The need for medium footprint workgroup/ departmental network attached color laser printers can never be overestimated in my experience. And when it comes to this class of printer, no company does it better than Hewlett Packard, and the
HP 3600dn Color Laser Printer is a good representative of this class. The
HP 3600dn Color Laser Printer is a reliable, medium footprint color laser printer that is easy to use and ships with a 100-sheet paper tray, as well as a 250-sheet add-on paper tray.
In the Box•
o HP Color LaserJet 3600dn Printer;
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o HP LaserJet print cartridge;
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o In-box documentation (Getting Started Guide);
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o Software drivers and documentation on CD-ROM;
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o Power cable;
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o 100-sheet multipurpose tray;
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o 250-sheet input tray;
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o HP Jetdirect Fast Ethernet embedded print server
The Product The
HP 3600dn Color Laser Printer is a color LaserJet printing device that allows you to print, in vibrant colors producing printouts with realistic images on a variety of HP color LaserJet paper stock. The
HP 3600dn is designed
with HP's system of enhanced color technologies including the company's new
ColorSphere toner with patented additives.
The
HP 3600dn (maximum monthly duty cycle of 50,000 pages ) is capable of printing 600 x 600 dpi documents at speeds of up to 17 pages per minute in both full-color and black and white, utilizing a 360MHz processor and 128 MB of on-board memory. The
HP 3600dn can be fitted with a wireless 802.11 b/g LAN for setting the printer up on a wireless network, but the printer also has a separate built-in
Jetdirect Fast Ethernet 10/100Mbps network interface. And if you don't need either of these you can connect the printer directly to a computer using the included high-speed USB 2.0 port (USB cable not included).
The
HP 3600dn Color LaserJet Printer ships with a duplexing unit for printing on both sides of the page and
is compatible with both
Windows and
Macintosh computer and networks. The
HP LaserJet 3600dn is a neat little unit and measures 15.7W x 20.07H x 16.7D inches and weighs-in at 61.6 pounds.
Network Setup Before connecting the
HP LaserJet 3600dn to a computer (USB), or network (Ethernet), the decision must be made to utilize one or the other communications medium, but not both. I installed the
HP LaserJet 3600dn on a network utilizing the standard 10/100 (Jetdirect) Ethernet port provided in the back of the unit and assigned it the appropriate IP configuration parameters (
an IP address, along with a Subnet Mask, and Default Gateway and DNS). The printer defaults to automatic IP assignment via DHCP, or Boot-P protocols.
Conclusion I like the
HP 3600dn Color LaserJet Printer. Though the replacement color cartridges can be pricey (up to $130.00 per), there are four of them (black, cyan, yellow & magenta) so they can be replaced out of step with each other, thereby lowering costs. The printer wakes up from
"power-save" mode quickly and spits out the first sheet in a reasonable amount of time. Even on standard 20lbs LaserJet paper stock the finished product is crisp, sharp, and vibrant.
One quibble: this printer is loud! Okay,
two quibbles. In addition to the printer being loud when it prints,
HP 3600dn drops its IP information once in a while. When this happens I turn the printer off then back on; this refreshes the IP information. I have no idea why this happens; it might be a quirk in the Jetdirect card but it is not annoying enough to replacing it, yet.
Built-in wired Ethernet capability, optional wireless, and a standard duplexing unit make the
HP 3600dn Color LaserJet Printer a versatile, flexible, departmental color unit that is ideal for a small workgroup setting; I wouldn't install the unit on a floor with more than (40) or so users. If you or your medium-sized workgroup need a reliable color LaserJet printer that produces outstanding black & white and color output in a reasonable amount of time, the
HP 3600dn should be given serious consideration.
