HP Color LaserJet 2500

An affordable entry level colour laser printer first released in September 2002. Aimed at producing professional documents for small businesses and home offices.

  • HP Color LaserJet 2500L - C9705A - A "Light" Base model
  • HP Color LaserJet 2500 - C9706A - with 250 sheet Tray 2
  • HP Color LaserJet 2500n - C9707A -Tray 2, Jetdirect 615n Ethernet
  • HP Color LaserJet 2500tn - C9708A - Tray 2,3 and 615n Ethernet

The CLJ 2500 uses 4 Pass laserprint technology based on a carousel. This allows print speeds up to 16 pages per minute in black and white, slowing to 4 pages per minute when colour is wanted.

The main disadvantage of this printer is it's slightly high copy price. HP cite the price as around 12 US cents per page for colour and 2.4 cents for black but users seem to find the printers expensive to run. One issue might be the cost of imaging drums at over £100 - people used to mono printers don't face this cost. Another might be that when the printer starts it tests all the colour toners and wastes material in doing so - this is common with colour laser printers but the CLJ2500 was often bought by small offices where low daily usage can make the effect rather noticeable.

HP's alternative small business colour laser printer is the Color LaserJet 1600 / 2600/ 2605/ CM1015MFP series. The CLJ 2600 design gives faster colour printing at 8 pages per minute but slower black and white print at only 8 to 12 pages per minute depending on the specific model.

The CLJ2500 is obsolescent and no longer sold (In the UK it sold for £250 to £300) it was updated to the CLJ2550 which looks very similar and the multifunction CLJ 2820/ 2840 MFP. The main advantage of the newer model is 20ppm mono printing. It also has 2 sizes of cartridge, a fuser that supports transparencies and an improved print-density calibration routine. Cartridges from the 2500 won't work in the 2550 and vice versa.


Control:

Simple buttons and LEDs to indicate consumable levels.


Duty Cycle:

30,000 pages per month


up to 16ppm black or 4ppm in colour.

Copier:

The print-engine was used in the multifunction CLJ 2820 / 2840 MFP


True 600-by-600 dots per inch (dpi) text and graphics. ImageREt 2400 provides 2,400-dpi color laser print quality through a multilevel printing process.


Paper Handling:

A4 and letter. 2 trays as standard. Multifunction tray 1. sheets copier paper.

  • Tray 1:Multifuctional for letterhead, etc 150 sheets
  • Tray 2:250 sheets (Not provided on the cut-down 2500L)
  • Tray 3:Optional 500 sheet tray for input capacity to 875 sheets

Face Down:

Output is normally to a face-down tray on the top

Duplex:

Manual duplex is supported in software. There is no auto-duplex option.

Processor:

300MHz processor

Memory:

64MB RAM expandable to 256MB


Interface:

USB 1.1 or Parallel IEEE 1284-B


Network:

1 open EIO slot or a JetDirect 615N. EIO slot for JetDirect card - supplied on "N" models. HP embedded web server.


HP PCL 5c, HP PCL6, PostScript 3 emulation.


System Compatability:

System Compatability: Microsoft Windows 98, ME, XP. Apple Mac 9.x and OS X.


Power:

220 volt model for the UK and Europe and 110 volt model for the US and Japan


Dimensions:

HWD 325x482x451 (taller with extra trays)


Consumables:

Print supplies level shown by LEDs in a simple control panel. Cartridges are common to the 1500/2500 series. The consumables don't fit the CLJ 2550. As usual in a colour laser printer there are cyan , magenta, yellow and black toners (cmyk process).


C9700A HP Black LJ 1500/2500 cartridge (5,000 pages) - C9700A

C9701A HP Cyan LJ 1500/2500 cartridge (4,000 pages) - C9701A

C9703A HP Magenta LJ 1500/2500 cartridge (4,000 pages) - C9703A

C9702A HP Yellow LJ 1500/2500 cartridge (4,000 pages) - C9702A


Alternative remanufactured cartridges. Remanufactured cartridges can substantially reduce the cost of printing however they are not rcommended where colour accuracy is required - design proofs and photographic work for instance. These printers are not really accurate enough for those purposes of course, so that may not matter.

