The HP Color LaserJet 5500n printer is a durable color laser jet printer made for medium-to-large networked workgroups and special print tasks requiring color documents using HP Color LaserJet 5500n toner. It does these tasks extremely well, and delivers a very nice print speed — especially for a color model — for an acceptable price that will bring to a business a nice machine that is sure to last for quite a while.
This particular Hewlett-Packard printer is able to print 21 pages per minute in both color and black-and-white, which is a notable point in its favor, given that many printers are not as quick when dealing with color print jobs. From the second that it is tasked until the time the first page emerges is only 18 seconds. It has a cold start capability of about two minutes, meaning that it will take that long from the time it is first turned on until it is ready to go.
This color laser jet printer also comes supplied with a nice 400 Hz processor chip, meaning that it can take in information and then convert it and print it back out in a short amount of time for a networkable printer. It is also a durable machine, able to easily print out over 120,000 pages or sheets in a monthly duty cycle.
Print quality in both black-and-white and color is fine, coming in at 600 dpi. This means that any product that emerges will be clean, sharp and with no blurring or smudging. The 5500n printer also comes standard with two trays, with the ability to upscale to four trays, if needed. It can hold 600 sheets as is, with a total of 1600 sheets of capacity with all four trays in the mix, as well. Make sure to stock up on toner.
It is also able to hold 20 envelopes, though it doesn’t come standard with an envelope feeder. Still, this will be no problem as it is very easy to feed in an envelope whenever the need arises. Being as this is pretty much the base model printer in the 5500 series (the only difference in this model is that it includes an internal print server for the proprietary 10/100 Base-TX Ethernet input port), it should come as no surprise that there isn’t a duplex printing capability.
Standard internal memory capacity is a more-than-acceptable 96 MB, with the capability to be upgraded to a full 416 MB. There is also the capability of installing an optional 10 GB hard disk, though it is hard to conceive of any print job or storage need for one of these networked printers that would require that much capacity.
The printer also works well with most Windows-based operating systems, including NT, as well as Mac OS versions. It isn’t a lightweight, weighing about 133 pounds, but it is a fine machine nonetheless. It will come with four separate print cartridges, including black, cyan, magenta and yellow. There is a fine one-year on-site warranty, which can be extended further for a nominal fee.
In all, the HP Color LaserJet 5500n printer is a complete package that features a great deal of durability and functionality for a price of about $1300 before discounts. It is made for medium-to-large networked workgroups and has the ability to print out over 21 pages per minute of both color and black-and-white product. In short, there is much to like and very little to dislike. When you run out of toner, you don’t have to go into stores. You can often find great deals on HP toner online, just make sure that when you purchase you get HP Color LaserJet 5500n toner and not one for another brand or model.
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