HP has brought a couple of new printers to its existing LaserJet lineup and this new portfolio aims at providing customers with features that have been lacking in the previous models. There are three variants in their monochrome laser category and they include the M401d (duplex), the M401n (network) and the M401dn (duplex and network). We’ve got the M401dn in the labs and this variant is intended for SMBs and enterprise solutions. Let’s have a look what it’s all about.
Design and Build Quality
The M401dn has a boxy appearance to it and with dimensions of 14.35 x 14.49 x 10.67 inches in a closed position, the printer has a slightly large footprint. It’s got a nice matte black finish to it, which will fit pretty well with your office’s interiors. The front has a nice brushed look with two loading trays and the power button. A USB port is housed towards the left that lets you instantly connect your pen drives (not hard drives) to print documents and images on the go. The left consists of a heat vent while the power slot and the printer and Ethernet ports are located at the back. The top consists of a 3.5-inch touch panel.
This printer has a weight of 10.6 kgs and its best kept in a sturdy, well ventilated dust free area as you’re not going to be moving it too much. It’s got a built to last feel with sturdy flaps that snap on with a reassuring click. It’s an office printer that doesn’t disappoint in the looks department.
Features
This mono laser printer is powered by an 800 MHz processor. We’re starting off with this because this printer comes with a unique feature – it supports business apps. These apps are small modules and snippets that allow you to print unique tasks at pre-scheduled times. So, for example, you want the printer to download a certain set of stock quotes or news or even comics at specific time intervals, you simply connect it via the network and assign the tasks from your computer, the printer will do the rest. It also has HP’s ePrint capabilities – you can print from anywhere with a Web connection by sending an email to your printer's email address. Once you connect, the HP ePrint centre site allows you to manage your printer. You can also select a host of free consumer and business applications. The ePrintcentre detects the printer you have connected and recommends apps to you accordingly.
The USB walk up allows you to print PDFs and other documents and images via the printer's USB port. You can connect pen drives upto 16GB with FAT32 support; portable hard drives are not supported. You can also preview an image file before you print it on the screen - important if you have a large amount of data on your pen drive.
With HP’s Smart Install, if you plug in the printer to a windows machine via USB the drivers get automatically installed as they’re in the printer itself. If it’s connected via the network, you need to type in the IP address - it gives you a website and you can simply click on the link and download the network drivers. The printer also has an Instant On feature that lets you print documents with little to no waiting time. The 3.5-inch touch screen gives you the essential information to set up HP’s web services, toggle a set of features and view diagnostic and error information. It’s a resistive one, but gets the work done.
