HP 4 Toner
LaserJet 4 Toner Cartridges

HP 4 Printer Review

The HP LaserJet 4 is a monochrome laser printer designed for the small or medium office environment. Its print quality and reliability are excellent, but its bulky design and even bulkier price tag will keep most small office users away. For a smaller personal sized printer, the HP 1020 toner printer should be considered.

The LaserJet 4 is a workhorse of a printer. It has a solid frame that can certainly hold up in a busy office, but its size is a bit on the bulky side, measuring 11.7 inches by 16.4 inches by 15.9 inches, and weighing in at 37 pounds with the HP toner. This is not out of line for its class, but for this extra size, you don't get as much paper capacity as other models. The LaserJet 4 has a 250-sheet main drawer and a 100-sheet multipurpose drawer. An additional 500-sheet drawer can be added, but that will increase the size and weight. It does include a manual feed slot for media that cannot be fed through the main drawer. This is especially useful for thick media that will jam easily.

It is capable of handling a fairly large number of users, as it has a monthly duty cycle of 20,000 pages. HP LaserJet 4 toner cartridges have a capacity of 6,800 pages, but a high-yield version is also available, with a capacity of 8,800 pages. LaserJet 4 toner prices tend to be very inexpensive for this model, and using third-party compatible cartridges will save even more money. In fact, while the LaserJet 4 doesn't have the speed or capacity of other models, its economical printing may be its biggest asset.

Print speed is quite slow, at around 8 pages per minute. Print quality is generally good, as text is very sharp and detailed. Graphics printing is not quite as impressive, however, with banding in gradients and blotchiness cropping up in some prints.

Overall, the HP LaserJet 4 is a very economical printer, but that may not make up for its high upfront price or its bulky, heavy design.