QualityLogic Performance Report
HP LaserJet MFPs vs. MFP Competitors
QualityLogic Inc., an independent test firm, recently performed tests to compare the print throughput performance of four monochrome HP LaserJet MFPs (with Instant-on Technology) against a selection of currently available competitive products without Instant-on Technology. The devices chosen for this test span a broad range of performance and price points from various manufacturers.
MFP specifications may provide PPM rated throughput without indication of the warm-up time required prior to printing. A recent research study by InfoTrends, sponsored by HP, indicated that users will usually be printing from power-save mode. It also reported that over 60 percent of business documents are five pages or less. The study noted that the typical document printed was four pages long.
Our testing included the warm-up time that a typical business user might experience when printing a typical job from the power-save mode. For this test, documents of five pages each were printed 30 minutes after having ensured that each device entered its power-save mode.
The testing demonstrated the HP MFPs were much faster, on average, than their counterparts in printing from power-save. When printing the first page from power-save, the HP MFPs with Instant-on Technology are 2.2 times faster on average than the tested competitors without Instant-on Technology. In addition, the HP LaserJet MFPs printed the test documents faster from power-save even when compared against MFPs rated at a higher PPM (Pages-Per-Minute). Usually, the HP MFPs completed printing an entire five page document before the competitive device printed its first page.
Enabled by Instant-on Technology, the HP MFPs delivered, on average, all of the pages in the print jobs sooner than the other MFPs tested, resulting in faster throughput for the entire job. In this report we include the average times for each of the five pages.
The following table shows the MFPs tested, their manufacturer-specified print speed and first page out (FPO) times, if available, compared to the actual performance achieved during testing by QualityLogic. The devices in the test are order ranked from fastest, at the top, to slowest based on the average time to print the first page of the five-page jobs. (This column is highlighted in blue.) The HP MFPs are highlighted in green and occupy all of the top or fastest positions in the set of test results.| Printer | List Price |
Published Specifications |
Actual Performance (All times in seconds) |
|||||
| Base Model | Speed (PPM) |
FPO (sec.) |
1/5 |
2/5 | 3/5 | 4/5 | 5/5 |
|
| HP LaserJet M1522 MFP | $435(3) |
24 |
9.5 |
12.7 |
15.2 |
19.1 |
23.1 |
26.3 |
| HP LaserJet M2727 MFP | $599(1) |
27 |
10 |
13.1 |
15.4 |
19.8 |
22.4 |
25.4 |
| HP LaserJet M3035 MFP | $1,999(1) |
35 |
10 |
13.7 |
15.4 |
18.6 |
20.3 |
23.3 |
| HP LaserJet M4345 MFP | $2,559(1) |
45 |
10 |
20.2 |
21.6 |
22.9 |
25.1 |
27.3 |
| Brother MFC-8860DN | $500(1) |
30 |
* |
20.2 |
22.2 |
24.2 |
26.2 |
28.2 |
| Canon D880 | $436(2) |
16 |
* |
22.8 |
27.5 |
32.3 |
36.0 |
39.7 |
| Xerox Phaser 3200MFP/B |
$399(1) |
24 |
10 |
23.1 |
26.0 |
28.4 |
30.7 |
33.1 |
| Dell 1125 |
$249(1) |
21 |
* |
23.3 |
26.1 |
28.9 |
31.8 |
34.6 |
| Konica Minolta bizhub 161f | $2,278(2) |
16 |
* |
24.8 |
28.3 |
31.9 |
35.6 |
40.8 |
| Samsung SCX-4725FN |
$285(2) |
24 |
10 |
26.4 |
29.3 |
31.7 |
34.0 |
36.4 |
| Lexmark X342n |
$399(1) |
27 |
10 |
27.4 |
30.9 |
36.3 |
41.1 |
46.0 |
| Samsung SCX-5530FN |
$898(3) |
30 |
8.5 |
29.0 |
31.0 |
33.0 |
34.9 |
36.9 |
| Lexmark X642e |
$1,499(1) |
45 |
8.5 |
32.2 |
33.4 |
34.6 |
35.8 |
37.0 |
| Xerox M20i |
$1,999(1) |
22 |
8 |
33.2 |
36.6 |
39.3 |
42.0 |
44.7 |
| Xerox PE220 |
$400(1) |
20 |
11 |
33.2 |
36.6 |
39.6 |
42.5 |
45.4 |
| Lexmark X646e MFP |
$2,999(1) |
50 |
8.5 |
33.3 |
34.5 |
35.7 |
36.9 |
38.1 |
| Samsung SCX-4521F |
$287(2) |
20 |
11 |
34.9 |
38.3 |
41.2 |
44.2 |
47.1 |
| Dell 1815dn |
$500(1) |
27 |
* |
35.1 |
37.2 |
39.4 |
41.6 |
43.8 |
| Xerox M15i |
$749(1) |
16 |
9.3 |
42.7 |
47.3 |
51.0 |
54.7 |
58.4 |
| Xerox PE120 |
$549(1) |
22 |
10 |
45.4 |
48.1 |
50.8 |
53.5 |
56.2 |
| Samsung SCX-4720F |
$441(2) |
22 |
10 |
46.3 |
49.0 |
51.7 |
54.2 |
57.1 |
| Xerox 4150/S |
$2,499(1) |
45 |
8 |
62.7 |
64.1 |
65.4 |
66.8 |
68.1 |
Notes:
