HP 1320 Printer Gripes

Out Of Box Experience 4

February 25, 2008. Windows XP Professional edition with all patches. The downloaded file name is now lj1320pcl6winvista2kxp2003.exe. There is no version number in the file properties any more. When you run this file is now creates folder "C:\HP LJ1320".

I did an install as a new local printer - USB connected. I told Windows to serach for dirvers and pointed at this folder. All went well. The About page for the printer does not have a single version number, instead it shows versions for dozens of individual files. This number appears at the top, but it doesn't say what it is 61.63.461.42.

Out Of Box Experience 3

December 31, 2006. Windows XP Home edition with all patches. I finally got the driver installation right. 

The first issue is downloading the recommended PCL6 driver. There are two PCL6 drivers on the Windows XP driver page for this printer at hp.com. One is a generic driver and the other says it's for the 1320. Don't use the generic one. I made that mistake the last time I installed this printer (an experience not included on this page) and discovered the generic driver does not support printing on both sides of the page. 

The download is an EXE file. It's version 60.041.41.00 from January 5, 2005. When you run it, it produces no messages at all. But, it does create a folder: 

C:\Program Files\Hewlett-Packard\LaserJet 1320 Drivers

What now? I downloaded the User Guide, but it has no driver installation instructions. There is a program called EZInstall.exe in this folder. Should I run it or not? There are no help files in the just created folder. 

I gambled and (finally) won. With the printer turned on, I connected it to the computer. At first, Windows tries to install DOT4, but where to point Windows? To the top level folder (the one named above) or to the "drivers" subfolder? I gambled again and pointed Windows to the top level folder and it worked. Of course, you don't know it worked. In fact, you don't know anything. The computer just sits there for a bit - about 45 seconds in my case - and then Windows said the printer was installed an ready for use. It's a miracle.

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The driver defaults to single sided printing - on the Finishing tab, I turned on the option for printing on both sides of the paper. I know someone who owns this printer and didn't know it could print on both sides. 

And speaking of printing on both sides, even when printing a single page on a single side, the paper still comes out the top of the printer and then gets sucked back into it so that blank space can be printed on the reverse side.

As is so typical in the computer world, the hardware is great, the software stinks, and the documentation doesn't exist. It amazes me that HP sells so many printers with such poor documentation.
 

Out Of Box Experience 1

May 10, 2005.  

The unpacking instructions are not very clear at all. They consist of images only, there is no text explaining what to remove. 
Hint: everything orange should be removed from the printer. 

The instructions say to install the HP software first, then connect the printer to the computer. However, in the middle of installing, the HP software says to connect the printer. When I did so, both the HP software and Windows couldn't wait to install drivers. Windows XP auto-installed the correct driver for the printer while the HP software installation was waiting for me to respond to a prompt. The drivers Windows installed worked fine. I then continued with the HP software install and it ended very quickly saying it was happy. 

No cables are included. Late in 2004 this printer sold for $400, which should be enough to include at least one cable. It now sells for about $300. HP charges $20 for a USB printer cable, which is high. 

Cartridges

As with other printers, this one can use toner cartridges with different capacities. The Q5949A is a 2,500-page print cartridge for $72. The Q5949X is a 6,000 page  print cartridge for $131. The gripe here is that HP does not say on their web site which cartridge comes with the printer. As you might expect though, it comes with the smaller capacity cartridge, the Q5949A.

Update: the 6,000 page print cartridge is now $111 at Amazon and $129 at NewEgg. August 6, 2008.
Update: the 6,000 page print cartridge is now $103 from NewEgg. August 5, 2007.
Update: the 6,000 page print cartridge is now $107 from NewEgg. The other is now $58. June 10, 2006.
Update: the 6,000 page print cartridge is now $104 from NewEgg. January 7, 2006.
Update: the 6,000 page print cartridge is now $103 from NewEgg. The other is now $53. August 28, 2005.

March 26, 2007. For the first time I had to change printer cartridges. The new cartridge was very well wrapped. It was tightly sealed in air bubble plastic and looked like it could have resisted being used as a football. The downside is that there are no printed instructions on installing the cartridge. There are only black on black small diagrams on the thing itself. Be sure to pull out the orange tab - all the way. And yes, its hard to pull. 
  

Out Of Box Experience 2

June 10, 2006. I set up another 1320 printer for someone else. Windows 200 SP4. 

The driver CD was dated 2004, so I went to HP's web site to download the latest driver. There are three different drivers, PCL5, PCL6 and PostScript. What to do? HP doesn't explain the differences on their web site. I had to download the user guide to find out they recommend the PCL6 driver. 

The driver installation instructions on HP's web site are neither accurate nor complete. It says to unpack/unzip the driver, then run the Add Printer Wizard. That's all. When do you turn on the printer? When do you connect it to the computer? It doesn't say. Considering how easy this is to explain, the omission by HP is disgraceful, especially for a company that makes billions on their printers. 

