PRINTING. The HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M177fw prints using laser technology, which picks up powdered 'toner' on a roller and fuses it to the paper with heat. It prints color photos with only Fair quality, which is not unusual for a laser printer. Photo printing was very quick, only 0.7 minute for a 4x6, costing 30 cents. Its text quality is Excellent, as we've come to expect from a laser printer. Text printing was very quick, 10.3 pages per minute, costing 4.1 cents per page. It prints color graphics such as charts and web pages beautifully, in presentation-quality, with no noticeable defects, at 2.1 pages per minute, costing 21.2 cents per page. If any color ink runs out, it stops printing—it can't be set to just use the remaining black ink. 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 150 sheets, a typical size.
SCANNING and COPYING. Scanning performance was Very Good, fine for general-purpose scanning. It can scan or copy an area up to 11.6 x 8.5 inches (letter size). Copying performance was Very Good, suitable for most purposes. It has an Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) for easily scanning/copying a stack of pages.
CONTROLS and DISPLAY. The printer has a medium-size 3-inch display screen with a touchscreen.
CONNECTIVITY and NETWORKING. You can connect directly to a PC with a USB cable, or to your network router either wirelessly with WiFi or with an Ethernet cable. Apple AirPrint and Google Cloud Print are built-in, to print wirelessly from smartphones, tablets and PCs. You can also install HP's app on your smart phone or tablet, as another option for printing over your WiFi network. You can also print an email remotely by forwarding it directly to this printer. This model has built-in faxing, can store incoming faxes if the paper runs out, and can send faxes from an attached PC. The printer can access the Internet directly using downloadable 'apps', letting you print information from news and entertainment services.
COST OF OWNERSHIP AND TONER. When this section was last updated, the printer's purchase price was about $350, typical for an all-in-one color laser printer. Printing uses up toner. Over time, as you print, the costs add up. This printer uses 4 cartridges. The HP toner cartridges used in testing were the 130A BK, 130A C, 130A M, and 130A Y. At the time, their prices were $55, $58, $58, and $58 respectively. We estimate the cartridges to last a very long time: around 10.9 months. After 2 years of typical use, we estimate the total cost to be $614, typical for a color laser. The estimated yearly cost is $132, also typical for this printer type. So the 3-, 4- and 5-year estimates are $746, $878 and $1010 respectively.
PRINTER FIRMWARE. Firmware is software that exists inside the printer. All models are evaluated using the latest firmware version available at the time of testing. The firmware version of the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M177fw was 20130823.
SOFTWARE. The collection of software accompanying the printer may include: the printer driver, printer applications, electronic user manual, (and for all-in-ones:) scanning, faxing, and OCR apps. These get installed on your personal computer. All models are evaluated with a Windows 10 PC using the latest version of printer driver and printer support apps available at the time of testing. The software version was 11.21.0.2275.
