HP 3500 Toner
LaserJet 3500 Toner Cartridges

HP 3500 Printer Review

The HP LaserJet 3500 color laser printer is designed for the personal, home, or small office user. It features excellent print quality, and while color printing is quite fast, it falls behind the competition in monochrome speed. If a faster print speed is needed, the LaserJet 4050 toner printer should be considered.

The design of the HP 3500 color laser printer is bulky, especially for a personal laser. At 71 pounds, it will take two people to move around, which seems less than ideal for a single user model. The unit is 19 inches wide and 17 inches tall, and when the multipurpose tray and rear door are open, it measures 27 inches deep. At this size, don't expect the 3500 to share a desk surface with a computer. Once out of the box, the unit is very easy to set up with easy instructions and an included software disc.

HP LaserJet 3500 toner cartridges are easily replaceable via the front cover, like the HP 2840 toner and HP 4000 toner cartridges. The cartridges extend out from the unit allowing for easy replacement. The HP 3500 toner cartridges have a fairly good page yield. Black printer toner cartridges have a capacity of 6,100 pages, and color laser toner cartridges have a capacity of 4,100 pages.

Print speeds are a mixed bag. The unit prints in color at around 7 pages per minute, which is faster than some of its competition. Monochrome printing is rather slow, however, at 8 pages per minute. Given the price and its design as a personal laser, this is not altogether surprising, but it would have been nice to see faster monochrome speeds. If faster print speeds are desired, the LaserJet 4050 toner printer should be evaluated.

Print quality is where this model really shines. Monochrome text is particularly sharp and dark. Color text looks noticeably sharper than many color lasers, and color graphics are fairly average.

There is no built-in ethernet port, but a print server is available for users who wish to connect the 3500 directly to a network without the need for a PC as an intermediary, or the 3500N includes networking. The software includes Toolbox software, which allows network users to connect through a web interface to manage print jobs, troubleshoot problems, and check the status of the machine.

Overall, the HP LaserJet 3500 is a solid personal color laser printer with great print quality and affordable printer toner. It is marred somewhat by its slow speeds and its bulky and heavy design may cause problems for individual users.