After unzipping the driver files, I turned on the printer, then connected it to the USB port. This invoked the Add new Hardware Wizard. Eventually you are led to the HP driver folder and asked to pick an INF file. The folder contains multiple sub-folders and HP never says which one to use. The one labeled "latest drivers" has about 7 different multiple INF files. Which one to use? Again, HP doesn't bother to say. HP must have outsourced their documentation to a place where it's done cheaply, because it certainly is not done well. I chose the INF file for the 1320C and it seemed to work. Why the "C"? There is no 1320C printer. The one I was working on was 1320. There is a 1320N and some other 1320s, but no 1320C. 

When the New Hardware Wizard was done, this message was displayed

The software for this device is now installed, but may not work correctly.

May not work correctly? 

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June 11, 2006. The same printer (known to work fine) was then installed using USB to a Windows XP SP2 machine and things did not go well. 

As with yesterdays install on Windows 2000, I first downloaded the latest PCL6 driver from HP's web site and unzipped it. The driver version was 4.1.100.1332.  

After turning on the printer, Windows tried to install "DOT4 USB Printer Support". What this is, beats me. There were two choices represented by two files:

  C:\Windows\Inf\dot4.inf
  C:\Windows\Inf\usbprint.inf

I opted for the dot4.inf file, but didn't note if this worked or not. 

Windows also wanted to install "Generic IEEE 1284.4 Printing Support". Automatic install fails. Installing from a specific location also fails when pointed to the HP driver directory. Despite this Device Manager shows no errors. 

I rebooted and tried again. This time however, instead of pointing Windows to the "driver" folder, I pointed to the directory above it. Specifically to:

C:\Program Files\Hewlett-Packard\LaserJet 1320 Drivers

then the install worked. Thanks for nothing HP. 

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Another XP machine. 

June 12, 2006. I installed the same printer to another XP SP2 machine, also via USB. This time I kept better notes and, learning from the previous experience (above), had no problem. 

The New Hardware Wizard needed to install "DOT4 USB printing support". I opted for an automatic install which resulted in a choice of USB printing support -or- DOT4 USB printing support. Both are version 5.1.2600.0 and from Microsoft. I chose the DOT4 option and it worked. 

Then the New Hardware Wizard popped up again to install "IEEE 1284.4 Printing Support". I said not to use Windows Update and an automatic install failed. Then I opted to "Install from a list or specific location" and pointed the wizard to the top HP driver folder, not to the "drivers" folder or its sub-folder, DOT4. This worked. 

June 25, 2006. The printer has been a disaster on this XP machine. First Firefox would not print and would instead say "Unknown error occurred while printing" See my Gripes about Firefox. Clicking on the Properties button in the Firefox Print dialog does nothing. No properties pop-up and no error message. 

The printer is using a PCL version 6 driver. I downloaded the drivers from HP's web site very recently. Specifically it's using version 60.41.41.0. The driver "About" page says it was last configured June 12, 2006 and is using the default configuration. The printer is connected on a "DOT4" type port. 

To fix this I had to totally uninstall Firefox and re-install it. I lost all my Firefox customizations and bookmarks. Other applications such as Notepad, Word, the Adobe Acrobat Reader and Internet Explorer could print just fine. Soo too do both my text editors, Textpad and EditPad. 

Then Thunderbird would also not print to the printer. Neither would IrfanView.   

I wrote to HP. Their response was useless and shifted blame.

If you are not able to print from any particular application their could be some conflict with the application and not with the driver or the printer software as you are able to print from other applications. Most of the times uninstalling and reinstalling the application will resolve the issue.

Through Customer Support, we endeavor to provide hardware and software solutions for our customers. Unfortunately, some issues do fall outside our boundaries of support. While we may have visibility to these issues since they affect the overall printing process, we cannot assist customers in altering or adapting applications, networks, operating systems or other third party proprietary information. In some cases HP will be able to provide the end user with limited reference information about a third party application or system, but we are unable to provide support beyond those boundaries. In those cases it is requested the customer refer to their third party vendor or manufacturer for additional information and support.

I wouldn't put much trust in a response from someone who does not understand the difference between "there" and "their". 

FYI

July 16, 2007. Someone asked about using non-HP printer cartridges with this printer. I haven't tried this.

February 7, 2007. A reader of this page wrote to say that CDW stopped selling the 1320 printer a couple days ago.  In its place CDW sells the P2015 Series.

Prices:

• NewEgg sold it for $359. August 28, 2005.
• NewEgg sold it for $340 and HP is offering a $100 rebate. October 25, 2005.
• NewEgg sold it for $265. June 10, 2006.
• Staples normally sells it for $400, but in the after-Thanksgiving rush of sales, offered it for $200. I bought a second one for myself and I recommended someone else also buy one. November 23, 2006.

Email HP for help with a 1320 printer  or call  (800) 474-6836.

The printer is great looking. If you have to stare at a printer day after day, this is as good as any I have seen. It is also fast in printing the first page compared to other laser printers I have used.

The printer is quieter than other laser printers I have used.

HP LaserJet 1320 review by PC World magazine. November 19, 2004. Quoting: "This tiny printer ... prints graphics very slowly and has a limited paper capacity." 

HP LaserJet 1320 review by PC magazine. October 28, 2004.  Quoting: "Graphics and photo quality meet only minimum expectations for monochrome lasers, and its performance is slower than that of other printers that cost less and offer similar quality scores."

A very similar printer is the Samsung ML-2250 which I also have gripes about.