Hewlett Packard LaserJet 4 plus Printer

Like so many of those of us who suffer with the daily drama of the inkjet. I suffered through the endless routines of "clean print nozzles" and replace cartridge low suggestions from these infernal machines. Having been through countless numbers of the Lexmark z series all the way up to the X63, I decide it was time for a change. I purchased the Hewlett Packard LaserJet 4 plus Printer out of desperation and defiance to the Lexmark company's money sucking machines. Well step into the light. This actually makes me mad that I didn't bother to buy this printer when it was new in 1995. I guess sometimes "old" tech is better than new. I found a used LaserJet 4 and purchased for $8.99 plus shipping(it's heavy). All I can say is WOW! Cleaner, sharper text, faster printing, no smearing, and cost is not a factor when deciding how many to print. Buy this printer and quit worrying about the refill kits and cartridge numbers etc. Each toner cartridge yields thousands of prints, and with remanufactured toner cartridges out there for very reasonable prices it makes inkjets a waste of time and money for any text printing that requires only black and white.
Sly Gear

This line of HP printers is outdated like most old technology, but it still works well. I have used a few of these printers over the years and really never had any issues. Printing isn't fast but I've seen much slower. Size is a bit bulky for a computer desk, but with the add-ons like a 500 sheet loader tray, I still actually have one of these dinasours in my home office. Save your money, though, and invest in better/newer technology.

I picked up an HP LaserJet 4 Plus from a local merchant over two years ago. I used it for a while, then stuffed it in my closet for about 1 year while I used a different printer. the other printer I was using was a Minolta 2300DL Color Laser, and believe it or not, I'm much happier with the HP 4 Plus than I ever was with the color one. Basically I used the color printer because it had an ethernet card, and I only printed Black and white stuff on it anyway, so when the black toner started to run out, I hopped on ebay and picked up a JetDirect card for the LaserJet for like $10 and voila! Perfection.

That is the beauty of these things, parts and accessories are so darn cheap and abundant. Toner is especially cheap for high yield 8000 page carts, and that will save you tons of money in the long term. Especially since if you take care of it, these printers will basically last forever. I've also ordered 64MB of RAM for the ol' girl, and she just flies now printing PDF's and web pages. (The stock 2MB of RAM is pretty weak. Do yourself a HUGE favor, and upgrade to at least 32MB of RAM. you can find sellers on eBay offering kits for less that $20 to max your printers RAM out.

Well, as much as I love this printer it does have a couple drawbacks. First and foremost, Mine is very picky about paper thickness. It has major problems printing on anything over 24lb weight. Cardstock and 36lb paper simply jam up every time. Even with the settings changed to the thicker stock it doesn't like to print on it. Also the speed is just bleh. 12PPM is its rated speed, and that is plenty fast for me for personal and light home business printing. ( I probably print about 500-700 pages a month on it ) Just be warned if you do not upgrade the RAM, honestly if you have 18MB or less installed in the printer it will lag a bit printing web pages or PDF files with any sort of graphics or background shading. Again do yourself a huge favor and max out the RAM, it is so cheap there is no reason not too, and you will fall in love with this printer.

In summary, this is a solid reliable printer that I would happily recommend to anyone looking for a used, business class laser with few frills, that just works. The newer printers have better speeds and resolutions, but maintenance and supplies for the 4 Plus are so cheap these days it's hard to lose.

Hope this helps.

As you probably read in other reviews. This printer is Very old, some over 14 years. However they are still pretty fast at 12PPM (considering some newer models print 15ppm) and cost less that $0.01 per page. Yes less that 1 penny per page for ink.

They are also "very compatible" meaning that nearly every weird or odd piece of software will talk to them (not so much a problem for new pograms but if you have some REALLY old custom software out there...)

They are also nearly indestructable. thats why they are still running at 14 years old!

very good buy for lower speed printing.

This printer is older yes but it also is very cheap to run. some people don't understand this printer will outlast most new ones even if used. They also are very low maitenence. If you need a low cost b/w printer this one is great.This printer also will hook up to a router with a jetdirect card and can be wireless.

