HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn

The new HP color laser series M477 offers upscale features. Especially the two scanning lines in the ADF provide high speed scanning, archiving or copying. The range of the toner is high, the page prices low and the printing works very fast.

In September 2015, HP introduced new laser printers and multifunction devices. Druckerchannel is testing the new HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477 series, available in three models: fnw, fdn and fdw.

They all work at the same print speed, have the same toner range and price, and are all equipped with a fax and a 4.3-inch touchscreen. The differences are only in the duplexer and in the WLAN interface.

HP Laser All-in-One with Dual-Scan

For the review, we have opted for the M477fdn model, which is equipped with a duplex unit and does not differ from the fdw model except for the WLAN interface. The surcharge for Wi-Fi is thus 20 money currency. Important: The missing duplexer in the cheapest model (M477fnw) can not be retrofitted.

In this single test, we show the HP Color Laserjet Pro MFP M477fdn compared to competing models from Brother, Oki, Samsung and Xeroxexternal Link. Although the models work a bit slower than the HP, their price (EIA) is at a similar level.

Prof. Blackbeard's Conclusion

The HP Color Laserjet Pro MFP M477fdn is ideal for medium to high-volume offices (HP 750 to 4,000 pages per month), thanks to its good features, ease of use, fast printing, and low maintenance costs.

In the review, the HP showed a particularly fast response when printing – a simple page of text is already in 10 seconds in the output tray. For large print jobs, however, the HP made problems and was slower than the competition. The large toner cartridges offer a long range and ensure a low price per page. The paper cassette is too small for a printer of this class with only 250 sheet capacity in our opinion – here companies will have to buy the second paper cassette with 550 sheets in order to have sufficient paper capacity. The makes the color laser again around 150 money currency more expensive.

When scanning, copying or archiving the HP M477fdn shows its strengths: In the document feeder (ADF) fit 50 sheets, which can read the device with its two scan lines in one go from both sides without having to turn the sheets mechanically. Documents can be scanned directly into the HP cloud, to a network folder or to a USB stick.

Especially when used in the office, where several people have access to the printer, “job storage” is interesting. Instead of using an expensive hard drive, you simply equip the HP with a USB stick on the back of the device to store print jobs or only print them out when you have entered a PIN on the printer. On the front there is a second slot for USB sticks to print documents directly from there or to scan on the stick. The special feature: In addition to the usual JPG images and PDFs, the printer can also print Word and PowerPoint files directly from the USB stick without going through the PC.

Positive

• Fast pressure of the first page
• Prints JPG and PDF as well as Word and PowerPoint from the USB stick
• Large, swiveling touch screen with 10.9 cm diagonal
• Two scan lines in the ADF
• Duplexer (not on the fnw model)
• Easy operation (touchscreen / driver / toner exchange …)
• Second, rear USB port for job storage (PIN-Print)
• “Tray full sensor” in the paper tray
• Low maintenance costs and high toner ranges
• Good web frontend

Negative

• Relatively slow printing speed for large print jobs (see page 7)
• CIS scanner (no depth of field) (see page 9)
• Smells unpleasant when printing
• “Cooling mode” – pauses for very large print jobs (see page 7)
• 250-sheet paper cassette slightly too small for this device class (see page 3)
• Getting used to the scanner driver (see page 9)
• No power switch
• Only one year manufacturer’s warranty