HP LaserJet M234dwe review
Our Verdict
This HP monochrome multi-office LaserJet delivers high prototype quality and good performance on the basics. Nonetheless, non all performance is peak-shelf, and the online HP Plus configuration won't suit all users.
For
- Fast text press
- Quick duplex printing of text
- Copying is faster than average
- Six months of toner included
Against
- Text-and-graphics PDF printing is slow
- Toner costs are slightly above average
- Small 1.27-inch monochrome LCD
- Sloppy edge detection in scanning software
- Cloud-focused functionality won't suit all users
Tom's Guide Verdict
This HP monochrome multi-function LaserJet delivers high image quality and good performance on the basics. However, not all operation is top-shelf, and the online HP Plus configuration won't suit all users.
Pros
- +
Fast text printing
- +
Quick duplex press of text
- +
Copying is faster than average
- +
Six months of toner included
Cons
- -
Text-and-graphics PDF printing is deadening
- -
Toner costs are slightly above average
- -
Modest 1.27-inch monochrome LCD
- -
Sloppy edge detection in scanning software
- -
Cloud-focused functionality won't suit all users
The HP LaserJet M234dwe ($199) is a monochrome laser printer designed for small offices and home offices.
Fast text printing and faster-than-average copying make the LaserJet M234dwe a practiced candidate for role duties. Nevertheless, whether this multifunction device is right for your office will likely depend on whether you lot're in the market for a toner subscription, and desire a device that depends on an internet connection for full functionality. For example, although the included HP Smart software does allow yous to scan a certificate and save information technology to a PC, any scanning shortcut you lot set upwardly in the software must save the document to an online location (such as Google Drive or Dropbox). If your office manages its documents on PC hard drives or network-continued storage, this may throw a monkey wrench in your workflow.
You will accept to ready upward an online HP account in order to fix this printer, which requires an Internet connection. This is required by the HP Plus program, which is a cloud-based printing solution. As such, when setting up scanning shortcuts in the included HP Smart software, you can simply set the browse to be saved to an online location (such equally Google Drive), not to a PC, even if continued via USB cable. (Yous tin, nevertheless, scan and manually relieve each individual file to a PC, just non via a shortcut).
Optionally, you can sign up for a six-calendar month trial of HP Instant Ink, an ink and toner subscription service (more on that beneath). The starter toner cartridge that comes in the box is rated to print approximately 700 pages (versus the standard cartridge's 1,100 pages). If you run out of toner within six months, you lot will receive a replacement cartridge gratuitous of accuse. (For monthly subscription tiers and pricing, see the Software and Setup section beneath). This laser printer but works with HP-brand cartridges. A recycling label is included in the box for Instant Ink subscribers, for recycling through the HP Planet Partners program.
The result is a monochrome all-in-one laser printer that'due south great for the role or home, but expects you to fully buy into HP's growing ecosystem of services and subscription toner refills. As our HP LaserJet M234dwe review shows, that's not necessarily a bad thing, simply compared to many of the best laser printers or best all-in-one printers we've reviewed, it's more of a long-term commitment than you lot might expect when buying a laser printer.
HP LaserJet M234dwe review: Design
The LaserJet M234dwe has a recommended page book of 200 to 2,000 pages, and is outfitted with a duplexer for making ii-sided prints. The paper cassette holds up to 150 sheets, and the output tray above it holds up to 100 sheets of paper.
It has a simple scanner lid upwardly acme, and is not outfitted with an automatic document feeder (ADF) for copying or scanning multipage documents. The M234dwe prints and copies in black-and-white, and can scan in color. The meridian panel offers a half dozen physical buttons and a two-fashion control for making selections from the small, i.27-inch monochrome LCD.
Weighing a modest 16.viii pounds, this LaserJet is an piece of cake one-person unboxing chore. The unit is quite compact, measuring roughly 14.v x 11.75 10 nine.5 inches. Extending the output tray increases the depth to xvi.5 inches, while lifting the scanner hat fully requires a vertical clearance of 17.2 inches.
In that location are Hullo-Speed USB ii.0 and Ethernet ports on the dorsum, though no cables are included. Dual-ring 2.four/5GHz wireless 802.xi b/one thousand/north is supported, equally well as low-energy Bluetooth. There are non whatsoever retentivity bill of fare slots.