Another thing is newer printers have chips on the that will make you buy toner every so often even if there is still toner. The laserjet 4 does not. It is also very easy to be fixed if it ever jams a roller kit can be brought for less then $20 to fix any jam.

The cartridge lasts more then 7000 pages and can be had for as low as $17. Most inkjets run 25 cents and above per page for just ink. The laserjet 4 even if you pay full price for toner is less then a penny a page. even new lasers will run 2-3 cents a page and color laser 10 cents a page.

The printer can be had for a bargin on ebay when it was new it was well over $1500. It retails at many shops for $200+ used still.

LaserJet 4 is one of the strongest lasers I have seen from the HP line. It was basically there first reliable laser and from there forward have become facinating printer up until the laserjet 4000. There are easy to replace parts and most important, so easy to get parts anywhere. Printers are designed to work for at least 10 years. Great product.

One of the most reliable printers made. I've serviced copiers & printers for 15 years & you get the most for your money on this one. I buy them in bulk & resale them all the time. For 150.00 bucks that I sell them for retail, I'd put them up against most of the new ones out there. The new ones might have more memory & be a little faster, but the toner costs more they're more expensive to maintain.

I am a system administrator for a medium sized company that prints about 37,000 sheets a month. Many printers have come and gone but the HP4 printers purchased in the early 1990's are still going strong with less repairs and the lowest operating cost per sheet in the whole office. I have recently purchased 2 more HP4 printers to facilitate an expansion in staff and expect them to run a long time despite their age. They are ideal for custom tasks such as cheque and form printing.
The HP4 is still a contender!

Love how fast it is, and the fact that I've gone through almost three 500pg packages of paper and it still keeps printing! Laser printers are FAR more superior. Also like it because it's familiar to me, therefore easy to use. Only downfall is that it's enormous, weighs a ton, and dims all the lights in two rooms when it's on. Bang for the buck though I cannot complain one bit.

I cannot evaluate the HP printer since it was inoperable. I have not been able to use it and thus discarded it. It was advertised as "reconditioned" but arrived in very poor condition, dirty, and with cracks in the case.I had chosen to purchase this printer, although an old model, since it has proven to be very reliable and is currently in wide use. When reconditioned it can be expected to provide at least several years of good, inexpensive service.

It is very reliable and have very clear and nice printout.
Very economical and virtualy maintenance free within 10000-15000 pages output.

Probably one of HPs most reliable laser printers. Ok, you can buy faster, newer, lighter, smaller and more high tech printers but for the price you can't go wrong with an LJ 4+. The 4+ plods along at about 12ppm (faster than the LJ 4) which is fast enough for most light duties in a office.

We have four printers, two LJ4+s, a Minolta laser and an Infotec IPC2838. The LJ4s are the oldest of our printers and where bought secondhand a few years ago after the Minolta broke down (paper feed fault and computer interface failed). Our infotec is very fast with excellent print quality but takes too long to warm up so everyone uses the LJ4s for general printing. The first LJ4 I bought has proved to so popular that I was asked to buy another for the office. I now have one at home and a list of people looking for one!

As I have said before, this is a very reliable printer. Our Minolta has broken down (too expensive to repair), our Infotec has had a new fuser unit and photoconductor kit ($$$$$$$$$!!) but the laserjets just need a new toner from time to time.

LaserJet 4+ SPEC:
Speed: 12 PPM
Resolution: 600 DPI
Trays: Upper Tray - 250 Sheet, Bypass Tray - 100 Sheet, Optional Lower Tray - 500 Sheet
Input: Parallel and Serial, Optional MIO card for Networking
Duplex Printing: Optional
Colour: No
Memory: 64MB MAX

Summary:
Excellent value as a secondhand laser printer, ideal for general/light office duties. Very easy to upgrade to duplex network printer with 750 sheet capacity with parts from eBay... just slot it all together. Not ideal for printing graphics or photos but will make a reasonable job of them. This printer is very solid and has proven track record for reliability

For about $150 you get a decent Network compatible laser printer, a new toner and a box of (5000)paper. I have worked with these since the early 90's as a network specialist and they are the most reliable printer I have seen so far.
If you need black and white with OK graphics, this is the most cost effective reliable printer you can get.
I have put 800,000 plus pages through some and only had to replace/repair the fuser a few times. It is still running great.
Make sure you get a good one as they are heavy and sending it back will cost you some $$$.

