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parts with various mainte-
nance kits instead of having
the technician do it. If a
major component goes bad
under the warranty, HP then
replaces the whole unit. In
the past year, we have seen
HP introduce this approach
to some business class print-
ers that run from $700 to
$2,999.
For example, in looking for
the maintenance kit in the
service manual, everything is
now a kit, including the newly
added 128M memory kit,
duplex reverse guide kit, 500
sheet feeder replacement kit,
control panel kit, and format-
ter kit. These are new to us
in service. There is a listed
preventative maintenance kit
CE484A (110V) but, again,
it contains only the fuser, and
instructions since it is rated
for the life of the printer. So
there is a maintenance kit,
but really no need for it. The
standard supplies listed in
the service manual are the
toner cartridges, toner
collection unit (bottle) and
fuser, but again no life counts
anywhere. The maintenance
chapter of the service manu-
al shows you how to replace
all the supplies except for the
fuser. Thus the only standard
replaceable parts on these
units realistically are very
limited. The rest are replaced
as needed and often in the
form of a service kit.
HP New Products:
The first of these units is
the new P2030 series which
contains the P2035 and
P2035n model printers.
They are rated at 30 ppm
and list at $250 on HP’s
website. The old rule of
thumb has been that any-
thing under $500 really isn’t
serviceable, because if the
price of service is half the
price of the unit or better,
the customer will buy a new
one rather than repair the
failing printer. Thus a $250
unit is tough to service for
only $125 in parts and labor.
You can replace the pickup
rollers, separation pad, fuser
and transfer roller but if a
power supply dies, it’s time to
replace the unit. Over time
HP sometimes produces an
MFP version of the printer.
The good news is that the
price point of this printer
based MFP will likely be over
the $500 threshold, making
the MFPs worth servicing.
Next we saw a low end color
laser CP1215 for $299 and
CP1518ni for $399. At
12/8 ppm in monochrome
and color, this is a lure for
those customers who still
haven’t made the leap into
color printing. The tradeoff
becomes the lower the price
of the unit, the higher the
cost per page. The price of
the four toner cartridges are:
black at $73.99 and three
color cartridges at $68.99
each. Assuming 5% coverage
per color or 20% for a four
color page — which is what
HP has traditionally rated
color coverage at — the cost
per page of printing in color
is 18¢ per page. And that’s
just toner. Contrast that with
HP’s business class CLJ
4600 unit, which is rated
at only 8.5¢ per page.
Next is the CP2020 series
which comes as a CP2025n
at $449, CP2025dn at
$499 and CP2025x at
$549. Note again how 2020
is the series number but
the model numbers are
different. The “x” stands for