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HP CM1312NFI Color LaserJet Printer
HP CM1312NFI Color LaserJet PrinterHP CM1312NFI Color LaserJet Printer
Hewlett Packard Product Details - Ratings and reviews for hp cm1312nfi color laserjet printer.
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$398.97
Hewlett Packard
Avg. Customer Review: 
Media: Electronics (3)
Platforms: Windows
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Product Features
HP CM1312NFI Color LaserJet Printer
- Full-color All-in-One can print, copy, scan, and fax
- Print at speeds up to 12 ppm black and 8 ppm color at 600 x 600 dpi
- 24-bit color scanner scans up to 19,200 dpi
- 150-sheet paper tray and 50-sheet automatic document feeder
- Built-in 10/100 wired Ethernet network connectivity
Product Review
Product Description
Get print, copy, fax, and high-quality scan capabilities in a single easy-to-use device, eliminating the expense and space of multiple single-function devices. The MFP?s built-in photo card slots make it simple to create impressive marketing materials with high-quality photo accents. Insert a photo memory card, browse it from your computer, and select the images you want to use. networking performance and essential security features. Manage your MFP with HP Easy Printer Care Software, a simple tool to deploy, monitor, and maintain about 15 HP printing devices.
Product Details
HP CM1312NFI Color LaserJet Printer
- Electronics: 0 pages
- Platforms: Windows
- Publisher: Hewlett Packard
- Label: Hewlett Packard
- Format: CD
- Studio: Hewlett Packard
- Average Customer Review: based on 27 reviews
Special Features
- nv:Print Method^Laser|First Page Output Time^26 Seconds (Black)|First Page Output Time^32 Seconds (Color)|Resolution^600 x 600 DPI|Maximum Duty Cycle^30,000 Pages Per Month|Print Speed B/W^12 ppm|Print Speed Color^8 ppm|Condition^New|Color Output^Color|All-In-One^Yes|Fax Capability^Yes|Network Ready^Yes|Automatic Feeder^Yes|Dimensions^19.6"W x 19.3"D x 19.1"H|Connectivity^USB|Connectivity^RJ-11|Connectivity^Memory Card Slots|Connectivity^10/100 Base-TX with RJ45 connector
Accessories
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Customer Reviews
Avg. Customer Review:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Good printer so far. 2010-08-15
Customer Rating:
Summary: A toner cost nightmare 2010-05-20
Comment: Too few pages printed with toner that comes with it. Refill $80.00 for just the black toner and add 3 more toner colors for more than $50.00 each, so $230.00 for a ream of color prints. Good thing I found [...].
As for the printer, it is excellent and prints some of the best color prints ever and not even in photo mode!
Software for printers has never been HP's forte. I connected it with USB, but I think it will also connect with Cat5.
Worth it if you can get it for about $200.00 Set up a trust fund for new toner though.
As for the printer, it is excellent and prints some of the best color prints ever and not even in photo mode!
Software for printers has never been HP's forte. I connected it with USB, but I think it will also connect with Cat5.
Worth it if you can get it for about $200.00 Set up a trust fund for new toner though.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Great laser value & performance, but inkjet a better choice 2010-05-01
Comment: Let me address the whiners. First of all, this machine only goes through a calibration cycle approximately 10 minutes after being powered on. Admittedly, this is a bit of a pain, as the procedure lasts 4 minutes. If you can't live with that, just leave the machine on during working hours -- as with most of these devices, the 1312 goes into sleep mode, which is adjustable, and thus consumes very little energy.
Second, color copies are totally true to the originals, except even deeper and richer. Text in B&W copies is slightly less black than the original, but you can tweak this in the settings if need be. Note, however, that for original documents containing mixed text and color graphics, the B&W copy reproduces the graphics in greyscale, shaded to reflect the appearance of colors in the original; thus,despite the slightly lighter text, a B&W copy of a mixed text and color graphics document looks more true to the original.
