HP M226dw

HP recently introduced a new range of LaserJet MFPs targeted at SMBs: the LaserJet Pro MFP M226, LaserJet Pro M202 and LaserJet Enterprise MFP M630 series. We got our hands on M226dw MFP. It features an intuitive touch screen with a scan-to option that allows users to send digital files direct to a USB drive, email or network folders.

Elegant design with right mix of features

The HP M226dw MFP comes in all brown color and features a 3 inch color touch screen.  It serves up plenty of features to assist in the workload in addition to HP’s standard array of print, copy, scan, and fax functions. This device bundles in triple connectivity options by way of Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and mobile print capability, as well as double-sided printing, a 35 sheet automatic document feeder for hands-free scanning.  The touch screen does a pleasant job of providing a simple and easy way to navigate through various functions. The 250 sheet input tray can handle heavy duty personal use or light to moderate duty workloads as a shared printer in small or micro office environment.

Excellent print quality

Setting up the MFP is easy with both USB or Ethernet and the installation took only a few minutes. It printed 24 B/W A4 pages in a minute with first page out in just 8 seconds. The text looked sharp, crisp and highly readable even at small font sizes. Output quality of documents is great enough for any business use. We also tried to test print quality in low resolution mode and were not at all disappointed. Text does not looked faded and was easy to read with good print quality. It copied 23 B/W A4 pages in a minute giving first page in just 8 seconds. The print quality in copying is also good. You can take a maximum of 99 copies at a time with adjustable 25 to 400% reducement/enlargement. USB print also worked fine and readable formats are .jpeg, .pdf, .doc, .tiff, and .png.

Photo quality is good enough to print recognizable images from photos on Web pages. You can directly scan to USB from this, the format being restricted to pdf and jpeg.  Scanning a B/W A4 to USB drive took 13 seconds and scanning to a desired network folder took 17 seconds in pdf format. The touch screen is quite responsive and registering the desired input is effortless.

We tried the HP AirPrint feature to print from an iOS device without an additional application and it worked fine. The proprietary HP ePrint feature also worked well. The MFP also comes loaded with Apps feature found in Home Screen that lets you print pages from apps like NBC News, Travel Guide, Yahoo etc. To use this feature you need to be connected to a Wi-Fi network. You can install additional free apps, but you must do so from HP’s ePrint Center Web site after creating

an account.