Product Review for the HP LaserJet 1320tn Printer

As a mobile notary, I process a large amount of paperwork and daily print loan packets consisting of 75 to 150 pages per set. I need a machine that is quick and reliable. The HP 1320 tn comes to the rescue.

The HP 1320 has a single tray, the 'tn' designation indicates that it has a second tray. The second tray allows me to have both legal and letter size paper available for printing and the machine will automatically print the appropriate size to match the document.

Toner cartridges come in two sizes, 49A which is the smaller size, and 49X is the larger. Neither cartridge states how many pages can be printed, but I find the 49X to be a better deal.

My HP 1320 usually goes through 3 cartridges a month of the 49A at a cost of approximately $70.00 each. When I use the 49X cartridge, I usually only use one a month at an approximate cost of $130.00 per cartridge.

The HP printer family also carries a PCL 6 Driver which is often a requirement to be able to accept and read some loan documents that are sent through secure servers.

Cartridges have been the only ongoing expense that I have had with my HP printer during the past 3 years. I continue to hope that they will come out with a refurbished cartridge program, but it has not occurred yet. To help save on costs, Office Max, where I purchase most of my cartridges, accept the empty cartridges and give me a $3.00 discount that I use towards my next purchase. Staples has a similar program.

Office Max currently offers a store brand cartridge that works as well in my printer as the HP brand toner. The cartridge that they offer is the smaller version, and the cost savings is about $5-$10 per cartridge.

Another neat trick is to take your cartridge out frequently when the toner light comes on and slowly rock it back and forth to even out the toner in the cartridge. I find that by doing this I can often get another 300 pages printed.

Although my work does utilize both the legal and letter trays for paper provided by the HP 1320tn, I have found that the second try on the bottom has a small cog wheel that comes loose and causes the paper not to feed properly.

Because the bottom tray is easily removed from the main printing unit, I often only have one tray in use, and frequently print all the legal papers, and then switch the paper size and print the letter copies.

Overall, this is a workhorse of a machine which I would highly recommend.