SMB IT | Curtis Franklin » HP 3800dn: No Excuse for Not Having a Color Laser

February 15, 2006 | Comments: (0)

HP 3800dn: No Excuse for Not Having a Color Laser

TAGS: SMB Hardware

HP's Color LaserJet 3800dn is another one of those product reviews I didn't want to have end. The thing is just too damn useful. Basically, take everything you like about a fast departmental-style laser printer...and add color.

She arrives in a medium-sized box, but still maneuverable by one person (even with stairs, I know from personal experience). Hardware setup takes about 15 minutes, most of it spent removing various bits of packing candy from even more varied plastic recesses.

The 3800dn's embedded Jetdirect Fast Ethernet port will take a DHCP-based IP address according to the instructions, but this barfed when I tried it. I'm thinking I need to install more management software for this feature to work, but overall it's a minor ding. Most small offices--even departments--have an easier time managing printers if these addresses remain static. That took about 5 minutes most of it spent navigating the front-mounted LCD panel menus.

Once the address was set, I avoided installing most of what HP put on its included software CD. I've had bad experiences with this stuff in the past and it generally doesn't provide anything useful anyway. Instead, I just ran the Add Printer wizard on all our PCs and connected by creating a forward TCP/IP port aimed at the static address. After that, the CD provided the appropriate PCL 6 driver and installation was done. Sweet.

In general business use, the 3800dn has been trouble-free for over three months. Its 22ppm rating is on target for both color and B&W print jobs, and output is crisp at 600x600 dpi. There's not much more to say on this front, except that there's a marked difference between color jobs running off the 3800dn and those off even a higer-end HP color inkjet. Color lasers rule.

Using various types of paper, I was able to print a 30-page Quick Start guide to our company's software for some suddenly-scheduled training sessions that were literally indistinguishable from those we had professionally printed. Duplex printing is automatic--just select it at the time of the print job. The same for a tri-fold mailing brochure--just open in Microsoft Publisher and hit print. I even printed a bunch of business cards for a buddy who ran out.

For the record, those crisp results were constant regardless of whether I used el cheapo Staples copier paper or the higher-priced special HP color laser paper. The latter was probably a mite glossier, but that's the extent of the difference. Speaking of paper, the 3800dn has a capacity of 350 sheets, with a 200-sheet output tray. You can up this to 850 sheets with an additional bottom-mounted feeder, but the output tray remains constant.

The only thing you can't change is an input tray for envelopes. Standard capacity is for 10 envelopes, but that's it. So if large mail merges on your menu, then you'll need a printer besides the 3800dn.

Now the nice part: This color laser costs pretty much what any workhorse laser printer cost--or at least used to cost. On the low-end, you can get a 3800 starting at $799 (though this lacks a natively embedded Fast Ethernet port). A 3800n model carries this port as well as 160MB of internal RAM for $899, while the 3800dn is the same just with 288MB of RAM and costs $1149. On the high-end is the 3800dtn, identical to my tested unit but pre-outfitted with the 850-sheet paper capacity for $1399.

All these printers can be retro-fitted with gig Ethernet or a wireless b/g card.

Color LaserJet 3800dn
HP
Price: $1,149
Verdict: Get one now. And if HP happens to send you one for review, don't send it back unless they issue a subpoena.

Posted by Oliver Rist on February 15, 2006 07:15 PM

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