Re copy speed: I say ignore any manufacturer's wild claims about print and copy speeds and pages per minute! We all know those numbers are a total exaggeration, and I don't know why manufacturers still get away with making these outlandish claims. Well, I do know why -- they always caveat their number of pages per minute claim with the preface "up to" (X pages). My experience has been that one is lucky if one can eke out 50% of their promised output, even using the poorest quality settings. So, facing reality, i.e., using a stopwatch, here's the real scoop: color copies made from the flatbed glass take 30 seconds/page to reproduce, but as stated, they are excellent; multiple color pages copy significantly faster via the ADF. B&W copies require 20 seconds per page in single/glass mode, and again, faster using multiple sheets via ADF. With respect to B&W copy speed, these performance times are only 2 seconds per page slower than the copy times turned in by my very nice HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless inkjet all-in-one, and the 1312 is actually faster than the Pro 8500 when generating multiple copies via ADF (!).
Re quietness of operation: the 1312 is totally silent other than the aforementioned 4-minute cycle, and is ready to perform within one minute of power-up, vs. wait times for my 8500, which can range from 1.25 to 5 minutes, depending on the number of pre-function operations it feels it has to perform! Again, if this delay presents a problem, the solution is to leave these devices powered on all the time.
The lack of a single sheet feed is a non-issue, as it is easy to simply open the hinged door above the paper tray and drop in the single sheet. I don''t do envelopes or odd-sized sheets, so I can't address those issues.
Scanning with the 1312 is just as easy and fast as with my 8500 -- which is to say no great shakes, but adequate for light use in a small home office. To the commentator who suggested that the scanning function of the 1312 is so poor that readers should consider purchasing a Fujitsu SnapScan dedicated scanner, I can only say this: the cheapest SnapScan I could find costs $260, and that's for just a document scanner; flatbed scanners start at about $465!! Whereas, the 1312 costs $400 on sale, and is an all-in-one! For crying out loud, talk about comparing apples to . . . oh, say, VOLKSWAGENS! That suggestion is like saying a 1,200 sq. ft. one-bedroom apartment with a 200 sq.ft. master bedroom is better than a 4,000 sq. ft. HOUSE with a 150 sq. ft. master. The suggestion just makes no sense. By that logic, you should buy a separate scanner, printer, fax machine, and copier, because together they will outperform your all-in-one -- well, DUH, sure -- for $2,000 and no room left in your office!
Finally, as regards software installation, I learned a long time ago that the way to deal with HP software installs is to simply call HP and they will talk you through the entire setup, including which drivers you may safely omit to suit your particular needs. Also, OfficeMax offers an $80 3-year exchange warranty, which also includes 1) a 3m USB cable cable that HP (and Brother) don't see fit to include with their all-in-ones, and 2) a claim that by calling a provided phone number, THEIR warranty techs will talk you through the entire software installation process. I have not availed myself (yet) of this O-max service (although I did buy the warranty), but I have used HP's talk-through on a number of past occasions (I've owned a lot of printers), and they have been very good and saved me a lot of headaches. By the way, HP's tech service is available 24/7, contrary to allegations set forth above by another reviewer.
Finally, as for toner use and cost per page: I believe I can dispel the rumor that the cartridges which come with the device are of lower-capacity than replacement cartridges. This doesn't appear to be the case, as the model numbers on the stock cartridges that come with the machine are identical to the model numbers of the replacement cartridges (however, salespeople have told me that the capacity difference IS true of Brother laser machines). And of course, shop around for these cartridges, use coupons, find sales -- all the usual alternatives one can explore, and just stockpile the cartridges until needed! I have found a bundle of all 4 replacement cartridges, HP OEM product, available online for as little as $195.00. Also, you can adjust the settings on this machine to use less toner -- hell, print non-essential docs in greyscale, or on a lighter "Darkness" setting. BUT, regardless, $200 is a LOT to shell out for toner with an alleged output of 1400 sheets (color cartridges) and 2200 sheets (B&W cartridges) -- two replacements like this, and you could buy a new machine. By way of comparison, four HP 940XL inkjet replacement cartridges for the Pro 8500 Wireless will cost you $114 from HP, cheaper elsewhere, and the number of sheets per cartridge rating is exactly the same as those for the toner cartridges. That means, of course, that every page printed by the 1312 is twice as expensive as a page printed out by the 8500. YIKES! Is it worth it?
