HP Color LaserJet CM1312 Toner Review

Colour laser printers continue to get even more unobtrusive and thus multifunction printers founded on colour laser components are likewise decreasing in dimensions. This streamlined new multifunction by HP is only a little 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.

Giving the impression of a smallish set of steps, the Color LaserJet CM1312 is decked in cream in addition to something approaching black and the straight forward, curved lines appear pleasantly stylish.

Working from the top downward, beneath the cream lid is a simple, A4 flatbed scanning device while the control panel is supported with a two-line by 16-character Liquid crystal display. Even though this doesn't have a backlight, it is actually angled forwards and contrast is good enough to always be read in regular overhead light.

Controls are pretty typical for any laser-based multifunction unit, but the large, raised button which cycles left and right through menu selections if you push either end of it, comes with an OK button fixed inside it, that makes it tricky to make use of.

Unusually, the scanner section of the machine doesn't hinge upward, there is however enough space in between it and the printer part so that you can rescue any paper that might become jammed. The printer section includes a rather rounded front, that is really a hinged cover giving direct access to the cartridges. Beneath this is a barely sufficient, 150-sheet paper tray.

Just over the tray is a hinged cover which you open in order to reach jammed paper.

Whenever you fold down the printer's front cover there is an inset handle, that draws out a tray possessing four near-identical drum and HP Color LaserJet CM1312 toner cartridges, helping to make this a particularly simple colour laser to maintain.

The solitary software CD includes custom-made HP software intended for scanning, copying and printing, in addition to a copy of ReadIris OCR software.

HP reckons the device will print 12ppm in black and white along with 8ppm in colour, which would definitely be reasonable however, as normal, we could not achieve those speeds. Our five-page, black and white text test piece required 48 seconds to finish, offering a real-world, mono print rate of 6.25ppm.

The five-page, colour text and graphics document needed 63 seconds, or an equivalent of 4.76ppm, therefore the two outcomes are not much above half the rated figures.

A 15 x 10cm photo required 32 seconds in order to print and a single page copy required 38 seconds, and that is reasonable considering the fact that this unit has no Auto Document Feeder (ADF).

The picture print ended up being somewhat over-coloured and a little garish. Whilst fine detail levels are good, and there is no apparent banding, some shadow fine detail is lost and the colour range appears to be reduced.

The colour brightness which overawed the photograph print is well suited for business graphics and also the colours in our text and graphics page appear vivid and confident.

Black text, printed at the machine's standard 600dpi resolution, is sharp and also clear, offering a rather even and professional appearance to text documents.

The only real running expenses for this machine are the combined drum and toner cartridges, that are rated at 2,200 pages for black and white and 1,400 pages with regard to every one of the colours.

The simple style and easy setup as well as upkeep of the Color LaserJet CM1312 help to make it quite capitivating, however there really are a handful of unusual design choices that could let it down. A paper tray storing just 150 sheets on a unit made for office usage is an odd limitation although a lot of individuals are likely to be able to settle for the relatively slow speed. Provided you can accept these limitations, though, it will make a fine choice.

HP Color LaserJet CM1312 printer toner cartridges are available here.