HP Color LaserJet CM1312 Review

Colour laser printers continue to get even more unobtrusive and therefore multifunction printers founded on colour laser systems are additionally reducing in dimensions. This streamlined new multifunction by HP is only slightly more substantial when compared with a standard single-function laser from 2007, and is particularly targeted at the SOHO market, or also a family resource.Appearing like a compact number of steps, the Color LaserJet CM1312 is decked in cream in addition to something nearing black and the simple, curved lines seem oddly elegant.Working from the top downwards, beneath the cream lid is a straightforward, A4 flatbed scanning device and the control panel is backed up using a two-line by 16-character Liquid crystal screen. Even though this doesn't have a backlight, it's tilted forwards and contrast is certainly good enough to always be read in regular overhead light.Controls are pretty typical on a laser-based multifunction unit, though the large, raised button which cycles right and left through menu selections whenever you push either end of it, comes with an OK button arranged inside it, which makes it tricky to make use of.Abnormally, the scanner part of the equipment does not hinge upward, yet there is adequate room in between it and the printer area to rescue any paper that might get jammed. The printer section features a rather rounded front, which in turn is really a hinged cover offering easy access to the cartridges. Below this is a barely adequate, 150-sheet paper tray.Just over the tray is a hinged cover for you to open in order to get at paper jams.When you fold down the printer's front cover there is an inset handle, which pulls out a tray possessing four near-identical drum and toner cartridges, helping to make this a particularly straightforward colour laser to keep up.The solitary software CD contains custom-made HP software intended for scanning, copying and printing, and also a copy of ReadIris OCR software.HP reckons the machine will be able to print 12ppm in mono along with 8ppm in colour, which would definitely be reasonable but, as normal, we could not attain those rates of speed. Our five-page, black and white text test piece required 48 seconds to finish, giving a real-world, black and white print rate of 6.25ppm.The five-page, colour text and graphics document required 63 seconds, or an equivalent of 4.76ppm, therefore both results are not much above half the rated numbers.A 15 x 10cm photograph needed 32 seconds to be able to print plus a solitary page copy required 38 seconds, and that is reasonable considering the fact that this particular model has no Auto Document Feeder (ADF).The photograph print tended to be rather over-coloured and a little garish. Whilst fine detail levels are fine, and there is no obvious banding, some shadow depth is missing plus the colour range appears to be lowered.The colour brightness that overawed the photograph print is actually well suited for business graphics and the colours in our text and graphics page look vivid and confident.Black and white text, printed at the machine's normal 600dpi resolution, is sharp and also clear, offering a really even and professional look to text documents.The only real running expenses with this unit are the combined drum and toner cartridges, that are rated at 2,200 pages with respect to mono in addition to 1,400 pages for each one of the colours.The straightforward layout and straightforward setup in addition to maintenance of the Color LaserJet CM1312 help to make it rather charming, however truth be told there are a couple of odd design decisions that could let it down. A paper tray storing just 150 sheets on a unit created for office usage is a strange limitation although a lot of individuals should be able to settle for the relatively slow speed. If you're able to accept these limitations, however, it'll make a good choice.HP Color LaserJet CM1312 toner cartridges are available here.

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