And . . . to Windows 7 complainers: don't you know by now that you should not invest in any new Windows OS for at least a year following its introduction???!!! There is a lag time before many ancillary and peripheral products can provide the software to consistently and reliably support a new OS, not to mention the usual new-OS glitches and bugs; consequently, you are very likely to encounter problems, especially if your machine is equipped with a less-than top-of-the-line HD and only minimum RAM (for example, Vista really needs 4G of RAM to run fast and smoothly, especially if you multi-task; as for Windows 7, I don't know, but I would sure recommend loading it up with additional RAM if you haven't already. It ain't gonna hurt!).
Conclusion: a reliable, quiet, quality color-laser all-in-one for $400?! Hard to complain, especially when compared to the competition (e.g., the Brother MFC-5890CN, which is a lot cheaper but is noisy with constant fan wash and a high-pitched electronic buzz/hum that nearly drove me out of my mind, on both units that I tried). However, I do NOT think that the cost of toner replacement vs inkjet replacement justifies purchasing this unit over the aforementioned HP Officejet Pro 8500 WIRELESS inkjet (NB this model is different from, and superior to, its regular Pro 8500 little brother, so don't get confused! It is also USB-capable). The Pro 8500 Wireless provides almost laser-like results, has lots more features (for example, conversion of pdf documents to editable text, software built in), and typically more speed, depending upon the application. Its touch screen is more ergonomic, its footprint is smaller, and the cost per page of ink is, as noted, half that of the 1312's. So unless you are extremely particular about color reproduction accuracy, the toner costs make this all-in-one non-competitive with HP's best inkjet insofar as the cost-performance ratio is concerned. However, if you must have a laser unit, I contend that the 1312 is the best, and best value, in its price class.
But no matter what your ultimate choice might be, DO buy an exchange warranty that replaces defective devices with NEW (not refurbished) units, e.g., Officemax's -- you won't regret it.
Second, color copies are totally true to the originals, except even deeper and richer. Text in B&W copies is slightly less black than the original, but you can tweak this in the settings if need be. Note, however, that for original documents containing mixed text and color graphics, the B&W copy reproduces the graphics in greyscale, shaded to reflect the appearance of colors in the original; thus,despite the slightly lighter text, a B&W copy of a mixed text and color graphics document looks more true to the original.
Re copy speed: I say ignore any manufacturer's wild claims about print and copy speeds and pages per minute! We all know those numbers are a total exaggeration, and I don't know why manufacturers still get away with making these outlandish claims. Well, I do know why -- they always caveat their number of pages per minute claim with the preface "up to" (X pages). My experience has been that one is lucky if one can eke out 50% of their promised output, even using the poorest quality settings. So, facing reality, i.e., using a stopwatch, here's the real scoop: color copies made from the flatbed glass take 30 seconds/page to reproduce, but as stated, they are excellent; multiple color pages copy significantly faster via the ADF. B&W copies require 20 seconds per page in single/glass mode, and again, faster using multiple sheets via ADF. With respect to B&W copy speed, these performance times are only 2 seconds per page slower than the copy times turned in by my very nice HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless inkjet all-in-one, and the 1312 is actually faster than the Pro 8500 when generating multiple copies via ADF (!).
Re quietness of operation: the 1312 is totally silent other than the aforementioned 4-minute cycle, and is ready to perform within one minute of power-up, vs. wait times for my 8500, which can range from 1.25 to 5 minutes, depending on the number of pre-function operations it feels it has to perform! Again, if this delay presents a problem, the solution is to leave these devices powered on all the time.
The lack of a single sheet feed is a non-issue, as it is easy to simply open the hinged door above the paper tray and drop in the single sheet. I don''t do envelopes or odd-sized sheets, so I can't address those issues.
Scanning with the 1312 is just as easy and fast as with my 8500 -- which is to say no great shakes, but adequate for light use in a small home office. To the commentator who suggested that the scanning function of the 1312 is so poor that readers should consider purchasing a Fujitsu SnapScan dedicated scanner, I can only say this: the cheapest SnapScan I could find costs $260, and that's for just a document scanner; flatbed scanners start at about $465!! Whereas, the 1312 costs $400 on sale, and is an all-in-one! For crying out loud, talk about comparing apples to . . . oh, say, VOLKSWAGENS! That suggestion is like saying a 1,200 sq. ft. one-bedroom apartment with a 200 sq.ft. master bedroom is better than a 4,000 sq. ft. HOUSE with a 150 sq. ft. master. The suggestion just makes no sense. By that logic, you should buy a separate scanner, printer, fax machine, and copier, because together they will outperform your all-in-one -- well, DUH, sure -- for $2,000 and no room left in your office!