HP LaserJet M234dwe review: Print speed
Text press was faster than the average for laser printers we've tested in its form. The LaserJet M234dwe printed our five-folio text document in 18.7 seconds, or xix.3 pages per minute. The average is a trivial slower, at 21.2 seconds, or fourteen.2 ppm. Print speeds for our mixed text-and-graphics PDF, however, were a little pokey. Printing the 6-page document in 49.5 seconds, this LaserJet'due south seven.3 ppm speed was slower than the 8.9 ppm average. By comparing, the Xerox B215 printed the aforementioned document at more than twice the speed, at xvi.five ppm. Printing a full-page grayscale graphic on letter-size newspaper, the M234dwe was slightly slower than the average of 17.2 seconds, making the print in 19.1 seconds.
Using its duplexer to make ii-sided prints, the LaserJet was quick, producing a 10-page text document in 48.8 seconds, or 12.3 ppm. This bested the Xerox B215 (at ten.9 ppm), and was on par with our more expensive Editor's Option Brother L2750DW (at thirteen.2 ppm). The M234dwe was roughly one-half as fast at making ii-sided prints of our mixed text-and-graphics PDF document than at text documents, doing so at six.iv ppm. By comparing, the Brother HL-L2390 ($150) made the same print at 7.8 ppm.
HP LaserJet M234dwe review: Re-create and browse speed
Taking 9.7 seconds to make a black-and-white copy, the LaserJet M234dwe beat the category average of 10 seconds. The Brother L2750DW was faster, at eight.4 seconds. However, the more comparably priced Brother HL-L2390DW, fabricated black-and-white copies in 9.1 seconds, on average.
The HP LaserJet fabricated a color scan in 1 minute, 5.7 seconds. This was roughly half as fast as the category boilerplate – our field of laser printers averaged 37.6 seconds to make a color scan. The Blood brother HL-L2390DW captured a color scan in 34.5 seconds, and the HP LaserJet Pro M148fdw did and then in 41.one seconds.
The M234dwe was especially deadening at scanning in black-and-white to PDF format. This HP LaserJet fabricated a black-and-white browse in 17.3 seconds – all but 1 other model we tested was faster. By comparison, light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation models averaged xi.1 seconds on this test, with many models capturing the scan in 6 to viii seconds. One such model, the Brother HL-L2390DW, captured the browse to PDF in just 6.5 seconds.
HP LaserJet M234dwe review: Print quality
The LaserJet M234dwe does not disappoint on impress quality. Text documents printed with letterforms that looked very sharp and were sufficiently dark. Graphics print quality also was high. Images printed with precipitous details and smooth gradations, overall. Some mild pixelation was sometimes noticeable, as well equally distorted edges and balmy banding, but nothing so pronounced that it was distracting.
This pixelation and mild banding was slightly more than pronounced in copies than in prints, however. Although copies tended to prove a subtle loss of fine details around the edges in graphics, in particular, text looked sufficiently sharp.
The LaserJet fabricated high-quality scans, with sharp details and accurate colors. Shadow areas tended to come out too dark, losing subtle details, however. In add-on to flatbed scanning, the HP Smart iOS has a "photographic camera browse" feature, whereby you take a picture. On my iPhone, using this characteristic was inferior to flatbed scanning, because my magazine folio bulged upwardly, introducing distortions. Withal, the sharpness of the text and graphics were comparably precipitous to flatbed scans.
HP LaserJet M234dwe review: Toner price and yield
This LaserJet's costs per page are above average, based on estimated toner cartridge yields. Using the standard-yield cartridge, which prints an estimated 1,100 pages, cost per page is 4.v cents. The category average is 4.one cents. The Blood brother HL-L2390DW'due south cost per page with standard cartridge is three.seven cents.
Using the high-yield toner cartridge (rated at 2,400 pages), the LaserJet'south toll per page goes downwardly to iii.3 cents, versus the boilerplate of ii.7 cents (the same as the Blood brother HL-L2390DW). By comparison, the Xerox B215's high-yield cost per folio is two.iv cents.
As well, you lot tin can opt for an HP Instant Ink (for toner), one of the better ink and toner subscription services, which may lower your cost per page (see table). If you lot consistently make a high book of prints, a subscription may be a skilful fit. (For more information on how Instant Ink works, see our article, "What is HP Instant Ink?" Although this article addresses ink subscriptions, the toner subscriptions are similar.)
