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The functional and efficient HP LaserJet 4050 printer does all it can to live up to its sterling reputation in the marketplace. It is able to work quite well in almost any type of environment and it’s obvious that HP designed to printer to integrate into the work group with little trouble. This monochrome laser printer also goes for a very nice price, and delivers excellent print speed and reliability.

The 4050 is part of Hewlett-Packard’s 4000 series of printers. In general, printers and this series are workhorses, and the 4050 is no exception. It can be upgraded with many options and capabilities, including more memory if needed. In terms of print speed, a purchaser can expect about 17 pages of product to come out in a single minute, which is more than adequate for most workgroup demands.

The HP 4050 can be connected to a workgroup or a single computer through traditional wired technologies, though there are wireless options available in the lineup at additional cost. It doesn’t feature a USB port but it does have a parallel port and a serial interface capability. Additionally, certain open slots can add wireless or ethernet capability.

As far as the quality of the printed page that will emerge from the 4050, most people would say that it is excellent in all characteristics. This is because the 4050 is equipped with the ability to print at 1200 dots per inch resolution. This means that the product will be sharp, rich and very detailed. In fact, this particular printer probably has a lead over many of its competitors solely because of this fact.

Standard memory is adequate enough at 8 MB, but it can be increased quite easily all the way up to 200 MB. Hewlett-Packard understands that most people, will be fine with 8 MB and it’s only a serious network workgroup that might need more than that. If that’s the case, then have the IT specialists include additional memory.

The 4050 is also able to accommodate up to 600 sheets of paper stock within its trays. This includes 500 sheets for a single 500-sheet auto load input tray. When it comes to the different kinds of paper and media stock the 4050 can handle, it’s quite capable of dealing with a wide variety, including custom sizes, envelopes and transparencies.

Duty cycle ratings for the 4050 come in at a very nice 65,000 pages, meaning that the printer will be able to produce up to 65,000 pages of printed product in a single month before requiring any sort of maintenance. It runs on Windows NT 4.0 and several other Windows platforms, by the way.

Presently, a number of online retail sites are asking about $120 or so for the HP LaserJet 4050 printer. Price will depend on whether one is going to go for a new printer or one that’s been refurbished. It features excellent print speed, good reliability and is able to be hooked up to a network quite easily. Given all that, it’s hard to see much to dislike about the 4050. Most purchasers never find anything to dislike about it. As long as you keep toner printer cartridges on hand, you won’t run out of ink.