Finally, as regards software installation, I learned a long time ago that the way to deal with HP software installs is to simply call HP and they will talk you through the entire setup, including which drivers you may safely omit to suit your particular needs. Also, OfficeMax offers an $80 3-year exchange warranty, which also includes 1) a 3m USB cable cable that HP (and Brother) don't see fit to include with their all-in-ones, and 2) a claim that by calling a provided phone number, THEIR warranty techs will talk you through the entire software installation process. I have not availed myself (yet) of this O-max service (although I did buy the warranty), but I have used HP's talk-through on a number of past occasions (I've owned a lot of printers), and they have been very good and saved me a lot of headaches. By the way, HP's tech service is available 24/7, contrary to allegations set forth above by another reviewer.
Finally, as for toner use and cost per page: I believe I can dispel the rumor that the cartridges which come with the device are of lower-capacity than replacement cartridges. This doesn't appear to be the case, as the model numbers on the stock cartridges that come with the machine are identical to the model numbers of the replacement cartridges (however, salespeople have told me that the capacity difference IS true of Brother laser machines). And of course, shop around for these cartridges, use coupons, find sales -- all the usual alternatives one can explore, and just stockpile the cartridges until needed! I have found a bundle of all 4 replacement cartridges, HP OEM product, available online for as little as $195.00. Also, you can adjust the settings on this machine to use less toner -- hell, print non-essential docs in greyscale, or on a lighter "Darkness" setting. BUT, regardless, $200 is a LOT to shell out for toner with an alleged output of 1400 sheets (color cartridges) and 2200 sheets (B&W cartridges) -- two replacements like this, and you could buy a new machine. By way of comparison, four HP 940XL inkjet replacement cartridges for the Pro 8500 Wireless will cost you $114 from HP, cheaper elsewhere, and the number of sheets per cartridge rating is exactly the same as those for the toner cartridges. That means, of course, that every page printed by the 1312 is twice as expensive as a page printed out by the 8500. YIKES! Is it worth it?
And . . . to Windows 7 complainers: don't you know by now that you should not invest in any new Windows OS for at least a year following its introduction???!!! There is a lag time before many ancillary and peripheral products can provide the software to consistently and reliably support a new OS, not to mention the usual new-OS glitches and bugs; consequently, you are very likely to encounter problems, especially if your machine is equipped with a less-than top-of-the-line HD and only minimum RAM (for example, Vista really needs 4G of RAM to run fast and smoothly, especially if you multi-task; as for Windows 7, I don't know, but I would sure recommend loading it up with additional RAM if you haven't already. It ain't gonna hurt!).
Conclusion: a reliable, quiet, quality color-laser all-in-one for $400?! Hard to complain, especially when compared to the competition (e.g., the Brother MFC-5890CN, which is a lot cheaper but is noisy with constant fan wash and a high-pitched electronic buzz/hum that nearly drove me out of my mind, on both units that I tried). However, I do NOT think that the cost of toner replacement vs inkjet replacement justifies purchasing this unit over the aforementioned HP Officejet Pro 8500 WIRELESS inkjet (NB this model is different from, and superior to, its regular Pro 8500 little brother, so don't get confused! It is also USB-capable). The Pro 8500 Wireless provides almost laser-like results, has lots more features (for example, conversion of pdf documents to editable text, software built in), and typically more speed, depending upon the application. Its touch screen is more ergonomic, its footprint is smaller, and the cost per page of ink is, as noted, half that of the 1312's. So unless you are extremely particular about color reproduction accuracy, the toner costs make this all-in-one non-competitive with HP's best inkjet insofar as the cost-performance ratio is concerned. However, if you must have a laser unit, I contend that the 1312 is the best, and best value, in its price class.