HP Instant Ink (for toner) plan tiers:
$one.99, 50 pages/month = four cents cost per folio
$iii.99, 100 pages/calendar month = four cents per page
$13.99, 400 pages/month = 3.five cents per page
$nineteen.99, 800 pages/mo. = 2.5 cents per page
$25.99, 1500 pages/mo. = 1.7 cents per folio
Note: An additional 10 to 50 pages cost $1. If you don't use all the pages in your monthly program, y'all are allowed to roll over up to twice the number of page in your plan.
HP LaserJet M234dwe review: Setup and software
No CD-ROM is included for setting up this LaserJet, which will require an net connection. Also, in guild to install the HP Smart software from 123.hp.com, I had to create a Microsoft account (which I did not yet have). During setup, y'all tin can accept the free six-month Instant Ink toner subscription trial.
To prepare HP Smart, y'all must create an HP account, if you don't have ane already. You will need to be signed into this account in gild to use any shortcuts you set up in the HP Smart software.
Unfortunately, the HP Smart software was a little disappointing. I found the edge detection characteristic while scanning to exist almost worthless. It tended to crop scans of a magazine to a fraction of the page. The page had a lot of white infinite, and so this might take been forgivable. But a browse of a color photograph came out similarly cropped to a narrow portion of the image, and was stretched out like a funhouse mirror reflection. This leaves the user in the unenviable position of having to manually ingather each scan.
Also potentially confusing is that although the M234dwe is a monochrome printer, the impress menu in HP Smart offered a color selection.
True to its deject-focused philosophy with HP Plus, you can not ready a shortcut in HP Smart software to salve a scan to a continued PC—only online locations. Y'all can, withal, save files to a PC after scanning with HP Smart. In addition, if you lot are detail nearly your scan resolution, yous won't get help here: Scanning shortcuts in HP Smart exercise not offer settings selections for dpi resolution. The shortcuts don't show on the main HP Smart page. You have to click on the "Shortcuts" button to become to your shortcuts.
What is on the main page of HP Smart, however, will exist "personalized content" based on your preferences "throughout your HP Smart feel", which are automated opt-ins if you don't uncheck them in the privacy preferences. What showed up in HP Smart during my testing was an ad for toner subscription plans, an avant-garde features pitch, and a shortcuts tutorial. I would have preferred to have my shortcuts front and center, rather than another click away.
Using my iPhone with the M234dwe as well required the setting upward of an HP business relationship. The app has ii scan types: camera scan (taking a picture show) and printer scan (from the flatbed). Using the camera scan feature, like with the PC software, my kickoff photo of a document was cropped to roughly a quarter of the folio. I tried adding pages to the scan, but it crashed the app. Using the "printer scan" feature with the iOS app, edges of a mag page were accurately detected.
The HP LaserJet M234dwe supports Apple AirPrint, Wi-Fi Direct, and is Mopria-certified.
This LaserJet starts upward in roughly 21 seconds, which is roughly the average.
HP LaserJet M234dwe review: Verdict
As a monochrome laser printer, the LaserJet M234dwe delivers the goods. It makes single-sided and duplex prints of text documents quickly and makes text copies at faster-than-average speed. Prototype quality is high and the price is a bargain, particularly because that yous get six months' worth of toner.
Other performance was mixed, however. Printing our mixed text and graphics PDF was somewhat slow, as were scanning speeds. Nearly irksome in this department, however, was the HP Smart scanning software'south inability to automatically detect edges and reliably crop scanned documents accurately.
Toner costs are a little above average, but information technology's possible that a subscription plan can save you coin—dependent on a high enough print volume and your ability to manage the account (so you don't give up unused rollover pages).
The online dependency of HP Plus volition non be everyone's cup of tea. If you already manage all your documents online in the cloud and need piece of cake integration with a printer/scanner, this LaserJet is likely a good candidate. If not, yous may find HP Plus unnecessary and irksome, and exist in the market for the improve performance and lower costs per page of the similarly priced Xerox B215 or Brother HL-2390DW. If you lot are willing to spend more money up-front, you certainly tin can't go wrong with our most recent Editor'southward Choice, the Brother L2750DW, which offers faster speeds in printing, scanning and copying, and delivers a lower price per page without any subscriptions needed.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/hp-laserJet-m234dwe
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