Customer Reviews

HP Color LaserJet 2550L Printer

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

It's October 2004 and I've had my 2550L for 3 months now. Overall I'm very satisfied with the product. I have it plugged into my USB 2.0 port and it prints quickly. Also the quality of the text and pictures are good. I selected it because of it's size, USB 2.0 compatible and price. It was one of the least expensive color laser printers on the market and one of the smallest. It really is quite amazing how HP has figured out how to put all four color cartridges in such a compact package.

I print mostly black and white but wanted the option of color without the smearing ink of an ink jet printer. (I also don't like ink jets because you have to clean the heads and replace the cartridges too often.) This printer prints black and white faster and color a little slower and that was just right for my needs.

I've owned Epson, Brother, and Panasonic printers before. This is my first HP and I really do notice a difference in the quality of the build. I would definitely buy a HP printer again.

Why 4 stars instead of 5? Well this model doesn't come with the paper tray that mounts to the bottom. I didn't think it would bother me but it did. So I wound up buying the paper tray seperate. I should have bought one of the other 2550s that included it to start with because it was tough to locate the paper tray option and buy it on its own. It also cost me more all together vs buying a higher end 2550 that came with it already.

One thing that I didn't read in the other reviews that I would have liked to have known is that the printer cycles periodically. It intially scared my wife and I in the middle of the night because we heard noises in our home that we had never heard before. It was the printer cycling. While it is relatively noisy I don't think it would have stopped me from buying it, but I would have liked to have known in advance.

I bought one of these and packed it up to return tonight. There is no paper tray. The only way to feed paper is by opening the front door and sticking in sheets of paper. Then they hang out the front. The paper tray is an option that no one has in stock. I am going to swap for a 2550N. It comes with the tray and is supposed to be networkable.

Bob

If you're like me, then you were blinded by the idea of a nice color laser printer for less then $500! Sure, these days you could go black and white for less then $150, even as low as $99. Is the color worth it? In my opinion: YES!

This printer, of all the color lasers, is the sleekest and most compact. Right off the bat, you will try and try to open up the paper tray at the bottom of the device, only to realize that it doesn't open. So where does the paper go? Well, that's the main negative...a part of the front panel opens up and the paper just hangs there much like the back of a bubble jet printer. But in this case, it completely ruins the nice look of the machine, and opens up for dust to accumulate. But for an additional $150-$300, you can buy a 250-850 page tray and this problem will be solved. This is an annoying thing, but I guess it is the price you pay for the price you pay. If you want it cheap, there has to be comprimises.

Output is AMAZING! Text is kickass, graphics are unbelievable, and photos are better then expected from a color laser. THIS IS NOT A PHOTO PRINTER, so dont buy it expecting great photo prints. If you want Kodak prints, buy a photo printer. If you want lots of quick color printouts at low cost, buy the 2550L.

Otherwise, I have no complaints. This thing is fast, cheap, and output is superior. And for god sake it is only $499!!! For that price, it's almost like, you dont have the right to complain!

Color output is off, like pinks instead of purples and yellows instead of orange. Tinker with the controls and you can match the color on your screen.

Simply: Get this, it's sweet.

-Brad

Purchased this printer at a very good price then realised why!
The printer cartridges cost £240. I print 95% Black and white images, but the special chips on each of the cartridges count down from 2000 to 0 for each print wether you print one word letters or full size photos. I have printed about 1500 pictures and its telling me to replace the black cartridge, even though the prints are still perfect. I have not used any colour yet but each print counts this as usage for all the colour carts as well. The colour ones are still 100% full but its telling me they are only 25% full. You HAVE to replace them when they are full wether you like it or not because the printer wont work. I have been told you can buy the chips on their own to fool the printer but these cost £9 each. do not buy a chipped cartridge printer!

This is a NOISY printer. It clicks, bangs and cycles all the drums on EVERY print!!!
There is NO PAPER TRAY. This is an expensive extra add-on.
The print quality is no bad but no great either.
All in all, I would NOT recommend this printer. There are other printers in this price range (Like the OkiData) that are FAR superior. I bought HP thinking it would be great like the ones in the office. I now have both an HP 2550Ln and the Okidata C5150n. The Oki is a far superior product across the board.
Think twice before buying this product for your home or small office. The noise alone will drive you insane.

Buyer beware, the printer is priced great, the consumables are not. This printer uses toner like crazy. And it has some sort of feature that seems to estimate the amount of toner usage. When it estimates it is out of toner it will no longer let you print even though the toner cartridge is not empty. I recently had to replace a cartridge that was somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 full. What a scam!

Print quality is poor at best. I have owned 8 computer printers and this one is the first that does not allow you to control the brightness and contrast of the print. What's up with that? And the printer tends to print dark and the colors do not match the originals at all.

And where is the paper tray??? I guess this is an optional item. The paper feed bracket that comes with the printer extends way out in front of the machine and has a capacity of only about 75 sheets.

I cannot recommend this printer and would definately not choose to purchase another like it. My old Minolta color laser printer was a much better printer, but unfortunately it died after 6 years of heavy usage.

There is no paper tray on the 2550L, and when I went to purchase a paper tray (an expensive accessory) directly from HP, they were "out of stock". Also, the printer oftern makes loud noises when performing internal maintenance (not good to suddenly wake up to in the middle of the night). I've sent the printer back and bought a printer from another company.

I have had this printer for about 3 months now and have already had to buy a $175 drum and countless toner cartridges. And I don't print anywhere near the maximum output of 30,000 pages per month. I might do 2500 a month. Yes the printer is cheap and prints high quality, but it isn't worth all the extra costs associated with it. And it is very slow if any type of complex document is sent to the printer, VERY SLOW. To upgrade the memory from HP is $500. If I had it to do over I would not have chosen this printer.

As other reveiwers have noted, the smart chips inside the toner cartridges are anything but. They generally force you to toss perfectly good toner catridges and imaging drums away before they're even near empty.

Our per page cost, not counting the paper itself, sky rocketed to around 6.5 cents a sheet! Turns out, it may be cheaper to buy a new printer than to restock this one.

Wish I could give this printer zero stars. I have had the HP2550L for 15 months. It is not working at the moment because it needs a third imaging drum - at a cost of approximately $180.00 and two toner cartridges. I set it to print gray scale and it still used up the ink in the red and blue toner cartridges. I bought a new printer about eight months ago to do my black printing (an HP2420 - great little printer) and yesterday bought a new color printer - not an HP. It would have been cheaper to buy a new printer everytime I needed to replace the toner cartridges or imaging drum.