C9700A-REM, Silver Reed Black LJ 1500/2500 remanufactured cartridge yield 5000 pages, SI5028

C9701A-REM, Silver Reed Cyan LJ 1500/2500 remanufactured cartridge yield 4000 pages, SI5029

C9703A-REM, Silver Reed Magenta LJ 1500/2500 remanufactured cartridge yield 4000 pages, SI5031

C9702A-REM, Silver Reed Yellow LJ 1500/2500 remanufactured cartridge yield 4000 pages, SI5030


Drum:

C9704A, Imaging drum ( life 20,000 black pages, 5,000 colour - C9704-67902

C9704A-REM, Remanufactured Imaging Drum LJ 1500/2500 life 20k black or 5k colour pages, C9704A

Fuser:

The fuser in a laser printer uses heat and pressure to bond the wax-resin toner into the paper. Over time the fusers working surfaces wear out and it is also possible for the heater to fail. Although fusers can be repaired the job is generally regarded as uneconomic and the usual approach is to replace the whole unit.

RM1-3525, Fuser for the 1500/2500/L (Fixing Assembly 220 Volt) - RM1-3525-000CN

RG5-6903, Fuser for LJ 1500/2500 110 Volt, RG5-6903-000CN, apparently discontinued

Maintenance Kit:

There isn't a specific maintenance kit for this printer. Buy a fuser and the relevant rollers

Spares:

RB3-0160 HP CLJ 1500/2500 Tray 1 Pickup Roller D shaped - RB3-0160-000CN

RF5-4012 HP CLJ 1500/2500 Tray 1 separation pad - RF5-4012-000CN

RB3-0161 HP CLJ 1500/2500 Tray 2 Pickup Roller D shaped on plastic shaft - RB3-0161-000CN

RF5-4258, HP CLJ 1500/2500 Tray 2 Separation Pad - RF5-4258-020CN

RF5-4040, HP CLJ 1500/2500 Transfer Roller - RF5-4040-020CN

RG5-6952, Paper Pick-Up Roller for multipurpose tray, RG5-6952-020CN - (formerly RG5-6952-000CN)

RG5-6897 Top Bin Upper Roller Assembly for CLJ 1500/2500 - RG5-6897-020CN

RG5-6936, Top Bin Lower Roller Assembly for CLJ 1500/2500 - RG5-6936-000CN

Q1894-60001, Formatter Assembly for CLJ 1500 without cage - Q1894-60001 (Discontinued)

RB3-0129 Tray 2 Feed Roller Assy - RB3-0129020CN

C9704-67902 Image Drum Transfer Assy - C9704-67902

RG5-6960-000CN, High Voltage Power Supply for CLJ 1500/2500 - RG5-6960-000CN

RH3-2241-000CN, Power Supply for CLJ 1500/2500 - RH3-2241-000CN

RH3-2243 LV Power Supply - RH3-2243-000CN

RG5-6959-060CN DC Controller for CLJ 1500/2500 - RG5-6959-060CN C9705-69003

RG5-6880-000CN, Laser Scanner Assembly for CLJ 1500/2500, RG5-6880-000CN

RG5-6914 Tray 2 Paper Tray Assy - RG5-6914040CN

C9705-69003 DC Controller - C9705-69003

Service:

Errors: The printer shows any sort of issue by flashing the "Attention" LED. This normally shows that paper has run out, there is a paper jam, or that the toner cartridge door is open. A secondary error code is shown by the LEDs when the Go and Cancel buttons are both held at the same time.


Options and Accessories:

C9698A, HP 250 sheet tray and feeder unit fits LJ 1500/2500, (standard on the CLJ2500/ CLJ2500N and CLJ 2500TN - C9698A

C9699A, HP 500 sheet tray and feeder unit fits LJ 1500/2500 - C9699A

Copyright G Huskinson & MindMachine Associates Ltd 2012