Getting What You Paid For: The HP Color LaserJet 3600n Printer Using HP Q6471a Toner

At less than $1,000, the 3600n is an affordable option for most medium size office. It is quite rare to see a sub $1,000 color laser printer. HP has always been in the forefront of cutting edge and affordable technology. The company's 3600n using Q6472a deserves a closer look.

Starting with its physical characteristics, the LaserJet 3600n has a diameter of 15.7 x 17.7 inches. Its size is significantly smaller than most color laser printers available in the market. The size is actually one of its selling points, since it can fit it tight places. It may be small, but it definitely not a featherweight. It weighs 59.7 lbs, which is above average for laser printers.

A built-in Ethernet port on its back makes it a great budget friendly workgroup printer. Connecting the HP to the home or office network is a cinch. It is basically plug and play, since the printer automatically detects the network configuration. It does not require the services of network specialist just to get it work.

This HP offering is powered by a 360 MHz process and 64 MB memory. Since it only has one DIMM, the memory is not expandable. At stock, the processor and 64 MB memory can handle heavy printing.

Similar to other workgroup laser printers, printing speed is a very essential factor to consider. A good printer can handle up 17 pages in a minute. The same is speed can be achieved for color prints. Getting 17 pages per minute for monochrome is not that fast, but it is slightly faster than most. What really caught our attention is the similar speed with both color and monochrome prints. The color prints were clear, with barely noticeable discoloration. As for monochrome, it is nothing short of excellent.

The HP Color LaserJet package includes toner. There is a 6,000-page yield for black and three 4,000-page yield ones for color (magenta, yellow, and cyan). The bundled toner cartridges is a big plus, since most of its competition only provide 3,000-page yield toner cartridges just to save a few bucks. The average cost per page for black is 2.4 cents, which is quite reasonable for printer in its class. However, a high capacity 12,000-page yield toner cartridge can lower printing cost down to 2.2 cents. For the color printing, the average cost is at 3.6 cents. In fact, HP has one the cheapest color printing costs.

The LaserJet 3600n is not as power-hungry compared to other printers in its class. While printing, it only uses up a measly 335 Watts. When it is on standby, it barely uses up 48 Watts. This makes the HP one of the most power efficient laser printer in the budget sector.

The HP LaserJet is definitely a great addition to the HP's award winning laser printer lineup and the HP toner is no exception. Working with a great printer and cartridge and toner duo means value for your dollar.