Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

You don't notice it until the printer is mostly unpacked, but mine had an orange piece of paper showing a figure pulling on the plastic outer wrap bag to pull the printer and styrofoam packing sleeves from the box. That would have worked, too! I just dumped mine (slowly) out on the table after cutting through the clear tape holding the box closed. Simple brochure shows plugging the printer in, loading paper and then turning the printer on. When the printer is turned on you are taken through the basic setup steps (Language choice, IT managed or Self-managed) on the color LCD panel. Since mine was in a home network setting, I chose "Self-Managed." Actually loading the paper is not shown until after plugging in and turning on, however it should precede setup, since when making the decision between IT Managed or Self-Managed, selecting the "Print Information" softkey on the LCD screen will printout details between the two choices. Obviously, you will not be able to print out those details without paper loaded. I knew I wanted to set up wireless printing on my home network, so I went to "Network Setup" and then chose Wireless Network and was taken through locating my home network from the list of detected networks nearby. Choosing my network then popped up a password box and a soft keyboard on the built-in LCD screen. Default is lower case letters; pushing "ABC" key toggled upper-case letters which remained upper-case for my Xfinity Router. After struggling to setup another HP LaserJet Pro wireless printer (CP1525nw) on this same network, I can now say that THIS M252dw printer IS THE ONE to hook-up to your Xfinity Modem (In my case, the 1st Gen VOIP/Internet/Public HotSpot Arris TG862G modem). So now the printer is on my wireless network, but not connected to my Windows 7 computer. DO NOT BOTHER with "Windows Update" to locate the specific drivers for this printer. Trying on two different computers, I do not think they exist on the Microsoft network. Just load the included CD into your CD/DVD drive after selecting "Have Disk" on the printer driver selection page and "Browse" to your CD drive, then select the autorun.inf (or probably you will see just autorun) click OK or Open and the Windows installer selects the correct driver for your system, installs it and you are ready to print a test page to confirm setup and HALLELUJAH!! the Test Page pops out in about 10 seconds. This printer is FAST FAST FAST. The set-up was accomplished on two computers, one a 9 year old DuoCore INTEL, and the other the last Core 2 Duo Pentium 8700 Intel, both running Windows 7 Premium and Ultimate respectively. Aging computers, aging operating systems FAST FAST FAST printer!!! The color printing engine is the HP ImageREt 3600* which has been used for years by HP. As with any laser printer, photo printing is not great (maximum resolution is 600x600), but is certainly acceptable for general use or school projects. If you are like me and have spent hours reading reviews, looking at TOTAL cost of ownership over years, considering off-brands (if you are an HP guy like me), then DO NOT BE AFRAID!! Buy this printer! PROS o Wireless setup was almost instantaneous on an extremely difficult Xfinity Modem/Router o It duplexes in the machine (no more opening paper drawer and dropping printed pages in to be printed on the other side) o On the computer, printer set-up is extremely easy and quick (9 year old granddaughter did the 2nd computer) o *Print quality is what you would expect if you have owned HP Color LaserJet 3600, 3800, 4700, 1520, 2520, or 4730mfp series printers o Direct printing via iOS (iPhone); just select the printer in Settings/WiFi o Color LCD screen (backlit) is MUCH easier to read than 2 or 3 line Matrix screens like on the CP1525 o JetIntelligence toner cartridges supposedly give 28% more prints per cartridge o Almost double capacity toner cartridges available (X series) o This printer comes with a FULL Black toner cartridge o Weighs half as much as my CP1525, and is about half the form factor (Same size as the Canon Pixma it replaces) o Firmware update directly from the built-in LCD screen CONS o Color cartridges are sample cartridges with 700 possible color copies available o Weight savings translates into a flimsier feeling printer. Maybe fine - time will tell SUMMARY Highly Recommended !! If you read my other reviews, you know I am extremely critical. There is way too much junk being sold to today's consumers. This printer erased all the memories of HP idiosyncrasies when setting up and installing their printers. After 30 years, I am used to them, but I prefer to have things work now and quickly! The chase to bend technology to my will no longer holds the appeal it did even 15 years ago. I know this - I will NEVER go buy a new inkjet cartridge because mine has dried out from disuse; nor will I have liquid ink flow over my desk and onto my white carpet because the ink sponge is saturated (HP); nor will I ever see an error message "Ink Spitoon Almost Full" and call Canon to find out that they expect me to throw my still functioning Pixma printer in the garbage because the ink spitoon is not a part which can be serviced. LASERJET, BABY !! Finding an acceptable ~$200 fast laser printer today is somewhat difficult. My initial impression is that I am glad the used CP1525nw I had purchased for the grand children didn't work out, because that experience took me to this printer. Highly Recommended at this point. I will update this review as time goes by. I hope this review might help you in your decision regarding which printer to buy. ============================== Update - after a year of use for 1 adult and 2 children, I stand by my review. Windows 10 is trying to throw me a curve, but I expect to prevail even though the HP website is slow slow slow. The printer could not log into the update server, but I was able to sign onto support.hp.com and download firmware updates to my computer which were then sent to the printer. I am using the HP Support Assistant to update drivers on a new Lenovo E560 Thinkpad. The support assistant wants to replace Microsoft's drivers with new PCL6 and M252 Printer series Full Software. Fingers crossed!! So 2 hours later, I have fixed my "out of paper" error, updated drivers for Windows 10, and updated the printer firmware to version 20160331 which was made available along with one 9 months older (go figure) on 04/21/2016. Go to support.hp.com/us-en/drivers and let HP identify your printer (slow) or just input M252nw in the enter my HP model number box! A final note: since upgrading to Windows 10 this printer has popped a "Load Tray 1 to print" message or out of paper, even though there WAS paper in Tray 2. Here is the answer I just posted to the HP forums: I just had a problem where ANY printed page popped an "out of paper" error and asked me to load tray1 for printing. It turns out that tray 2 needs to be elevated about an eighth of an inch as you slide it in or it will not be properly "seated" in the holding frame. It is a minuscule difference from correct and just sitting below the printer, that a visual check will likely not discern the difference. When you insert Tray 2 correctly, the roller will immediately turn about a half turn letting you know it is ready to pull paper from Tray 2! This drive me crazy for several hours. The good news is I have new firmware for the printer and new drivers also which are supposedly optimized for Windows 10. This printer is STILL HIGHLY RECOMMENDED a year later !!