HP CM1312NFI Color LaserJet Printer

by HP

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 19.3 x 19.6 x 19.1 inches ; 54.4 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 68 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B001BEM034
• Item model number: CC431A#ABA
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #49 in Electronics > Computers & Add-Ons > Printers > All-In-One Printers > Laser All-In-One Printers
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 7, 2004

Product Description

HP CM1312NFI Color LaserJet Printer. Get print, copy, fax, and high quality scan capabilities in a single easy to use device, eliminating the expense and space of multiple single function devices. The MFP¿s built in photo card slots make it simple to create impressive marketing materials with high quality photo accents. Insert a photo memory card, browse it from your computer, and select the images you want to use. See your output quickly with print speeds of up to 12 pages per minute ppm, black and white 8 ppm, color. Start fast and finish sooner typical office print job Time To Completion can be more than two times faster with the MFP¿s Instant on Technology. Instant on Copy with LED based technology delivers your first copy in seconds. Not only does this HP Color LaserJet MFP have a great purchase price, but you can print black pages for the same price as printing black pages on a black and white HP laser device. And you can still print in color The installer and fax set up wizard help you set up, install, and configure the MFP in just a few clicks. Original HP cartridges are preinstalled and a handy front access panel makes replacement effortless. The print cartridge is designed for simplicity, incorporating the toner and imaging drum in one supply. The MFP¿s intuitive control panel helps you navigate device functions with fax, copy, and scan keys. The 2.4 inch color graphical display provides clear device and supplies status. Use the Help button to access easy to follow instruction. Ideal for small workgroups, the MFP offers good networking performance and essential security features. Manage your MFP with HP Easy Printer Care Software, a simple tool to deploy, monitor, and maintain about 15 HP printing devices. The MFP is supported by the HP Universal Print Driver for Windows, a single driver that gives you instant access to HP printing devices. Keep color printing and copying expenses under control with color copy lockout and photo lockout.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't overexpect, and you'll get what you hoped for, January 14, 2010

By 

John (Michigan USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: HP CM1312NFI Color LaserJet Printer (Office Product)

This is NOT in the same class as the much more expensive 3500 series color MFPs, and it is not supposed to be. At a cost of 1/5th the bigger printers, you need to lower your expectations, but you still get a lot of printer for the money. I've had many inkjet printers and installed many color and BW laser printers. The first laser printer I used was an Apple LaserWriter in about 1987, so my experience with these devices is quite extensive. I have this installed in a home office networked via a simple wireless router and print/scan with XP, Vista, and Win7-64.

Positives:
+ Much faster and sharper printing than even high-quality inkjets when printing typical office documents
+ Prints evenly and consistently even large areas of highly saturated color on plain paper, unlike the banded printing from inkjets on plain paper
+ Easy to install on XP, Vista, and Win7 64 as both a USB and network printer
+ Quiet
+ Sheetfeeder is convenient and reliable
+ Prints at the same speed and quality regardless of how long it sits idle or off, unlike an inkjet printer that often needs cartridges replaced or cleaned after sitting idle for a couple of weeks.
+ Doesn't spew gobs of ink on paper at random intervals, which many inkjets do, especially after they've been sitting idle for some time
+ EXCELLENT print output - very sharp even at small print sizes and fine lines

Negatives:
- I have the same problems as others when scanning using the sheetfeeder: Scans always come out as 8.5 x 14.
- Low paper capacity. Why doesn't EVERY printer come with a 500 sheet bin? Do manufacturers really save any money by making the smaller bin?
- Manual feed is not easy to use. Basically, you need to pull out the drawer and put what you want printed in the regular drawer.
- Scanning from front panel isn't working for me, which should be easy to do. Perhaps this is the problem others indicate when they say it is hard to set up. Scanning is fine when you start it from the computer.
- Won't email without talking to a computer. I really like that feature in the more expensive models, and it shouldn't be that difficult to implement.
- Wont' print truly photo-quality as well as a photo inkjet, but the prints on photo paper are still VERY good.
- Do I REALLY need a THREE HUNDRED megabyte package of drivers and software just to print? How about a light-weight software option HP? Better yet, how about building the drivers into the printer's built-in web server so that I don't have to get those monster packages from the Internet? Why can't I manage ALL settings from the built-in web pages?
-+ I wasn't satisfied with the default scan settings, but after tweaking to boost the image quality, I am happy with the scan quality and speed.

