HP LaserJet 1020

Pros: Reliable, Amazing Value, Fast

Cons: Expensive Toner

Summary: Our law firm has 15 laser printers. 13 are HP. Of course we have bought more then 2 non-HP printers. We tried the Samsung 2250 when we read favorable reviews of it on CNET and saw its amazingly low toner cost per page. Our first 2250 died a few months after the warranty expired. The second is fine for paper but has trouble with envelopes. Neither of the Brother printers reached its second birthday. Our one Dell laser came free with purchase of a Dell PC.

In five years we have lost only one HP printer. The printer, a 1200, was dropped (by accident) from waist level onto a tile floor. The dented unit still ran for another six more months.

The HP 1020 has razor sharp text that is sharp as any printer under $1,000.00. It shoots out the first page in just a few seconds. The Samsung 2250 can rip through a 30 page document faster than the HP 1020, but for printing a 1 page text document, the HP 1020 will be finished before the fist inch of the page has come out of the Samsung. The HP has virtually no start up time. Impressive!

As for toner costs, this is a small printer, with a small toner cartridge. The cartridge is good for 2000 to 2500 sheets and runs about $65 to $70 at Office Depot. For business use 3 cents a page is high. This is not the printer for a high volume workstation. For home use or for users that do not print a high volume of documents, there is no better printer in terms of small size, low noise, and superb text quality and reliability.