HP Unveils Sub-$800 Color LaserJet

Networkable LaserJet 1500L targets small and home offices.

Anush Yegyazarian, PCWorld.com

With the introduction of the LaserJet 1500L, Hewlett-Packard is setting a new price point for color laser printers: The new model's price tag is just $799.

The new printer, available this week, is aimed at small and home offices. The LaserJet 1500L supports printing speeds of up to 16 pages per minute on black and white, and 4 ppm for color, according to HP. The unit comes with 16MB of RAM and supports 600 dot-per-inch resolution.

Model Options

With the 1500L base model, you get a 125-sheet paper tray; if you spend an additional $200 for the LaserJet 1500, you also get a 250-sheet tray. An optional 500-sheet tray is also available. Each unit uses a USB port to hook up to your computer. HP does not bundle printer cables, which are sold separately.

Although you don't get a built-in Ethernet port with either unit, you can network the printers using either a print server or standard Windows networking. HP offers its own print server solution, the JetDirect series. USB models start at $159 and offer 10/100BaseT Ethernet connectivity.

These printers are compact enough to sit on your desk, each measuring 12.8 by 18.9 by 17.8 inches. Both printers work with Windows 98, 2000, Me, and XP, as well as Mac OS 9 and OS X. The printers come with a one-year warranty.

Cheap Competition

HP is the second vendor to offer such affordable color laser printers.

The Minolta-QMS Magicolor 2300DL color laser printer was the first to reach this price, hitting retail shelves earlier this year. Also, Minolta-QMS recently released an even more affordable color laser printer, the $699 Magicolor 2300, without built-in Ethernet.