HP CE997A 5 bin Mailbox for HP Laserjet M601 series Printers.

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HP Part CE997A is the 5 bin Mailbox for HP Laserjet Enterprise 600 M601 series Printers (M601, M602, M603). It also fits the P4014 series. However it can't be used with the M630 printers - they are based on the same engine but have a different paper path.

Mailbox / collators are features found on big copiers and HP introduced the idea for office printers with the P4014 CB520A and have carried forward into the M604 series with the F2G81A

The mailbox plugs into the top of the printer when the accessory cover at the top rear is removed. It comprises 5 output slots, each with a capacity of 100 sheets. The face-down tray on top of the printer can still be used so the total output capacity is 1,100 pages. The mailbox has a drive motor to lift paper up and set of flappers and solenoids that determine which bin it emerges in. The mailbox also contains a solenoid which works a path selector in the printer when it is installed.

The mailbox has four modes: mailbox, stacker, job-separator and collator.

  • Mailbox mode assigns a bin to an individual user or group.
  • Stacker mode uses all bins to stack successive copies of a job
  • Job separator mode delivers jobs to individual bins
  • Collator mode delivers each copy into a separate bin.

User copmuter drivers have to be set up to know about the 5-Bin mailbox.

HP Information

HP Partsurfer says about CE997-67901 :

CE997-67901 5 multi-bin mailbox assembly

Icecat says the mailbox has one short product code CE997A and two GTINs (EAN/UPC): 0886111320080, 5711045560606

CE997A is probably intended as the consumer-facing code with CE997-67901

The mailbox fits the M601, M602 and M603 series printers and also the P4014 series. There is a caveat. If the CE997A is first used on an M601 series printer with FutureSmart firmware and then moved to a P4014, P4015 or P4515 there printer control panel will show a message Corrupt Firmware alternating with the Ready message. Firmware will need to be upgraded for the mailbox to function. See the note on HP's website HP LaserJet Enterprise M600 Printer Series - Accessory Compatibility. If the Mailbox is first used on a P4014 series machine then moved to an M601 series the firmware upgrade is automatic.

Web Research

A google Query on CE997A (in quotes") in August 2013 gave About 14,200 results (0.20 seconds) with the first in organic search being as follows:

CE997A

hp.com $425.63, hp.com £423, printware.co.uk £379.84, provantage.com $380.24, hp.pantherdata.com.au $384.25, pricegrabber.com Amazon.com $154.82, ebay.co.uk entercomputers $389.99, ebay.com entercomputers $389.99, printershowcase.com $419.00, costcentral.com $422.09, myshopping.com.au list printer supermarket $357.30, myshopping.com.au Megabuy $349.05, cdw.com $508.99, laptopbatteryonline.co.uk out of stock, idealo.co.uk out of stock, colorhexa.com irrelevant info, bestbuy.com $440.99, shopmania.co.za R6.962, myshopping.com.au printer supermarket $357.30, myshopping.com.au megabuy $349.05, cdw.com $508.99, laptopbatteryonline.co.uk out of stock, idealo.co.uk out of stock, colorhexa.com irrelevant page, bestbuy.com $440.99, shopmania.co.za list Phoenix Tech R6.962, amazon.com onSale $478.99+$58.58, i-tech.com.au $385.00, totaleware.com $375.00, shopbot.com.au list Nanobyte Solutions $359.27, shopbot.ca list Directdial $464, pcsuperstore.com $422.09, printerworks.com refurb $264.04, orionmarket.com $448.69, shop.xma.co.uk login for price, amazon.co.uk ZAR Systems £786.00, idealo.de € 378.60, shop.digitec.ch CHF 630

Prices noted are for a new item, one off, without tax. The list is as encountered. We haven't bothered with currency conversion - half of our readers are outside the UK and are more interested in dollar prices (US, Canadian, Australian etc).

None of the websites seen gave any further information on the product - two listings give irrelevant pages, two show no price or basket. No helpful blogs on this part. All the rest were merely vendors giving no more information than found in the HP brochure.

Supply Situation

The part is listed by a couple of distributors but they didn't hold stock in 2013 and still don't in July 2015. We think demand for the mailbox is quite low and met from HP European or even global stock as needed..

We may be able to provide this part when required. When we examined pricing in 2013 it looked to be about £379. In 2015 pricing looked as though it might fall a bit nearer the £300 mark.

Prices mentioned are merely guidelines, our prices change with distribution lists - see the catalog. Stock numbers indicate there is not much call for the part.


Copyright G & J Huskinson & MindMachine Associates Ltd 2013, 2015. Some pictures derived from HP User and Service guides. These technical pages do not constitute an offer for sale; just our knowledge at the time of writing. See the catalog. Sales pages on this Web site use cookies to store user information. We also use Google Analytics to track site useage patterns.