HP LaserJet 1320 Review

The quality of the printed text papers is good and the printer is faster than some other small laser printers in its class. Though, the printing speed does not meet the official value of 22, with an average of 17 for text and 13 for graphics.

The printer isn't making too much noise, its form is compact and is compatible with Windows (98+) and MAC OS (9.1+). HP usually produces simple-design devices and this printer doesn't stand out. Because of not having a very special design the user can focus on printer's performances.

HP LaserJet 1320 delivers 2100 dpi resolution for documents. The HP smooth microfine toner particles allow the printer to deliver clear, sharp text, deep black and smooth grayscales. Using the recommended paper will help you get even better black & white results.

Another nice feature is the automatic two sided printing. You won't have to take the paper out and put it again in the printer to get a two sided printer page. This helps you save some time, it's very easy to do and cost-effective. The way the printer does that is simple: once one of the sides is printed, the paper will slide halfway out of the machine and will get sucked back in again for the other side.

The printer comes with the Toolbox software, which is even going to send you an e-mail alert if something goes wrong with the device.

The printer can be connected through a USB 2.0 port and through wireless connection, while the old parallel connection is available too. HP offers a solid tech support for this model.

The dimensions are 10 by 13.8 by 14 inches and there is no paper tray extending out from the printer, so it's easy to find space on your desk for it. The device weighs 24.8 pounds, which is more or less OK.

At the default setting of 600x600dpi, most fonts are easily readable at four points and none of them requires more than eight points.

The printer features a 133MHz processor and 16 MB of RAM, expandable to 144 MB, so that's the reason for its fast starting time.

The printer has a 10.000-page monthly duty cycle and comes with the option to create an installation utility across the network, so that other users can easily connect and use the printer.

The connection cables have to be bought separately. There's the same problem with the additional paper tray and at some point in time you may like to purchase another 250-sheet tray.

Though the printed text quality is good, the one for graphics and photos only meets minimum requirements and the printer starts to be slow in those conditions. The average of 13 pages per minute is far from 22 pages per minute, the official number from HP. If graphics or photos are to be printed, the results will be dithered. The device is in the expected range for monochrome lasers, but not one of the best.

Though the price is not so high, the printer is simply not delivering the kind of performance it should give. Higher quality printers can be found at a relatively cheaper price.