The HP LaserJet Pro MFP M479FDW Multifunction Printer is the best all-in-one printer and a fine laser printer for its great graphics printing speed and many, many mobile connectivity options. And where a lot of other laser printers falter in graphics output, the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M479FDW shines, making it one of the best printers.
Related: Do you also want a portable scanner? Have a look at the Fujitsu Scansnap S1300i review
Why We Like It – HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M479FDW
The HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M479FDW is a mid-range but strong All-In-One Printer with a robust feature set, fast print speeds, and fantastic output quality. It’s a great choice all-around for any type of work, and it’s a great Mac-compatible option, like the best printers for Mac. Medium-level businesses and home offices where printing is a huge part of your day can benefit from the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M479FDW. Or, for an option from a different brand, you can check out the Canon imageCLASS MF644Cdw.
- Decent Graphic Printing Speed
- Graphics and Photo Output Are Great
- Plethora of Mobile Connectivity Options
- Potentially High Running Costs
Related: Check our HP Designjet T120 review
Speed
The HP LaserJet Pro M479FDW All-In-One Color Laser Printer rates at a print speed of 28ppm, which is pretty good if your main use is as a medium-usage home or office printer and about the same speed as the Brother MFC-L3770CDW Laser. It has 17.7ppm color print speeds, which is, again, not bad at all for a mid-range printer such as this. And while it’s not a photo printer, it can still churn one a standard print, 4×6, in about 10 seconds. However, if speed is what you are after in your printer, the HP PageWide Pro 477dw has a fast 55ppm.
Print Quality
The Pro MFP M479FDW HP All-In-One Printer prints typesetter-worthy levels of text pages like most laser printers do and should be good for any business scenario. Excel and PowerPoint documents came out looking fantastic, with no noticeable banding and smooth gradations from one color to the next. If you want more help with print quality, read our guide on what colors do printers use.
Photos also looked good, for the most part, but just keep in mind that laser printers can’t print borderless pages. You can also consider the Canon imageClass MF424dw for another great graphics printer. Besides, you’ll want to avoid a low-quality printer, as seen in our HP LaserJet Pro M15W wireless printer review.
Efficiency
While the output and speed of the printer are fantastic, the running costs have the potential to get you. Even buying HP’s highest-volume toner cartridges will run you 2.2 cents per text page and 14.2 cents per color page. This is about on par with the Brother MFC-L2750DW. If you don’t print a lot, then it shouldn’t be a problem. But if you’re expecting to be printing many pages per day, this can add up very quickly. Instead, opt for a printer with great ink efficiency, as you’ll discover in our HP OfficeJet Wireless Replenishment K7V40A review.
Advanced Features
The standard connectivity consists of Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi, USB, and Wi-Fi Direct. For mobile connectivity options, the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M479FDW offers Apple AirPrint, Google Cloud Print, HP ePrint, HP Smart App, Mobile Apps, and Mopria. You also get HP Smart Tasks, a collection of customizable workflow profiles you access from customizable shortcuts via the HP App.
Value
The HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M479FDW comes with duplex printing and a 50-sheet single-pass auto-duplexing automatic document feeder. The paper input tray has room for 250 sheets in the main drawer and 50 in the override tray for a total of 300, which is much higher than the 100-sheet capacity of the Epson EcoTank ET 2750. But with duplex printing being available, this paper capacity feels like a whopping 600 sheets. If you are low on space, however, you may want to take a look at a more compact model like the HP Laserjet Pro M15W wireless printer or the HP Deskjet 2622.
HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M479FDW Wrap Up
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t, right? One fault with the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M479FDW is the potentially high running costs. But don’t despair. If you only do a moderate level of printing, this shouldn’t be too much of an issue for you. And consider if its multitude of other options is enough to cancel out this high running cost.
