds are acceptable, but neither is especially fast. While text quality was as good as we’d expect, we were disappointed by the poor colour accuracy of all graphical prints and photos; even our black and white test photo took on a green tint.

HP Laserjet Pro M276nw Web Interface

You can monitor and administer the printer over the network using the built-in web admin interface

Fortunately we didn’t see the unwelcome sharpening often evident in our tests of HP scanners. The results were very satisfactory, and were let down only by an inability to distinguish the very darkest two shades of our colour target. While mono photocopies were excellent, colour copies were cooler than the original, with a hint of green creeping into some neutral colours.

HP Laserjet Pro M276nw Manual Duplex

If you want to print on both sides of a piece of paper you’ll have to do it manually, but at least the driver can help

Unfortunately, even when calculated for the high-capacity black cartridge, which lasts for 2,400 pages, this MFP’s running costs are high, being around 12.8p per combined black and colour page. With its underwhelming colour print quality, there’s no compelling reason to choose the M276nw over a competing inkjet such as one of Epson’s WorkForce Pro range. We’d suggest spending twice as much on HP’s own Officejet Pro X576dw inkjet. It’s far faster, and you’ll recoup the extra outlay through much lower running costs.

Basic Specifications

Rating **
Maximum native print resolution 600x600dpi
Max optical resolution 1,200dpi
Output bit depth 24-bit

Quoted Speeds

Quoted speed, mono A4 14ppm
Quoted speed, colour A4 14ppm

Tested Print Speeds

Time for two 10x8in photos 1.0 1m 17s
Time for six 6x4in photos 1.0 2m 11s

Physical and Environmental

Standard printer interfaces USB, 10/100 Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n wireless
Optional printer interfaces none
Size 414x476x449mm
Weight 23.6kg
Noise (in normal use) 48dB(A)
Duty cycle 30,000 pages (max), 250-1,500 pages (recommended)

Paper Handling

Maximum paper size A4/legal
Maximum paper weight 220gsm
Standard paper inputs 1
Standard paper input capacity 150
Maximum paper inputs 1
Maximum paper input capacity 150
Duplex (code, cost if option) No

General

Printer technology single-pass colour laser
Language(s) PCL 5c, PCL 6
Supported operating systems Windows XP/Vista/7/8, Mac OS X 10.5 or later, various Linux versions
Maximum printer memory 256MB
Other laser features and options 8.9cm colour touchscreen

Buying Information

Price £274
Price per colour A4 page 10.0p
Price of 2nd paper cassette N/A
Warranty one year RTB
Supplier http://www.amazon.co.uk
Details www.hp.co.uk

Tested Scan Speeds

Full scan area preview 10s
A4 document at 150dpi 10s
A4 document at 300dpi 14s
6x4in photo at 600dpi 22s
6x4in photo at 1200dpi 1m 36s
Single 35mm negative at 2400dpi N/A

Tested Copy Speeds

Time for single A4 mono copy 1.0 23s
Time for single A4 colour copy 1.0 51s
Time for 10 A4 copies using feeder 2.0 1m 16s

Copy Features

Maximum number of copies 99
Copier zoom range 25-400%
Max mono copy resolution 600dpi
Max colour copy resolution 600dpi

Fax Features

Fax modem speed 33.6Kbit/s
Max mono fax resolution 203x196dpi
Fax memory (maximum mono pages) 250