The HP LaserJet 1012 is a lightweight, low use printer suitable for small or home office users or for personal use. It has a duty cycle of just 5000 pages, a 150 sheet input tray and a 100 sheet output tray so isnt equipped for larger workloads.
As a personal printer the 1012 is peerless in my opinion. Its easy to use, to configure and set up, then maintain. Getting started is just a matter of unpacking the thing from all the safety tape, installing the toner cartridge and then connecting it up. Driver installation is a breeze and done in minutes while the manual uses clear illustrations to walk you through the installation. The only cautionary message I would share here is that you need to disable any antivirus software before installing the drivers. They conflict for some reason, so if you have Norton or something you will need to disable it while you install, then re-enable them after.
Once installed, the LaserJet 1012 is a simple, but effective printer to run. There are only two buttons on the control panel and three status lights, which makes running it as easy as can be. Most of the features are controlled from the software, which contains all sorts of useful tools.
At 12 pages per minute the printer is perfectly quick enough for its target market. The print quality is good enough that the impatient amongst you wont mind waiting a little longer for your prints, as the wait is well worth it. Text quality is excellent, with sharp edges, dark tones, and good edging, even down to smaller points. Printing large text results in good even coverage and exact edges. Graphics, images and photos are detailed, clear and legible, perfectly good for home or basic company use.
Running the LaserJet 1012 is easy enough. The only consumable is the toner cartridge and that lasts 2000 pages, or if you get a high yield one 3000. At the rate I use them, that lasts me around three months, and at only $29 the running costs are minimal. I dont know of many other printers that work so well or print so well for such little cost.
The LaserJet 1012 is a small, solidly built printer suitable for low use and basic needs. What it does, it does well. Its quiet, efficient and just gets on with the job. Thats all I need from a printer.