But no matter what your ultimate choice might be, DO buy an exchange warranty that replaces defective devices with NEW (not refurbished) units, e.g., Officemax's -- you won't regret it.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Why all the poor reviews? 2010-04-28
Comment: I received this printer as a birthday gift and looked at the reviews here before opening the box. I must admit that I was somewhat leery after reading all of the complaints, but since it was a gift I decided to give it a try. After about a month of use, I have to say that I don't understand what all the griping is about. I have had no issues with this machine at all, using it in a home office environment.
I am using it as a network printer with drivers installed on Windows 7 (64-bit), Vista (64- and 32-bit), and Mac OS-X platforms. I downloaded all of the drivers from the HP support site. Yes, it is a 300M download, but is that such a big deal these days? The one problem with the HP site is that the names of the files are somewhat cryptic. I installed the first item in the Software section that had "Full Solution" and "AM" in the title. Don't be tempted to install the much smaller Universal Print Driver unless you are not interested in scanning.
As far as noise goes, I don't advise switching the machine on and off frequently. Each time you do that, the printer will go through a calibration cycle that takes a few minutes and is a bit noisy. Not overly so, but perhaps enough to wake someone in an adjacent room. I checked the standby power to see how bad it was to leave it on all the time. In its deepest sleep mode it consumes about 15 watts (roughly $1.50/month). If you do decide to turn it off, you can send a print job and then walk over and switch on the printer. Your job will print before the calibration, although there is a bit of a start-up delay. When printing, it is no noiser than my old HP inkjet and several times faster. I haven't bothered to check the actual page/min rate because the thing is so much better than what I was used to.
One thing that I have not tried is the "Additional Software" installation option that comes in the driver bundle. I think this installs scan/OCR utilities, but don't know for sure. I'm guessing that the additional software accounts for a big part of the 300M download size. Since I already had a program that I was comfortable with (PaperPort) I just stuck with that. Network scanning works great. One of the first things that I tried was using the automatic feeder to scan a multi-page document. 600 dpi scanning is a bit slow, but 300 dpi grayscale scanning is fast and of sufficient quality for most tasks. There were some complaints about not being able to do 8-1/2 x 11 pages. I did not find that to be a problem, but I did have to go through a setup wizard in the scan software to get it to work.
As far as toner usage goes, I haven't owned it long enough to say much. I did see several people on eBay selling refill kits in the $50 range that had good reviews. Print quality is great for text. Photos are OK, good enough for a quick print, but not a replacement for photographic paper or dye-sub printers.
Overall I am very glad that I decided to open the box. Sometimes you have to ignore the 1-stars and try it for yourself.
I am using it as a network printer with drivers installed on Windows 7 (64-bit), Vista (64- and 32-bit), and Mac OS-X platforms. I downloaded all of the drivers from the HP support site. Yes, it is a 300M download, but is that such a big deal these days? The one problem with the HP site is that the names of the files are somewhat cryptic. I installed the first item in the Software section that had "Full Solution" and "AM" in the title. Don't be tempted to install the much smaller Universal Print Driver unless you are not interested in scanning.
As far as noise goes, I don't advise switching the machine on and off frequently. Each time you do that, the printer will go through a calibration cycle that takes a few minutes and is a bit noisy. Not overly so, but perhaps enough to wake someone in an adjacent room. I checked the standby power to see how bad it was to leave it on all the time. In its deepest sleep mode it consumes about 15 watts (roughly $1.50/month). If you do decide to turn it off, you can send a print job and then walk over and switch on the printer. Your job will print before the calibration, although there is a bit of a start-up delay. When printing, it is no noiser than my old HP inkjet and several times faster. I haven't bothered to check the actual page/min rate because the thing is so much better than what I was used to.
One thing that I have not tried is the "Additional Software" installation option that comes in the driver bundle. I think this installs scan/OCR utilities, but don't know for sure. I'm guessing that the additional software accounts for a big part of the 300M download size. Since I already had a program that I was comfortable with (PaperPort) I just stuck with that. Network scanning works great. One of the first things that I tried was using the automatic feeder to scan a multi-page document. 600 dpi scanning is a bit slow, but 300 dpi grayscale scanning is fast and of sufficient quality for most tasks. There were some complaints about not being able to do 8-1/2 x 11 pages. I did not find that to be a problem, but I did have to go through a setup wizard in the scan software to get it to work.
