The HP LaserJet 1320 is a laser monochrome printer that aims high, and doesnt let you down. You get a lot of printer for the money, something that would serve a small or home office faithfully.
The first thing you notice about it is the fact that it’s compact. Its a reasonable sized cube not much larger than a legal sized sheet of paper. Setting it up is simple, just connect it, pull the tape from the cartridge and install the drivers.
There is a 250 sheet paper tray at the front on the bottom, and a single sheet feeder for odd shaped media. There is also the option to add a further 250 sheet paper tray to the bottom. The control interface is minimal, but has everything you need. There are three lights for toner level, paper jam and data and two buttons that will begin or cancel a print job. The power switch is at the bottom on the right, which is much better than having it on the back like many other models.
The print quality is pretty good for such a compact machine. The HP designers have done well with relatively little space. The standard 600 dpi print engine produces text that is crisp and clean while remaining black. Images and photos are well drawn, with grayscale showing minimal smudging and good coverage. A print speed of 13 pages per minute is a little shy of HPs claimed 21 but thats no real detraction from the quality of this device.
The LaserJet 1320 comes with a starter toner, replacements can last for 2500 pages and cost around $38, while a high yield will last for 6000. As the cartridge and toner are one unit, there is no extra expense of replacing drums every 20000 pages like most other laser printers. This lowers the cost per page significantly.
The main advantage of the LaserJet 1320 is its relative low cost versus its quality. For the quality of the prints it produces, it should be much more expensive than it is. Not that were knocking the value here. If you see one of these on the market, and need a good printer, snap it up before someone else does.
