HP 4050
HP 4050 Laserjet Printer
HP 4050
HP 4050
Technical Details
- 1,200-dpi resolution
- NEC 4310 133-MHz RISC microprocessor
- Prints 17 pages per minute
- On-printer help system
- 8 MB memory
Description
The 4050 line of laser printers offers highly manageable and forward-thinking business-printing solutions. The LaserJet 4050’s standard 500-sheet paper tray slides into the front of the printer; paper follows an S-path through the printer and ejects face-down in a generous 250-sheet output bin on the top of the unit. Alternately, you can flip down a tray in the rear of the printer that handles 50 sheets. The tray’s adjustable guides automatically center the paper. The LaserJet 4050’s online help system allows you to scroll through troubleshooting solutions on the control panel.
The HP 4050 comes with two CDs: one has driver and management software for Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0, and Macintosh; the other contains the printer’s documentation in Adobe Acrobat format. PCL6 and Postscript level-2 drivers are installed, with PCL6 as the default printer driver. The driver features a graphical representation of the printer; you click on the tray you wish to use and select the print quality. Other nice features of the driver are customizable watermark support and ZoomSmart settings, which allow the printer to automatically scale documents to fit different paper sizes or zoom levels. HP FontSmart, a font management utility with 110 fonts, helps you install and remove fonts as well as preview them on screen and print samples.
The difference is that the administration software HP JetAdmin and HP Resource Manager comes into play if your printer is attached to a network. JetAdmin enables network managers to monitor the status and configure features of multiple printers locally or over any IPX/SPX or TCP/IP network. We printed hundreds of pages on our test unit without a jam. In addition to font and macro storage, a hard disk enables the HP 4050 to perform several types of jobs: private printing, proof and hold, stored jobs, and quick copies. Private printing enables users to encode a print job with a PIN number and release the job at the printer by entering the code. Stored jobs can live at the printer, and you can print them on demand from the control panel without any PC involvement.
Reviews
By: A CustomerH-P covered the bases with this printer. I have used H-P at my office for years but bought this one for home use. It has printed abut 5,000 copies, flawlessly, so far. It is very easy to set up and operate. The controls are clear and easy to work–if you want to abort a printing job, it can be done by pressing one orange button–act of Congress not required. So far it has not ruined a print–not one. Thanks H-P for this product. (No, I don’t work for Hewlett-Packard.)
By: A CustomerI recently purchased the HP 4050 from Amazon and couldn’t be more pleased with the quality, ease of installation and use of this printer. The 1200 dpi is spectacular and halftones look great. The built-in Postscript capability is a godsend and I can’t believe the speed with which the HP 4050 delivers copies! Although a printed manual would have been an asset, I haven’t needed to look at the documentation disk. I highly recommend this printer for those who need a high-volume, top quality machine.
By: J. Claridge “Wheeled Goat” (Chicago)
I’ve had the opportunity to use this printer (home use) for the past 2 years (it was my roommate’s). I’ve come to expect this top-notch quality and dependablility; I have no idea what I’m going to buy to try and replace it now that I’m moving out. Changing the toner cartridge is a walk in the park. It takes longer to fill an ice cube tray. I especially like the separate loader tray that easily accepts envelopes, cards and (my favorite) CD labels. After you’re done with the loader tray, it folds up into the unit. We also have the HP 4050 TN’s (has an additional paper tray) at work - I can attest that these puppies can handle a seriously high volume of print jobs - flawlessly.
