The HP LaserJet MFP M234dwe ($179.99) is an entry-level all-in-one (AIO) monochrome printer designed for use in small to medium-size offices that need scan, copy, and fax functions but don’t need color printing. The M234dwe faces stiff competition from other small lasers—including two Editors’ Choice winners, the HP Neverstop Laser MFP 1202w and the Canon ImageClass MF269dw—and a few inkjet laser alternatives, such as Epson’s WorkForce ST-M3000 Monochrome MFP Supertank Printer (also a PCMag favorite). Aside from low paper capacity and the lack of an automatic document feeder (ADF), there’s little to dislike about the M234dwe, which is reasonably priced for low- to medium-volume monochrome printing.
Small and Powerful
The M234dwe measures 12.5 by 17.2 by 15.6 inches (HWD) and weighs 25.7 pounds. Among its many competitors, these numbers are about average. The HP MFP 1202w mentioned above, for instance, is an inch or so smaller in all directions and weighs a few pounds less. Brother’s MFC-L2717DW is slightly bigger and heavier, as is Canon’s MF269dw, while Epson’s ST-M3000 monochrome inkjet is closer in size and girth to the M234dwe.
In this price range, you won’t always get an automatic document feeder (ADF) for sending multipage documents to the scanners. The M234dwe lacks one, as does the Epson ST-M3000, so you can scan or copy only one page at a time. The MFC-L2717DW and MF269dw have 50-sheet ADFs.
Paper handling consists solely of one 150-sheet cassette that pulls out from the front of the chassis. The M234dwe’s maximum monthly duty cycle, or the number of pages that HP says you can print without undue wear on the machine, is 20,000 pages, and its suggested monthly print volume is 2,000 pages.
These numbers are about average for entry-level printers. Of the machines mentioned here, the HP Neverstop is rated at 20,000 prints maximum and 2,500 suggested. The Brother MFC-L2717DW and Canon MF269dw have a maximum monthly duty cycle of 15,000 pages, and their suggested monthly is 1,500. The Epson ST-M3000’s duty cycle, on the other hand, is 2,000 pages with 1,500 recommended.
Connectivity
On this multifunction device, you can perform walkup tasks such as making copies or scanning to and printing from local drives or your favorite cloud storage site. You can also change configurations, generate usage reports, and more. A built-in web portal provides more configuration options. The M234dwe’s standard connections are USB 2.0, Ethernet, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, and Wi-Fi Direct, a peer-to-peer networking protocol for connecting to mobile devices.
Other supported mobile connections include Apple AirPrint, Mopria, HP Smart App (a cross-platform desktop and mobile driver and value-added interface), and HP Smart Tasks. That last is a collection of customizable workflow profiles, such as scanning with your smartphone or printing from specific cloud sites, that uses shortcuts inside HP Smart App. With these features, you can streamline frequent tasks, turning complex configurations into a single tap on your phone.
Smooth Grayscale, Relatively Quickly
HP rates the M234dwe at 30 pages per minute (ppm), which is a bit above average for a printer in this class. I tested it over Ethernet from our standard Intel Core i5 testbed PC running Windows 10 Professional. For the first test, I timed the M234dwe as it churned out our 12-page Microsoft Word text file. After several print runs, I added the respective scores and calculated the average print time of 33ppm.
Not only is 33ppm faster than this LaserJet’s rating, but it’s also quicker than most competing models in this class. It beat the Epson ST-M3000 by 13ppm, the HP Neverstop by 12ppm, and the Canon MF269dw by 3.1ppm. However, it fell behind the Brother MFC-L2717DW by 3.7ppm.
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For the next phase of testing, I clocked the M234dwe as it printed our collection of complex color business documents, which includes Adobe Acrobat PDFs containing complicated graphics and fonts at various sizes and colors, Excel spreadsheets and accompanying charts and graphs, and PowerPoint handouts with complex gradient backgrounds and fills. After coming up with an average print time, I combined these scores with those from printing the text document in the previous test and came up with a score of 12.6ppm for printing our entire suite of test documents.
The M234dwe score isn’t bad, but it falls behind these other models (except the Neverstop, which it tied). Canon’s MF269dw, at 18.6ppm, was easily the fastest on this part of our tests.
As for print quality, like most LaserJets, this one churns out great-looking text and grayscale graphics. Text is well-shaped and highly legible, even at tiny 4- and 5-point sizes. The colorful gradient backgrounds and fills came out with very little banding, and the overall conversion from full-color to grayscale is attractive and professional-looking. Overall, I’ve no complaints about the M234dwe’s output.
Six Months of Free Toner
Were you to buy toner at its retail cost of 3.3 cents page, your running costs would be about average for an entry-level laser printer. However, with HP’s new HP+ subscription program, the first six months of toner—up to 1,500 pages per month, about an $80-per-month or $480 total value—are included in the printer’s purchase cost. At the end of your six months, if you continue subscribing, you can print up to 1,500 pages per month for a very reasonable $15.99 (1.7 cents per page). You also get an extra year of warranty coverage, for a total of two years.
When you average the “free” toner with the additional year of warranty coverage and the remaining free toner, your running costs for the first two years of owning the M234dwe, compared with the costs of some of the other models mentioned here, aren’t bad. Canon’s MF269dw’s running costs are about 2.8 cents per page and Brother’s MFC-L2717DW costs about 2.6 cents per page. The HP Neverstop and Epson ST-M3000 are bulk-toner and bulk-ink devices, respectively, with built-in discount incentives. With the Neverstop model, toner runs about 0.6 cent per page, and the ST-M3000’s per-page cost is about 0.3 cent.
A penny or two may not sound like much, but keep in mind that for every 10,000 pages you print, a 2-cent per-page difference will cost you about $200, or $2000 for every 100,000 pages. The more you print, the bigger the cost difference and the more you save.
An Entry-Level Bargain
Over the past few years, entry-level laser printers have gradually become less expensive to buy, and now they’re becoming less expensive to use. HP+ makes the M234dwe a bargain, especially given the quality and relative speed of its output. Our only real complaint is the lack of an ADF, and the single paper cassette makes it inconvenient to swap in envelopes or different sizes of paper. But if you only need it for occasional printing, scanning, and copying, the M234dwe is a terrific value choice.
