We have been testing the HP Color LaserJet CP3525dn at our Northern Colorado RealtorLabs for the past several weeks.

The HP Color LaserJet CP3525dn
  The HP Color LaserJet CP3525dn is a duplexing, 30 ppm (page per minute) departmental/small business printer capable of yielding 3000 pages color and 3000 pages black-and-white from a single refresh of toner cartridges.

It is networkable through the built-in JetDirect NIC, and includes a USB port as well.

Unboxing
The CP3525dn ships in a rather large sturdy box – this is not a small printer, despite the low cost. It came with a starts set of toner cartridges installed, and a power supple cable. The usual series of user manuals came in the box as well.

We lifted the unit out of the box, installed it on a rack, connected it to the network, and presto, Windows Vista auto-discovered the printer, downloaded basic drivers, and we were good to go.

Testing
For the CP3525dn, I decided to use a real-world Realtor’s office for the review scenario.

(It is hard to believe, but there still are real estate agents out there!)

Comprising of three agents and their support staff, this realtor still(!) has a vibrant business since she caters exclusively to the agricultural and farming communities.

The agents are always in need of color documents to give to prospects, and a color printer would be just perfect.

As a result, I downloaded PostScript drivers from HP.com, and installed them for the realtor’s network.

When looked at from a price/performance perspective, the CP3525dn is hard to beat.

It is fast, reliable, and prints out colors with such vibrant hues that you would almost believe that you are looking at a inkjet print.

One thing that is pretty cool with the CP3525dn is the fast initial print. We have all grown accustomed to waiting for the first page of a color laser printer's output to begin. No longer. The CP3525dn spits out the first page almost as soon as you send the job to print.

Snag-free duplexing is also something that is very easy to get used to with the CP3525dn. Add the various paper sizes to the mix, and you would see that the CP3525dn is one capable business printer.

Conclusions
As a utility, printers must plug away reliably and quietly at their tasks. However, they should, like centurions, be ready to leap into action when called.

The HP Color LaserJet CP3525dn continues in the tradition of reliable printing workhorses for business.

This unit performed flawlessly.

I also tested the technical support infrastructure for the CP3525dn by calling HP Tech Support and taking the support drone through a fictitious scenario, adding new wrinkles as I went along. The support staffer remained courteous, and genuinely tried to help, even when it was evident that I had to be a total doofus to create the scenario I was asking him to resolve.

That was commendable service, and the sort businesses should expect when making a buying decision.

For the price, performance, and reliability of this printer, we have given it the AbsoluteVista Business Ready Award.

The affordability and performance of this printer make it just that.

 Afterword
“Are there other companies manufacturing printers on this planet?”

I just have to ask.

I have reviewed five printers so far this year, and only the only printers to pass muster have been the HP C6380 AIO and this printer. In fact, going back to January of 2008, the only printers to have been deemed Business Ready by AbsoluteWindows and SmallBizWindows have been HP and Epson printers.

While it is true that I have liked and recommended HP printers since the LaserJet II, the lack of true competition in laser printers just means that other so-called competitors are just pretenders.

All other printer manufacturers just have to wake up and shake themselves if they truly want to compete.