HP 3550 Toner
LaserJet 3550 Toner Cartridges

HP 3550 Printer Review

The HP LaserJet 3550 color laser printer, also referred to as the 3550N, is designed with the home or small office user in mind. Its monochrome print quality is excellent, but it suffers from poor color print quality and slow printing speeds, like the HP 1600 toner printer.

The single greatest asset for the HP 3550 color laser printer is its monochrome print quality. Monochrome text is sharp, dark, and everything you would expect from a quality laser, even down to the smallest font sizes. Its color quality is very disappointing, however. Color graphics show numerous issues from over-saturation to fuzzy edges. While graphics, especially color graphics, are always an issue with lasers, this model fairs a little worse than most. If you need multi-function capabilities in addition to the color printing, check out the HP 2840 toner printer.

Print speed is mixed. Color printing operates faster than most of the competition, at around 10 pages per minute, but the monochrome speed of 9 pages per minute is disappointing. Some users may value the unit's print quality over its speed, but it certainly falls behind the competition in this regard.

HP LaserJet 3550 toner cartridges are easy to replace. When the front cover is opened, the cartridges move into a convenient forward position, allowing easy access for removal and replacement. It is also worth noting that the machine includes full-size HP 3550 toner cartridges instead of the starter cartridges included with many other models. The single black printer toner cartridge has a capacity of 6,000 pages, and each color laser toner cartridge has a capacity of 4,000 pages.

Unfortunately, the model is lacking in many other areas as well. If you want print, scan, email and fax capability the HP CM2320 toner printer should be considered. The 64 mb of included memory may not be enough for many uses, and there is no option to upgrade. Built-in networking is not included, and is an expensive upgrade. Also, the printer does not have its own processor, and therefore the PC must process the data in software. This likely accounts for the unit's slower printing speeds.

Overall, the HP Color LaserJet 3550 produces high quality monochrome prints, but its poor color quality and generally slow printing speeds make it difficult to recommend. Lack of upgrade options may also present a problem for some users.