HP LaserJet 1018 Review
Lately HP has been coming out with more and more personal laser printers that cost under $200. When laser printers first hit that price, it was mostly just Samsung and Brother who offered those cheap machines, and HP basically stuck with the higher end stuff. Eventually HP realized they were missing out and they started to offer their own bargain laser printers. These days they have a couple of these models, including the LaserJet 1020 and 1022, and now the LaserJet 1018, which will retail for around $120. PC Mag recently reviewed the 1018, and they didn’t come away too impressed with it.
HP says that this is the smallest laser printer currently available, so if that is what you are looking for then they’ve solved your problem. Other than that, it doesn’t appear that this machine has too much going for it. For starters, it is rated at only 12 ppm. Even compared with inkjet printers from a few years ago that is still pretty slow. Most laser printers, even the ones under $200, are around 20 ppm. Even inkjet printers these days bottom out at about 14 ppm. To be fair, you cannot directly compare speeds on inkjet and laser printers, primarily because you will get better text quality from a laser printer, but you also can’t ignore the fact that the printer is only advertised at 12 ppm. Because this printer doesn’t really have any other features to it, the only other thing to judge it on besides print quality is page speed, therefore some people might be disappointed.
The two other printers that PC Mag compares the LaserJet 1018 to are the Samsung ML-2010 and the Lexmark E120n. The ML-2010 is a popular printer and one of the original sub-$200 models to stand out. The E120n is a network printer that is well-rated by PC Mag, but it isn’t as common as the other two machines. You can check out the comparison here.
Since this is a newer printer, there isn’t a whole lot of user feedback out there, so we just have to go on a few reviews along with the product specifications to make a judgement. If anyone owns the LaserJet 1018, let everyone know what you think of it.
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9 Comments about “HP LaserJet 1018 Review”
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June 8th, 2006 at 4:54 pm
HP laser printers have been very good in the past and the slashing of prices has made the printers more affordable and viable for the low budget customer. HP has been a market leader for many years now and it is high time that the company reviews its pricing policy. HP has been good on technical grounds and this printer is eagerly awaited because of its low price. Let’s how this printer does in the market. Can HP keep up its quality while slashing its prices? Only time will tell.
September 8th, 2006 at 5:14 am
Just got the hp 1018… I haven’t tested it yet, but here’s the catch: I purchased it at Business Depot for 89.99$ CAN. Got me a warranty for 2 years for 10$ more… All in all, for 100$, doesn’t seem like a bad deal.
December 5th, 2006 at 12:17 am
The hp 1018 is a treat - ultra small footprint, easy to set up, and desinded to simply print without a lot of distracting buttons and features one rarely uses anyway.
January 2nd, 2007 at 5:03 pm
I ordered the HP 1018 on Newegg and just got it today. I bought it because I had an Epson Stylus Photo R320 and it was an ink hog. It used color even when I printed in black. I mainly print text so the HP was a better solution. I have printed about a dozen pages so far, and from what I can tell, it is a good low-end laser printer. I would recommend this printer to someone who only prints email and web pages occasionally, doesn’t care about color, and is tired of replacing ink cartridges all the time. The only negative I can see so far is that the text has a very faint shadow under it.
April 30th, 2007 at 2:49 am
Hi,
I just bought a HP 1018 and tested it. I must say that I’m a little disappointed.
I don’t mind the slow speed, but I mind that it cannot seem to print more than a few pages at a time, and only after being ‘forced’ to do so. I’m disappointed, because I’ve only just connected it, tried printing my document, and it could only print the first few pages of the document. I don’t know if this is how it’s supposed to work, but considering that I’m likely to have more pages to print, I might just consider getting myself another kind of printer.
So far, I’ve had to keep trying to print my document several times, restarting my computer along the way, repeatedly switching the printer on and off, and all other kinds of ‘tricks’ to see if it will at least finish printing my document. I’ve not succeeded, and it seems to print fewer pages each time I attempt: i.e. it printed about 10 pages the first time, then 8 pgs, then 5 pgs, then 3pgs!!!
Anyone out there with some tips on how to overcome this?
Thanks
August 4th, 2007 at 6:10 pm
I have had a 1018 for about a week - best printer ever- I can not understand why you are having any problems - I am not- I can print 100 sheets with no problems- maybe you are putting too many sheets in your tray?
September 21st, 2007 at 10:56 pm
please load the printer drivers again, its the only cause your pc is breaking down. ther is no other reason why its not working, what is your os bette change it to xp and try figuring out how to fix the driver. cheers
December 19th, 2007 at 12:15 pm
After 20 years my old HP 712c gave up its ghost so I bought a new 1018 HP laserjet from the HP Store -$106 shipped with instant rebate. Smooth process and quick delivery. Print quality and speed is more than adequate for my home printing requirements. Set the 1018 as a network printer for my 5 node home network and it functioned flawlessly. 2 months into ownership of this printr I rate this priter a 5 out of 5.
January 15th, 2008 at 8:08 am
Hi. I have had my 1018 for two weeks. My comment is more general so pardon me in advance. I agree with “Anonymous” that laser printer is better than ink jet regarding the quality of printed text and cost per page. One don’t have to change those damn cartridges so often.Heads become dry very easily and you have to waste ink to clean them. You don’t need colour ink to print black letters which is good.
Overall this is a good printer. Some of the significant cons (for me) are that the supplied toner is only for 1000 copies (half a standard),quite slow compared to other printers. Pros: manual paper feed,good PC drivers.Printing quality is sufficient for a home printer.People that say “My printer is perfect” or something like that either lie intentionally or don’t have experience with other printers.