As far as toner usage goes, I haven't owned it long enough to say much. I did see several people on eBay selling refill kits in the $50 range that had good reviews. Print quality is great for text. Photos are OK, good enough for a quick print, but not a replacement for photographic paper or dye-sub printers.
Overall I am very glad that I decided to open the box. Sometimes you have to ignore the 1-stars and try it for yourself.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Do not buy! 2010-02-27
Comment: This printer is terrible! My actual rating is -100. Calibrates itself loudly several times daily - usually around 2 am. It does NOT have an envelope tray, so you need to remove the paper and adjust the tray inside every time you need an envelope printed. Then it only can print about 10 envelopes at a time. Print quality is terrible, looks like a dot matrix. Software does NOT work at all with Windows 7 - will not scan/email scans, continues to say "see user manual to set up" - there is not user manual, finally called their support and was told it will not work with Win 7. I wasted my money - don't waste yours!
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HP CM1312NFI Color LaserJet Printer
The HP 1312NFI MFP recently went on sale for half price at Staples & OfficeDepot. I've owned it now for about a week. I spent 3 days researching and reading customer reviews. (I was also considering the Brother MFC-9120CN. It was on sale for half price at MicroCenter here in Atlanta.) Both machines were +/-. I learned that both had many complaints about cost of toner and toner usage. Although I purchased the HP, I would have to say that the Brother machine had marginally better reviews at several websites. Scanning, speed, and quality of reproduction is most important to me. Faxing is on its way out so I could care less about this feature. I don't even use fax anymore. Here's the breakdown of features that swayed my decision:
HP Machine vs Brother
600 x 600 dpi vs 600 x 2400 dpi - I was very concerned about this since I print flyers w/ photos so I visited a store, inserted my camera card, and printed a test copy using the HP. The photo quality was outstanding. The HP is very sharp and exceeds my needs. The Brother does not have card slots so I couldn't test print.
50 page auto doc feeder vs 35 pages - The truth is, I never scan more than 20 docs at a time however I wanted an ADF that would not pull 3 sheets at once. Eating pages and pulling through many pages at once was always an issue w/ my cheap Brother Inkjet ADF. I could never leave it unattended. I've test scanned the HP with various types of paper and so far, no problem.
160mb RAM vs 64mb RAM (expandable) - I appreciate the greater built in RAM of the HP.
Card Slots vs No Card Slots: (CompactFlash®, SmartMedia(tm), MultiMediaCard(tm), Memory Stick®, Memory Stick PRO®, Secure Digital(tm) and xD-Picture Card) - This is important to me b/c my computer does not have built in slots. When I take pics of homes for marketing I need the ease of use.
150 page Paper Tray vs 250 pages - The Brother has HP beat. It would have been nice to have the larger tray but I can live with 150 pages. I don't do a lot of color printing so it meets my needs.
$60 OEM Toner vs $75 OEM Toner - I researched the cost of toner replacement and the cost to replace HP toner was substantially less. According to the factory the toner yields are about the same for HP & Brother. Most of the reviews state that the factory yield claims are bogus. I have not had my printer long enough to make a claim.
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Some reviews claim that the HP machine cycles a lot and is very noisy. I have not noticed that at all. I saw several complaints regarding the HP software. I cannot compare the software w/ any other except my cheap Brother Inkjet MFP. I took a lot of time and looked at all/most of the HP software features. I can see that I will never use most of the software that comes with the HP. Most of my scanning is done through a full version of Adobe Acrobat. I have noticed one major difference between this HP and the cheap Brother InkJet software. The Brother always defaulted to the settings used during the last scan. I loved this feature! The HP requires making choices every time I scan. This sucks! I scan everything at Black & White, 300dpi, Text, 8.5 x 11. The Brother was real fast b/c I would load the paper, click scan from my Adobe software, then start. All the settings were already in place, by default. The HP defaults to Color Photo Scan, High Resolution, 8.5 x 14 and I have to make all the changes every time I scan. If it weren't for this, I would have given this HP MFP a perfect score. I hope this review helps.