The HP LaserJet P2055 isn’t as ugly as many printers I have worked with. In fact it’s quite sleek, and the dark gray/blue on one side makes a nice contrast to the light gray of the rest of the chassis.
I bought one of these, used, from a well known internet auction site, and haven’t looked back since. I used to work with one in the office of my old employer and had found it easy to work with, which prompted my purchase when I began working for myself.
I got the HP LaserJet P2055dn, with the gigabit networking and expanded 128Mb memory. While I don’t really need it, the ability to network it comes in handy, especially when the kids want to print something for school. The running costs are suitably low, and this is mono only so I don’t mind them using it. The built in duplexer also helps keep the running costs down, especially with larger print jobs. Talking of running costs, the toners last 2300 pages and are only $70. That’s much cheaper than my old inkjet, for quite similar print quality.
Which leads me on nicely to the printing. At up to 33 pages a minute, the P2055 is no slouch. It slows down a bit for large images, but still works at an acceptable rate of knots. Text quality is excellent, and as this is mainly what I print, I find it more than acceptable. Whatever size point I use, the edges are straight, corners crisp and overall quality great. When I do print images, they come out detailed, aren’t grainy and the grayscale does well coping with colors. The 1200 dpi print engine also helps with images, although you can’t really notice the extra detail with text.
The instant start feature is a great innovation. From power off, the first print can appear in as little as 8 seconds. Now I’m no slave driver, but that’s seriously impressive, whatever your impatience level.
So if the built-in duplexing, gigabit networking, fast print speed, good print quality and easy management don’t convince you that the HP LaserJet P2055 is a good buy, there’s nothing I can say to change your mind. If you want an excellent, scalable and capable printer for a small network, this is the one to get.