| 1 | Price obtained from manufacturers web site for base model in the series that has print capabilities. |
| 2 | Price obtained from retailer in US. |
| 3 | Price obtained from UK web site and converted to US Dollars. |
| All pricing is from original purchase data and is subject to change. | |
* Manufacturer does not provide this information on their web site
or in accompanying manuals.
Summary
The average time to first page out for the Hewlett-Packard MFPs with Instant-on Technology in this study was 14.9 seconds compared to an average time for the competitors without Instant-on Technology of 33.1 seconds. In printing the first page out, the Hewlett-Packard MFPs with Instant-on Technology were 2.2 times faster on average than the tested competitors without Instant-on Technology.
As mentioned previously, a recent study reported the typical business document is four pages long. In this test, HP MFPs with Instant-on Technology often printed the first four pages from power-save before the competing MFP without Instant-on Technology printed their first page. Overall, HP MFPs with Instant-on Technology printed the fourth page in 22.7 seconds on average, while the competing MFPs without Instant-on Technology printed the fourth page in 41.2 seconds on average. In printing the fourth page out, the HP MFPs with Instant-on Technology were 1.8 times faster on average than the tested competitors without Instant-on Technology. In no case did a competitive product print faster than the Hewlett-Packard MFP.Test Platform
Testing was performed using the QualityLogic PageSense 4.2 automated performance test tool, connected to a desktop personal computer with an AMD Athlon 2GHz processor with 256Mb of memory, using the Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition operating system. All MFPs were connected to the test computer using a USB connection.
Test Approach
All print drivers were installed using the Plug-n-Play method and tested using the default settings. Printing was done on letter size paper. All products were selected by HP and purchased by QualityLogic from various vendors.
Each MFP was tested using the default settings as delivered from the manufacturer. No modifications were made to the MFP or driver settings.
Based on HP’s belief that typical print jobs for the business environment are between one and five pages, documents of five pages in length were chosen for this test. This belief is supported by a recent InfoTrends study sponsored by HP which found that over 60% of users print an average of 5 pages or less per document.
For all MFPs, each test file was printed 30 minutes after having ensured that the MFP entered the power-save state. PageSense was used to automate the testing and provide consistent timing between tests. All files were printed twice. Any files logging a five percent deviation between test runs were retested.
QualityLogic selected test files that it considered typical of a small/medium business environment from PageSense’s suite of performance test files. The test included files from Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0, Microsoft Office 2000 Suite, and Adobe Acrobat Reader 6.0. Standard PageSense test files were modified to fit the five-page document length requirements of this test.
PageSense uses application test files and an automated process for printing and recording time measurements using a smart paper sensing unit. Performance data is logged into a database automatically. Many leading printer manufacturers and industry publications, such as PC Magazine, use PageSense to automate testing and provide comparable results between printers. PageSense is a standard, automated approach to performance testing.
This study was commissioned by HP.
About QualityLogic
QualityLogic is a leading Software Quality Services Company offering a variety of testing services and related tools focused on the conformance, performance, and interoperability testing needs, from low level firmware testing, to high level multi-tier application testing. QualityLogic has over 21 years' experience, both in developing specialized test tools and providing comprehensive testing services for top industry manufacturers.
Test results provided by QualityLogic. Tests
were performed under laboratory conditions and your results may vary.
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