HP Color LaserJet 2550L Printer – Cutting Costs, Not Productivity

The HP Color LaserJet 2550L printer is a low cost laser printer that is able to produce a large number of color prints using LaserJet 2550L toner. This printer began production in 2004. It is no longer available for purchase new.

The printer is somewhat boxy and two tone gray in color. It is very light in weight and compact. The four toner cartridges are arranged in a carousel that helps to save space over many other printers.

The greatest advantage to this printer is its low cost. Even when it was being sold new from HP, it was one of the least expensive laser printers for its time. Adjustments to prints will need to be made through the software, as there is no control on the printer itself.

There are two major complaints about this printer. First, it does not have a paper tray unless you purchase on as an option. Second the consumables for the machine are very expensive.

Unless you purchase the paper tray separately, paper is fed into this machine through a slot behind the front panel. This means that the panel must be left in the open position most of the time. Many owners of this printer do not like the configuration because it allows dust to get into the inner workings of the printer.

The HP Color LaserJet 2550L printer has a separate drum that must be replaced on a regular basis. Once consumer has reported replacing the drum three times in fifteen months. The cost of the drum is about one third of the cost of the printer new.

Toner cartridges also must be replaced on a regular basis. These cartridges have a chip that counts down each print that is made. When the printer is set to print only black, the color toners count down for each print made. Therefore, consumers often report having to replace toner cartridges that are half to one third full, simply because their chip has counted down to zero. There are rumors that replacement chips can be purchased on the Internet that allow these still full toner cartridges to be used.

Prints that are produced seem to be mediocre and the speed is quite slow by today’s standards. Even black prints are only produced at 12.1 ppm. Color prints slow the machine down even further to 3.1 ppm. Color of the prints is also often off and must be adjusted to get true to life color. Black prints however are excellent.

The HP Color LaserJet 2550L printer broke the price barrier in its day. It set a standard that brought the prices of both black and color laser printers into the range of ink jet printers so that they could be affordable for many home computer users. However, the technology for laser printers has improved since this printer was introduced and there are better printers available for the money today. While consumers may find many of these used machines being offered at low prices they should be warned that the cost of consumables and the fact that they must be replaced even when not empty makes this a less than desirable printer. It is also important to always have HP toner on hand. Toner is the ink that the printer uses to print your documents.   You can purchase HP Color LaserJet 2550L toner online or in stores.