Regarding the price of prints: Although a set of cartridges sets you back about 260 bucks, that will not get you anywhere near the $1.00+ price per page others talk about. My conservative estimate at cost is about $0.15/page in color including paper, less in B/W. If you force B/W printing for most output, you will be closer to $0.04/page. Having spent a ton of money on ink cartridges for inkjets, only to waste much of the ink on cleaning and reprints when gobs of ink land on my output, I think the overall cost of ownership will be close to even or better when compared to a typical inkjet. Counting the cost of time and frustration in the cost of using an inkjet will further weigh the cost per print in favor of the CM1312nfi.

Some other "negative" points are speed, lack of duplex scanning/printing, and some other bells and whistles mentioned in other reviews. I don't count these negative points against this printer since these are features that you really can't expect in this price class. I looked long and hard at the HP CM2320, but the much higher cost of entry didn't seem to pay off for me. Including a set of cartridges, the 1312 costs 30-50% less than the 2320.

I compared this printer to Brother and Samsung MFPs at a local office supply store. The output quality, speed, and overall build quality are significantly higher than similarly priced competitors. The output quality of a color brochure copied on each of the brands is what sold me on the HP - the CM1312 output is MUCH better than the other brands. I also expect to be able to service and purchase supplies for an HP long after Samsung and Brother are forgotten about.

I'd give this printer a solid 4 stars if I could get the scanning from the front panel and the auto page size recognition to work. I won't count things against this printer that it really isn't designed to handle, like true photo quality and high speed. Anticipating being able to work out the bugs with scanning and page size, I'll give this a 3.5 and round up to 4 stars.

44 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Printer - BAD BAD Driver, August 12, 2008

By 

P. M. Lewis "Im-Not-Ted" (NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

I purchased this printer instead of the 2840 due to bad driver reviews associated with the 2840. Unfortunately, the drivers for this device are bad too. Beginning with the minimum install size of 400 MB. Yes, the driver automatically installs all sorts of maintenance and other applications. No, you cannot deselect them during or after the install. The drivers also add 32 seconds to boot time for every PC I installed them on.

The upsides are that the color prints coming out of this machine are amazing. The color copy feature is awesome too. The device draws only 7.5 watts in sleep mode and it is very quiet (no loud fans running during sleep mode).

Overall printing 5 stars and driver 1 star, so I rated it in the middle. One more thing. Just FYI, I found the HP Color Laserjet 5M driver works for this printer and does not add 32 seconds or 400 MB to my PC operation. I am sure there are some features missing, but...

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best All in One HP LaserJet Printer Yet!!!, August 24, 2008

By 

J. Jordan (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This is an awesome printer! For so many reasons.

1.) It's an all in one or better yet, a 4 in one (print, copy, scan, fax). Many of the newer printers haven't included fax recently.

2.) It's compact - shorter than the HP 2840 which is a huge monstrosity. The toner cartridges are secured horizontally (front to back) rather than vertically (top to bottom). This saves a lot of room.

3.) It's simple and the most user friendly printer I've ever purchased from HP. It's Vista operative and the software that comes with it is more of a help than a hindrance. The organization of the buttons and functions on the front panel makes sense. The color LCD screen is also easy to navigate. You won't feel like every navigating decision will be binding like some display screens. HP combined modern technology, simplicity, and the traditional needs of an all in one to arrive at their best printer yet.

4.) It's affordable too in comparison to the HP 2840 all in one. The toner is also less expensive than the Q6000 series of toner that is needed in the 2840 and other related LaserJet printers.

I highly recommend this printer if you have a small/home based business! Or if you just like having it all... all in one.