Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 3380

The HP LaserJet 3380 is a large, full-featured multifunction printer with an automatic document feeder. Scan, copy and fax buttons sit on the console, along with speed-dial and number pads.

As a printer, the LaserJet 3380 is fairly quick. During our tests, it churned out text at 16.4ppm and greyscale graphics at 3.1ppm--both rates faster than average. Its straight, clean text matched the output excellence most of the other laser printers we have tested, and it handled narrow parallel lines well in our line art test. Greyscale graphics weren't as impressive, however, looking dark and over-contrasted with a grainy texture. Copy speeds were somewhat slow at 4.7ppm, and copies appeared dark enough to obscure much detail.

The LaserJet 3380 had very good colour scan quality, but it was slow in our tests. It took 40 seconds to scan a 4" x 5" photograph at 100dpi, which is slower than most other MFPs we have tested--even the inkjet models. However, the scanner driver has some handy controls for adjusting scans, allowing the user to resize, lighten and darken, sharpen, adjust colour, invert colours, and create a mirror image. Scans can be saved to a folder or sent to an email address.

The unit has a full-featured fax, with features such as broadcasting, polling, setting up billing codes and printing activity logs. It comes with a separate and extensive manual dedicated just to faxing.

The MFP does not support additional paper trays on top of the standard 250-sheet input tray, but memory can be upgraded from the standard 32MB to 96MB. It also lacks an Ethernet port; for network support you have to buy HP's optional JetDirect 175X external print server. We tested the LaserJet 3380 over our network using this accessory.