The highly capable HP LaserJet 1018 printer is emblematic of the Hewlett-Packard desire to deliver good quality monochrome laser printers for the small office or home office, and in this model it's clear that HP has largely succeeded. The 1018 does most everything out with ease and it is able to produce particularly nice looking documents with its high-quality printing functionality and capability.

Within the industry, this particular laser jet printer was known for quite some time as being the smallest around. It also listed for around $150 before any discounts were applied, meaning that it also was an exceptional value. Just from looking at the 1018, it's clear that this 11-pound printer was made to sit on a desktop, nestled away in its own corner.

Print speed with the 1018 is acceptable at 12 pages per minute; the 1018 is really not a speed demon in this regard. Perhaps that might be due to the fact that the printer works so hard to deliver excellent quality printing by using its 234 MHz processor to the fullest in order to fulfill that role, which helps to explain its relatively low rate of print speed.

In total, taking the 1018 from its box and then getting it up and running is a fairly easy task. It features "plug and play" capabilities, meaning that after it's plugged in the computer automatically installs its software and then runs an installation wizard that a user will instantly be familiar with. There's no USB cable included, so keep that in mind before running its USB port to the computer.

Generally speaking, it looks like the 1018 has been designed to handle most any sort of text printing job with relative ease. It will put out high-quality print using fonts all the way down to as little as four-point, which is a quite small font indeed. Graphics will be okay, but the printer is intended to be more of a text model than one intended for graphics-rich products.

The 1018 is designed to run off of most Windows-based operating systems, including Windows XP and Windows Vista (both 32-bit and 64-bit). The main input tray can hold 150 sheets of paper and it has a priority feed slot that can take up to 10 sheets of paper. It will be able to handle most sizes and kinds of paper, as well as envelopes, labels and certain custom sized media products.

Print resolution offered by the 1018 is fine enough at 600 dots per inch. It usually only takes about 10 seconds for the first page of any print job to emerge after it has been sent to the printer from the computer. Hewlett-Packard includes an image enhancement technology tool that helps to double resolution up to 1200 dots per inch. It has a duty cycle of about 3000 single-sided pages per month, which gives it a fair amount of durability.

The highly capable HP LaserJet 1018 printer has been delivered by Hewlett-Packard to be a printer that will be popular for quite a while. List price for the 1018 comes in at about $250, but there have been refurbished models going for about $110 lately. For the price, getting a true laser printer and one that prints in such good quality, there are sure to be factors that will attract many to this durable and versatile unit. Make sure to keep bulk toner on hand. HP replacement toner is found cheap online. Just do a search for HP LaserJet 1018 printer toner cartridge and it will be easy to find at a good price.