These old HPs are great printers. Real work horses. I've used one since early 1990's with never a problem.

This printer never dies.........Just replacing the toner cartridge and periodically cleaning the rollers is the only maintenance this workhorse requires. If you need an office printer only, this is the machine for you!

These printers are workhorses. Most are 15 years old and just keep going. Parts are easily available and one can be rebuilt for less than $100. Cartridges are relatively inexpensive and are available form many after-market sources. For everyday B/W printing you can’t beat these machines. HP will never build them again because they last too long.

These old printers work well on DOS.
They may be a little slow but so am I.
They were well represented by the seller.
This one was in excellent working order.
I replaced one just like it that needed repair
that would cost more than the this printer.

I have ALL HP products...you just can't beat their longevity and their high quality products and high quality output. I have their ScanJet 6200C, Photosmart printer, digital camera (which takes fabulous photos) and an HP computer. Some of these products I've had for years with NEVER a problem...the only reason I had to buy the LazerJet 4 Plus again is that my grandson yanked the lower tray and broke it...the LazerJet I bought from Ebay was cheaper than having to buy the part and have it installed. And to think I've had my original jet printer for at least 15+ years without ANY problems.
With HP, buy with confidence!

I have used this kind of printer for 20 years in my office. I am still using one. I thought I was getting a good buy. However, this was my only disappointing purchase so far in e-Bay. The printer does not work. It keeps on having paper jam. I lost $55.99. I will have to bring the printer to the dump. It just upset me to think about it. Will be more careful next time.

Celso S. Barrientos, Ph.D.

I have been using the HP 4m Plus printer since it was first released about 12 years ago. Lost my original one in a fire and chose to replace it rather than take any of the newer models because of the great service I got from the original model. (Paid over $1000 for the original, about $120 for the replacement.) The memory it was originally sold with is inadequate for modern, more complex work, so I added memory up to a total of 70Mb and have had no more trouble. Other than adding RAM, the only service I ever had to pay for was to replace the feed rollers at the rear and to buy new toner cartridges from time to time. It is nice to be able to print around 6000 sheets from a $50 (third party) toner cartridge--that's less than a penny a sheet, which is wonderfully economic compared with anything else out there. I think this printer will run forever if properly cleaned and maintained. Among other things, I like having a quality printer which will work equally well in the legacy MS DOS and current Windows/Mac environments. I have recently added the duplexer and lower paper cartridge and expect years more service from the unit.

My HP LaserJet 4 printer finally quit working, after 15 or more years of fairly heavy use. It never had to be repaired. I was very excited to find a similar printer available at a very reasonable price. This would not be for everyone. I was not looking for a color printer or any bells and whistles. Also, it did not come with a cable and I could use the cable I already had. For someone like myself who wanted strictly basic high-volume printing, this was a great find. Having found this printer, I was able to unpack it and plug it in and it worked with no special software loading, adjustments, etc. I couldn't have been more pleased. Also, communication with this seller was outstanding.

I was visiting a friend out of state when I commented on how fast her printer was compared to mine. She said it was a laser printer and the toner cartridges were a heck of a lot cheaper than what I was paying for my ink too. I said there is no way I could afford a printer like that and she told me she got hers on eBay from a very reputable seller.We looked him up and sure enough he had some listed. We called him about several concerns we had about the shipping of the toner and the page mileage. He answered them all very truthfully and honestly. I sent for the printer he listed and it came in beautiful shape and prints like a dream.

The printer is wonderful, looks great, works perfect, and the price could not have been better. This was a hassel free purchase. I would highly reccomend this seller.