I've kept an eye on color laser printers for years now, waiting for a model that has the right price and features. I saw the HP CM1312 at Costco and thought this might be what I've been waiting for!
Checking reviews online, most of them were positive. In particular, PC Mag rated it an "Editors' Choice" and gave it 4 1/2 out of 5 stars. The price at Costco was $419 plus tax. My Canon monochrome all in one ran out of toner and I thought this is a good time to buy - pay $80 for a new toner cartridge or $419 for a new color laser.
I went to Costco, picked up the printer and brought it home. If you're thinking about buying one, please note that it's kind of heavy - just over 50 pounds. That might not sound like too much, but then combine the weight with the size of the box and it can be difficult to carry around. Anyways, after you finish reading this blog you might change your mind.
I unpacked the printer and read the directions for setup and software installation. Problems started to occur quickly.
- When the printer first powered up, it made sounds that one would associate with a machine that it going to break soon. Loud grinding sounds. I was concerned but continued on. This was my first color printer and I didn't know if the noise was normal or not.
- I ran the printer driver CD on my Windows Vista computer (made by HP, by the way) and it failed to complete the software installation. It automatically deleted the installed files, restarted the computer and tried again. On the second try the installation also failed. I visited the HP website and downloaded the latest drivers. These were version 3, the CD came with version 1 drivers. After installing version 3 drivers, we had progress. A successful install and the printer was working.
- Time to print! I printed the Windows test page and it came out blue... The black and white text was readable but the entire page was bathed in blue. I printed a page from a WORD document with the same result. Then I made a black and white photocopy. It came out mostly black and white but still had some blue on it.
What to do next? Checking the HP website, they had some known issues and fixes but nothing like what I was encountering. I tried reaching online tech support, but they were already closed for the day (at around 3 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time). Enough! My confidence was shattered and no human tech support. I had already spent a few hours to buy the printer, bring it home and set it up and it didn't work. I packed it back up and returned it that evening. Forget about getting another one. What if it has the same problems? I didn't want to waste a few more hours tinkering around with an inferior product.
My vote for this product is "Thumbs down".
For the time being, I will buy a new toner cartridge and continue using my Canon MF5770. It's a great all in one printer/fax/scanner and it's served me for a couple of years now. It can be a little difficult to install with Windows Vista, however a free call to Canon tech support can get it working. The only downside is that it's monochrome. I guess I'll go to the office to print those color flyers!
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