PRINTING. The HP Color LaserJet Pro M452dn prints using laser technology, which picks up powdered 'toner' on a roller and fuses it to the paper with heat. Its text quality is excellent, as we've come to expect from a laser printer. Text printing was very quick, 15 pages per minute, costing 2.1 cents per page. Its color graphics printing is very good for reports, newsletters and web pages, at 0.2 pages per minute, costing 17.6 cents per page. It has an auto duplex feature that lets you print both on sides of the page, with no loss of quality. If the black ink runs out, it stops printing -- it can't be set to just use the remaining color ink. The capacity of the main paper tray is 250 sheets, a generous size. There's a second tray for full-size paper, allowing you to load letterhead paper, for instance.
CONTROLS and DISPLAY. The printer has a small 1.8-inch display screen.
CONNECTIVITY and NETWORKING. It lacks USB PictBridge for direct printing from cameras. You can connect directly to a PC with a USB cable, or to your network router with an Ethernet cable. There's a WiFi Auto-connect feature that makes it easy to link to your wireless router.
COST OF OWNERSHIP. The purchase price for this printer is about $450, which is expensive for a color laser printer. But printing uses up toner. Over time, as you print, the costs add up. After 2 years of use, we estimate the total cost to be $647, which is typical for a color laser. The estimated yearly cost is $98 -- so the 3-, 4- and 5-year estimates are $745, $844 and $942 respectively -- which is also typical for this printer type.
The size and weight of this printer makes it more suitable for an office than a home.
