HP LaserJet Pro CP1525nw

Big brother for the HP LaserJet Pro CP1025nw color Printer ($229, 3.5 stars) plus in many ways the single function version from the HP LaserJet Pro CM1415fnw color MFP ($449, 4 stars)—each of which I've recently reviewed—the HP LaserJet Pro CP1525nw color Printer ($349 direct), is clearly designed as both a private printer and also a potential shared printer in the micro office. Indeed, it could possibly serve in either role, although it's priced just a little high for which there is.

The important thing word in describing the cp1525nw review as big brother to the CP1025nw is big, with a 15.7 by 17.8 inch (WD) footprint that may take up a little more space for a desktop than you could possibly like. Fortunately it's mostly only 10 inches high, so no less than you won't think that it's towering over you. In contrast it's surprisingly heavy for the size, at 40 pounds, that is in excess of some individuals might feel at ease lifting and moving themselves.

In spite of the extra dimensions (and price), the CP1525nw doesn't deliver that much over the CP1025nw. Especially, its paper handling is actually as limited. Like its little brother, it has a 150 sheet input tray, devoid of automatic duplexing without solutions. It adds a one-sheet manual feed slot, in order to print on a different paper stock and never have to swap the paper mainly tray, but that's almost the sole advantage there is.

speed
Setting in the cp1525nw review is standard fare. I installed it using a wired network connection and ran my tests from a Windows Vista system. HP rates the printer at 12 ppm for paper and 8 ppm for color, that ought to be close on the speeds you'll see when printing text files with virtually no graphics or photos. For the new version of our own business applications suite (timed with QualityLogic's hardware and software) I measured it at a powerful 2.9 pages for each minute (ppm), just a little faster than the CP1025nw, at 2.7 ppm.

Not surprisingly, since CP1525nw and CM1415fnw both use the same printer engine, they announced essentially identical speeds on every test inside the suite. As the second reference point, however, we measured the similarly priced Editors' Choice Dell 1350cnw Color LED Printer ($299, 4 stars) at a substantially faster 4.9 ppm. If you are helpful to inkjets, you will likely think about the CP1525nw speed acceptable, however it is enough slower versus Dell printer to note the gap in everyday work.

Output Quality
The printer scores a little better on output quality than on speed in accordance with other lasers, particularly for text, although the overall quality isn't impressive.

Text quality is a great one for almost any business need, and a match for most lasers. Color graphics are only a touch below par. They're certainly good enough for almost any internal business need, and a lot of our test output was good enough to serve for marketing materials like trifold brochures the other page handouts. However, one of the test images showed unacceptable posterization (with colors changing suddenly where they should change gradually), and that means you may have to pick your shading carefully.

Photo output was far below par to get a color laser, with a lot of on the photos looking overexposed. The quality was adequate for printing recognizable photos from Internet pages, but I wouldn't think about using the printer for something like a client newsletter if I were looking to convey a sense professionalism.

Given that you will get almost a similar capability from HP's own cp1525nw review for less money, or get much faster speed through the Dell 1350cnw for a similar price, it's hard to recommend the CP1525nw without reservations. On the flip side, if you're able to believe that it is at the sufficiently low price, and as long as you print little enough therefore you don't mind having only a 150-sheet capacity, the CP1525nw can simply fill a slot being a personal printer or shared printer within a micro office.