HP Laserjet Pro M148dw Printer Review
9/10 (Expert Score)
- Uncompromising quality – Print, scan, and copy consistently high-quality documents with the HP LaserJet Pro M148dw all-in-one laser printer, HP's best-value printer for automatic 2-sided printing
- Speed through tasks – Stay productive with an auto document feeder, 250-sheet input tray and print speeds of up to 30 pages a minute from this laser printer scanner
$295.00
Description
Design
The auto-feed tray on top makes the M148dw look bigger than it is. It actually has a relatively compact footprint at 15.6 inches wide by 20.9 inches deep. It weighs just under 22 lbs soaking wet (Please don’t try it.) The control panel is a 2-line monochrome, slightly old-school LCD screen coupled with a 10-button keypad. The buttons are a bit small for large fingers and the menu, though logical and well thought out, is tedious to navigate. You’ll need to give the printed guide a once over before getting the hang of it.
The presence of an auto feeder may trick you into looking for a dedicated scan button on the printer but you won’t find one. Scans must be initiated from the computer and not the printer. The scanner software that comes with Windows 10 should work just fine or you can download the more full-featured MFP software from HPs website. The feeder tray can hold up to 250 sheets of paper. The front lid can remain closed when the printer is loaded with standard letter paper but it must be left open to accommodate legal size. The output tray can hold up to 150 sheets.
HP Laserjet Pro M148dw Features
In addition to the usual features (Print/scan/copy) found on most multi-function printers, the HP Laserjet Pro M148dw also offers auto duplex printing and WiFi Direct. WiFi Direct makes it easy to print directly to the printer from a tablet or smartphone. The term “auto-duplex” means you don’t have to get up and flip the pages over yourself to print on both sides. The printer has a mechanism that sucks the paper back inside and flips it around to print on the other side before sending it to the output tray. Depending on the density of the image of your print job the M148dw will print up to 30ppm all day long. The first page takes some time though and the initial start-up of this machine can take some time – as long as 30 seconds. Scanning is kind of slow but serviceable. The M148dw offers multiple connectivity options – WiFi, Ethernet, USB, and WiFi Direct. The mobile app works on Android or iOS smartphones. Other mobile options are Google Cloud Print, Apple AirPrint, HP ePrint, and the HP Smart App. 
HP Laserjet Pro M148dw Performance
Printing is not necessarily a race to the finish line but in terms of pure speed, the HP Laserjet Pro M148dw is one of the fastest office/small home office printers you’ll find in this price range. Expect an average of 19ppm with fairly complex documents and up to 30ppm with standard text documents. As you might expect print quality is great with text and so-so with detailed graphics and photographs. This is not to say the picture quality is bad but it’s obvious this printer is designed for reports with text and graphs and not marketing materials with complex graphics and photographs. Let’s face it though a quality photo printer will cost you. It’s not uncommon to see a comma in the price tag of some of the better photo printers out there. Usage cost is an important consideration when it comes to printers. That being said toner costs will range between 3 to 4 cents per page with this printer. That’s good for an entry-level printer designed for heavy use but not high volume. The HP 94A toner replacement cartridge will cost you between $45 and $50.
Setup
Many people struggle with the WiFi setup of this printer because WiFi setup using the mobile app is counter-intuitive. That is until you know the trick. In this day and age, people are conditioned to do everything with a smartphone app. Yes, the M148dw does have a smartphone app but it’s mostly for usage statistics, ordering supplies, and WiFi Direct. The secret to getting this printer on your WiFi is to set it up on Ethernet first. Once you have the printer’s IP address simply connect to the printer’s web interface. From there you can easily configure the WiFi any way you like. If you have my Free eBook you’re probably already well-versed at using a web interface to configure network devices. The trick with this printer is knowing when to use it. 
HP Laserjet Pro M148dw – Video
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Conclusion
The HP M148 can be considered an above-average quality printer designed for low volume. It aligns itself with the competition by printing sharp text and basic charts and graphs as fast as you need them at a cost per page that won’t hijack your wallet. Don’t mistake it for a photo printer though. It’s a simple good-quality multifunction device that makes it perfect for a home or small home office. When it comes to WiFi set up the mobile app needs work but Direct WiFi works easily and is a great feature to have.
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