HP LaserJet 3050 All-in-One

The Color LaserJet 2840 All-in-One is one of two MFC laser printers that made the grade for this article. It has a somewhat lower monthly duty cycle than the HP 1022 at 7,000 pages per month, instead of 8,000. Its black-and-white print and copy speed goes up to 18 ppm, just like the HP 1022 for printing alone. Many SOHO users find this printer appealing because it does copier resizing from 25% to 400%, can fax up to 20 ppm and offers excellent print quality for text and adequate print quality for halftones and graphics.

With its scanning lid and integrated fax management keypad on the top cover, the 3050 is both bulbous and boxy.

Pricing on this unit is also pretty darn attractive. Careful shopping around turns up prices between $210 and $230 at the low end of the range, which is good for a capable MFC. The input tray in this unit holds 260 pages and the HP 3050 also comes equipped with 64 MB RAM (no upgrade slot is available).

The 3050 is middling in size with dimensions of 16.9" x 17.5" x 18.1" (42.9cm x 44.3cm x 45.9cm), and it weighs a modest 20.5 lb (9.3 kg). Consumables are the same as for the HP 1022, which cost $70 for a black cartridge rated at 2,000 pages. Refilled or aftermarket cartridges are widely available, and usually go for $45-$55.

Though its consumable costs are a bit on the high side (3.5 cents per page by HP's own estimates), the 3050 is a good deal for a modestly-capable monochrome laser MFP.