The HP LaserJet Pro CM1415fnw color MFP ($449 direct) isn't particularly fast, and its paper handling is disappointingly limited. However, it stands out from the crowd, and is well worth considering for a micro or home office, for one brilliantly executed feature: a color touch screen control panel that's extremely well designed, and makes copying, faxing, scanning to a USB memory key, and anything else you need to do from the front panel extraordinarily easy.

Touch screen control panels are common in floor standing copiers and MFPs, and they show up on some inkjets, but they're only now starting to migrate down to the kind of laser printer you might find in a small or home office. The least expensive laser with a touch screen that I've seen before now is the Dell 2355dn Multifunction Mono Laser Printer ($599.99, 3 stars) that I recently reviewed, and even the Dell printer combines its touch screen with buttons on its front panel. The CM1415fnw is not only the first color laser with a touch screen that's suitable for a micro office, it's the first with nothing but a touch screen for the front panel.

The Basics
Once you get past the touch screen, the CM1415fnw is a fairly capable, but largely pedestrian, printer. In addition to being able to print, scan, and fax, even over a network, it works as a standalone fax machine and copier, which are the two functions where the benefits of the touch screen count most. Other useful features include a 35-page automatic document feeder for scanning multipage documents and Wi-Fi support.

Paper handling, unfortunately, is severely limited. The input tray holds only 150 sheets, duplexing is strictly manual, and there are no paper handling options available. The 150 page input should be sufficient if you print up to about 30 pages per day on average -- including printing, faxing, and copying. If you print more than that, however, you'll be adding paper often enough so you might consider it an annoying chore. This low paper capacity is a big part of what makes the printer most appropriate for a micro or home office.

Setup and speed
Setting up the CM1415fnw is reasonably typical, but note that the printer is a little bigger than you probably want sitting on your desk, at 16.3 by 17.4 by 18.6 inches (HWD). It's also heavier than you might want to move around by yourself, at 50.1 pounds. I connected it to a wired network and ran my tests from a Windows Vista system.

On the new version of our business applications suite (using QualityLogic's hardware and software for timing) the CM1415fnw scored 2.9 effective pages per minute (ppm). In comparison, the directly competitive Editors' Choice Dell 1355cnw ($419.99 direct, 4 stars) came in at 4.5 ppm, and for the files that both the old and new versions of the business application suite share, the somewhat more expensive Brother MFC-9320CW ($500 list, 4 stars) scored 5.8 ppm.

The CM1415fnw's relatively low speed on our tests is consistent with HP's rating of 12 ppm for monochrome printing and 8 ppm for color. (You should see something close to those rated speeds when you're printing text files without photos or graphics.) More important, the speed is fast enough to count as acceptable, though well short of impressive, for most micro and home office needs.

Output Quality and Other Issues
Output quality for the CM1415fnw is much better relative to other color laser MFPs than its speed, with text, graphics, and photo quality that's pretty much on par for the breed. Text quality is easily good enough for anything short of desktop publishing applications, and most people would judge the graphics as easily good enough for marketing materials like one page handouts and trifold brochures.

Photos in my tests tended to be a little dark overall, with some colors coming out a little muddy. Depending on how much of a perfectionist you are, you may or may not consider them suitable for marketing materials or for client newsletters. They're certainly good enough for anything less demanding than that.

If the CM1415fnw offered faster speed and better paper handling, it could be a stellar choice. As it is however, if the speed and paper handling are sufficient for your needs, the combination of output quality, wealth of MFP features, and ease of use—thanks to the color touch screen—are more than enough to make it worth considering. It's certainly a good fit for relatively light duty use as a shared printer in a micro office, or relatively heavy duty use as a personal printer in a home office.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS
Check out the test scores for the HP LaserJet Pro CM1415fnw Color MFP.

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the HP LaserJet Pro CM1415fnw Color MFP with several other MFPs side by side.

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