HP Color LaserJet MFP M277dw - first impressions

Here we are. I got tired of buying ink for my MFP InkJet printer to find it dried out or unusable some time later. So, went for Laser printer - HP Color LaserJet MFP M277dw.

What I was looking for:

• Low cost per page for infrequent use - mostly BW. Speed is not critical.
• Multi-Function Printer (MFP) i.e. printing and scanning, preferably with Automatic Document Feeder (ADF), I don't care about FAX
• Wireless connection
• Easy menu operations - preferable with some not that minimalistic screen
• Scan to USB - this one I find very handy
• Duplex printing - desirable

What I got more with this model:

• Color printing - it comes for the money. You can easily save some money with the BW version. Duplex also adds.
• Touch screen with easy and intuitive navigation, rather responsive for the basic functions. Yes, it is 2017/8 and having some 2 rows LCD with cryptic abbreviations is so last year. Pretty much everything could be configured from this screen. Just an advise - once you hook the printer to the network, go to the web interface.
• Rather useful web interface. Yes, here you can easily use more elaborate tools like you computer's keyboard - the virtual keyboard layout on the printer is alphabetical...
• Gigabit LAN - if I have the printer close to a cable that I can hook it - that would have been my choice.
• Scan to shared folder, e-mail and computer. These need some configurations, but once set up they are just perfect. There are also Scan to Drive, Dropbox etc. as apps, or sort of apps. It seems that every time you press/select something it connects to HP server and that was particularly slow when I tested it. Probably will not use it all.
• e-mail to Print - so, you or somebody else, can send an e-mail with an attached document to specific e-mail address and it will be printed out - I have set it up but probably will never use it as well.
• Direct Wifi - in other words you can use the printer without connecting it to the local network - doubt that I will use this feature as well. USB connection - this is should be always there.

What is noticeable annoying:

• Low scan resolution - 300 dpi when scanning to PC, more than enough for scanning documents. 600 dpi is available when scanning to e-mail, USB, or shared folder.
• Rather useless Scan to PC - perhaps it depends on the computer settings, but the driver can get only tiff, png, jpg, and bmp formats - PDF is left for you to figure it out. It is a breeze if you initiate the scan from the computer though.

What else - the printer is quiet and reasonably fast.

I use more often the scanning function than the printer. The old jet MFP was cleaning the heads every time I turned it on, regardless if I will scan or print - there I was loosing probably half of the ink. Obviously, this is not an issue with the LaserJet. 

Software and drivers - very well organized. There all-in-one package and separately provided  printer drivers, software etc. if you prefer it this way. Windows 10 recognizes the printer and install pretty much everything as well, so I ended up with 2 instances for the printer - same happened for the old one.

It is medium size - I mean it is not compact and it is not big - it is just the right size (at least for me) and it does not have fancy/weird shape.

The toner cartridges are kind of expensive (not per page). A set of four cartridges costs 2/3 of the printer's price. At the same time compared to what I paid for the ink cartridges and what I got from them - it is worth the money.

Perhaps, more important is that if you install the latest "software and drivers" bundle from the HP support page on the Internet, there is a good chance that the Readiris installation will fail to activate (search the countless forum discussions about this particular problem). It seems that if you install the bundle from the CD that comes with the printer and then install Readiris - it will work. Then you might want to update the outdated drivers and software...