HP LaserJet 4, 4M, 4+, 4M+ and LaserJet 5 and 5M One of HPs most succeful printers the LaserJet 4 came into widespread use as offices adopted word-processing in the mid 1990s. They are still used today as they produce crisp, clean looking office paperwork, have a big cartridge delivering 6,000 or more pages and low running costs. The LaserJet 4 family are also fairly simple to maintain as long as cartridges, fusers and roller kits available. The only problem is that the printer has to be partly dismantled to change some rollers.
The main issues are that they aren't particularly fast at 8 to 12 pages per minute. With a native 600dpi resolution, basic enhancement technology and limited memory they don't reproduce photographs or PDF's well. For basic office work they still work well.
- LaserJet 4 - C2001A - "EX", 8ppm
- LaserJet 4M - C2021A - "EX", 8ppm, PostScript, Ethernet
- LaserJet 4+ - C2037A - "EXII", 12ppm
- LaserJet 4M+ - C2039A - "EXII", 12ppm PostScript, Ethernet
The LaserJet 4 is based on a Canon "EX" engine. Canon sold printers under their own name as well, they lacked the PCL 5 language and HP's Windows drivers. The 4+ is based on the very similar EXII which simply runs rather faster by changing a few parts.
The successor to the LaserJet 4+ was the LaserJet 5. It uses the same Canon EXII engine with a faster processor and various stylistic differences. It in turn "morphed" into the LaserJet 4000 series.
HP no longer supply parts for the LaserJet 4 series, it was introduced in 1992 so it is well beyond the 5 year support term. Although it is obsolescent there are still users and some parts are available refurbished.
Control: Small control panel with a single line LED text display for menus, selections and prompts.
Keys are: Online, FormFeed, MP Paper Size, Enter. Shift/ Menu/Reset. Item/Continue. + / - .
Speed: The basic "4" and "4M" models are rated at 8 pages per minute. The 4+ and 4M+ models at 12 pages per minute
Resolution: 600x600 dpi enhanced by REt
Paper Handling: cut sheet around A4 size.
Tray 1 is a fold down adjustable multifunction tray on the printer front. It can hold around 100 sheets of 80 gsm paper (letterhead for instance) or about 10 envelopes. An envelope feeder is available as an optional extra
Tray 2 is a cassette pulling out from under the printer. It holds up to 250 sheets of A4 (or letter) sized paper.
The main accessory allowed on the 4 was an envelope feeder holding up to 75. Later printers just used the less effective abilities of the multifunction tray - or window envelopes, or sticky labels. The envelope feeder was a nice idea but using the wrong grade of envelope can cause sticky material to build up, particularly in the fuser.
Memory: 2MB as standard and 4 x SIMM slots for FPM memory giving a maximum of 32 MB.
Fonts: Intellifont and TrueType scalable fonts. One font cartridge slot. (This was one of the last printers to allow a font cartridge rather than simply downloading them. Font cartridges were rare on this model and the idea was dropped)
Interface. Parallel Port (IEEE 1284 B) and an MIO slot.
Network: The "4M" has an MIO card supporting Ethernet and Apple LocalTalk.
Microsoft DOS and Windows in just about any variety. 4M provides PostScript, aimed at the Apple Mac. There is no direct support for Linux but the printer has been widely used with it. There is limited memory on most printers and that may be a problem printing pictures, PDFs and some web pages. Postscript takes more printer memory than PCL so try switching languages if there is a problem.
Print Language: PCL 5, HP-GL/2 for plotter support. The 4M was designed for Apple MAc compatibility and has built-in PostScript Level 2.
Power: 110 volt US and Japan and 220 volt EU and UK models.
Consumables: HP Cartridge for LJ 4, 4+, 4M, 4M+, 5, 5M, 5N, 5Se. Yield 6,800 pages - 92298A
New Fuser and maintenance kit, 220V (EX) - C2001-67913
New Fuser and maintenance kit, 110V (EX) - C2001-67914
Fuser 220V (EX) - RG5-0455-000
Fuser 110V (EX) - RG5-0454-000
Feed Roller Kit.
Options and Accessories:
250 Sheet Universal Cassette - C2085D
Envelope Feeder with capacity of 75 - C2082B