HP 1320nw LaserJet Network Printer Scores Big in a Small Office

The HP Model 1320nw LaserJet is a printer with multiple personalities. It can connect to computers in three different ways: USB, Ethernet, WiFi and in combination of these. Rated at 10,000 pages per month, this printer is from the business line as opposed to the consumer line but it offers some features which will make small businesses consider it over a closely-priced consumer grade cousin like the 1022nw.

HP ships this printer with a real toner cartridge, not a 100-200 page "starter" model. The cartridge is rated for 2500-3500 pages depending on the amount of black which is deposited. The fuser uses a new "instant on" technology which is advertised as being able to go from sleep state to a printed page in 8.5 seconds. I have timed it and find it to be closer to 6.5 seconds. Graphic pages take longer as the entire page has to be sent to the printer before printing can start, so there is an illusion of having to wait for graphic pages whereas an inkjet which prints line by line, starts right away but is in reality much slower.

The 1320nw has built-in double-side printing, addressable from the print options window which pops up when a print job is sent to the printer. In fact, the user can use this window to customize everything from paper tray, type, size, etc., to double-side printing which can flip side to side like a book or vertically like a tablet. The printer handles this task quickly and with high quality.

Base resolution is 1200dpi and at this level, even color photos are rendered very well in black and white without the need to greyscale the images prior to printing.

In the box: Printer, toner cartridge (inside the printer), manual, two CDs. power cord and a ten foot Ethernet cable.

USB or Ethernet setup is fairly easy. Plug in, install driver. Done. Wifi requires telling the printer that it is to be used as a wireless printer. This posed some initial problems but HP's tech support was as good as ever. HP has released a new Network Printer Installation Wizard which is universal for all HP network printers. It will certainly appear on the CDs shipped with printers soon but can be downloaded from hp.com by going to drivers and downloads and typing "wizard" in the search box.

The downloadable wizard is the way to go. It can find network printers via Ethernet or WiFi once they are set-up or it can be pointed to one via the IP address of the printer which is assigned by the router.

NOTE: It is imperative that once an IP address is assigned to any network printer that it be moved from Dynamic DHCP to STATIC DHCP. The reason is simple. Computers using the printer will be looking for a specific IP address. If the address is Dynamic, the router can change this as it sees fit and the computers won't be able to find the printer. Set the printer up for Static DHCP and it will always be given the same IP address by the router.

After setting up the printer for WiFi, the Wizard will tell the user to unplug the Ethernet cable. Then it brings up the WiFi portion of the printer and tests it. When the blue light is steady, it's connected.

On all five of my computers, the Wizard was unable to complete the installation of the printer driver to the computers due to firewalls. You can either disable all firewalls (including the XP firewall) or simply go into the control panel and add the printer manually. Here is the drill.

Go to Control Panel and click on Printers and Faxes. Click Add a Printer. Click LOCAL printer, NOT Network printer. Un-check the find automatically option and click next. On the next pane, go to the bottom and click, Create a new port and choose TCP/IP port. (Make sure yo know the IP address your router has assigned the printer.) Click next and enter the IP address then click next again. The computer will establish a TCP/IP port for that address. The next window will ask you to select a driver. Click "Have Disk" and continue. Browze to the installation CD which came with the printer. Go to the CD root and find "English" (or any other language you wish to use). Then open the language folder and keep opening until you get to "drivers". Open that and select the appropriate driver for your operating system. Click ok and "print a test page" and let Windows install the driver and spin up the printer for the test page. Done.

It sounds more complicated than it is. It's really quite easy. Repeat only this last procedure on all computers. You don't need the Wizard any longer after the printer is set up for use. You only need to set up a port on each computer and install the driver. It's that simple.

Printer output quality is excellent and speed is astounding. The printer stays awake for a couple of minutes after printing and then goes back to sleep, using less than six watts to remain active and logged-onto the network via Ethernet or WiFi. The printer wakes up when a print job hits it and by the time the first page has been transferred, the fuser is ready to go to work.

The toner is excellent on all paper types including shipping label stock where other brands of toner tend to flake off. Envelopes come out quickly and without crimping or curl. The drop-down priority tray allows paper of any size to be inserted for priority printing without having to change any settings.

The printer has a neat, compact appearance and a top output tray so there aren't any flip-flop plastic trays hanging out anywhere.

Once set up as a WiFi printer, it can be moved anywhere there is a WiFi signal. It will find the network when it is turned on and that's all you have to do. It can even be put on a cart to be rolled around an office if needed. Connect speed to the network is about ten seconds from power-up.

The combination of great, well-engineered hardware, high quality toner and fantastic tech support make this a great printer to have. Check HP's or your vendor's websites for rebate offers on this printer. List price is $549 but at this time there is a $100 rebate which makes this most affordable for an office with serious printing needs or even a home user who wants high quality laser printing.