HP Original Cartridges

New Printers

Two cartridge sizes giving a choice of economies

CF226A 3100 page cartridge for reliable personal print without a big investment. CF226X 9,000 page cartridge for little printers that are seeing heavy use.

HP LaserJet Pro M402 Printer.

The HP LaserJet Pro M402 is an A4 mono laser printer.   Mono laser printers have remained popular despite or perhaps because of that obvious limitation that they won't print colour - there isn't that temptation to waste ink. Mono laser printers are also the most reliable way to print and there is just one print cartridge to change.

The HP LaserJet Pro M402 series are "midrange" products, offering features offices value such as network sharing, duplex and the ability to take an extra tray. The series also offer some of the new bells and whistles like NFC touch-to-print, so it has some big- printer features at an easily affordable price-point.

All the printers look identical from the front, the non-network version has a blank in the rear where the port would be.

The additional 550 sheet tray can be added when needed. (In October 2015 there doesn't seem to be an "X" version of the printer offering it as part of a bundle.

Duplex is not an installable option. If you buy without it can't be fitted later. That is probably true for the wireless components as well because they would need to be offered as options and be supported in firmware. HP don't mention the possibility of the JetDirect wireless servers in the brochures.

Some regions may not have all models available. The 16 page brochure (4AA5-9375EEE), omits the "dw" model which may mean they don't intend to sell it in Europe - or it may be an afterthought.

Non of the M402 models are intended to be available in China or India; they have the M403 series and a different cartridge the 28A and 28X - no doubt with rather different pricing. HP's brochure (4AA5-9378EEAP) says the M403dw is not for sale in India. Regionalisation is something that seems to please marketing people.

Comparison

The LaserJet Pro M402 was introduced in September 2015 and will replace the M401 (which dates from 2012).   Compared with it's predecessor, HP have dropped the touchscreen control from these models - if you want that you'll need to look at the M506. However they have increased the size of the toners with an offering at 3,100 pages (M401 was 2,700)and 9,000 pages (M401 was 6,900). The bigger cartridges are actually considerably bigger than those of the P2015 which has been a very popular machine.   Another big improvement is in the duplex speed which rises from 16 impressions per minute for the M401 to 30ipm for the M402.

		This table, drawn from HP's brochure, compares the new HP LaserJet Pro M402 series with the HP LaserJet Pro 400 M401 series:
HP LaserJet Pro M402dn	HP LaserJet Pro 400 M401dne	Benefits
First page out (FPO) from ready: as fast as 5.7 seconds, A4 10	FPO from ready: as fast as 8 seconds, A4 10	Get right to work, with up to 29% faster FPO from ready mode
Duplex print speed: up to 30 ipm, A4 6	Duplex print speed: up to 16 ipm, A4 6	Save time with 88% faster two-sided printing faster than the competition 2
Print speed: up to 38 ppm, A4 6	Print speed: up to 33 ppm, A4 6	Save time with 15% faster output
Original HP Toner cartridges with JetIntelligence (A/X): 3,100/9,000 pages 11,12	Original HP toner cartridges (A/X): 2,700/6,900 pages 11	Less user intervention—get 30% more prints per optional high-yield cartridge 12
Printer size (width x depth x height): 381 x 357 x 216 mm	364.6 x 368 x 271 mm	Save space with this compact printer that’s 18% smaller than its predecessor
Job storage with PIN printing 5	Not available	Improved security and storage
Quick, accurate online help for HP LaserJet Pro devices	Not available	Easy access to up-to-date troubleshooting guides
Maximum input capacity: 900 sheets; cassette 250, MP- tray 100 Optional tray 3 holds 550 sheets	Maximum input capacity: 800 sheets; cassette 250, MP- tray 50 Optional tray 3 holds 500 sheets	Less user intervention—larger capacity allows you to add a whole ream before the paper in the tray runs completely out
M402d £136.22,   M402dn £166.30 CF226A 3,100 pages £ xxx CF226X 9,000 pages £67.07 MMA price Ex VAT 16th Oct 2015.	M401d £165.00,   M401dn £176.00 CF280A 2,700 pages £55.36 CF280X 6,900 pages £96.47 MMA price Ex VAT 16th Oct 2015.	The M402 is cheaper to buy and cheaper to run.   What is not to like?

The M402 is aimed at small office use. HP say they are aiming this at teams of three to ten people—printing 750 to 4,000 pages per month .   We might suggest the M506 printer with the option of 9,000 or 18,000 page cartridges would work out more economical beyond one or two thousand pages per month (Print brands like you to use a cartridge per month for obvious reasons).   The M402 is likely to find a role in tasks like medicine, insurance, banking and travel where printing on the individual desktop is a frequent requirement and reliability is at a premium.   The HP brand counts for something as well.

What HP Say

Top Features

Shift your office into high gear with a powerful printer that doesn’t keep you waiting. Print your first page and two-sided prints faster than the competition, ¹ and help keep your device,data, and documents safe—from boot up to shutdown.

Print more consistent, high-quality pages than ever before. ² Specially designed Original HP Toner cartridges with JetIntelligence deliver better performance, higher energy efficiency, and authentic HP quality—which the competition can’t match. ²

Take control of printing—and save energy. Use a suite of essential features to help you easily manage this power-conserving printer. It’s built to fit right into your office space and work style.

Keep business nimble when needs shift or opportunity strikes—in the office or on the go. ³

Print wirelessly with or without accessing the network, ^{4, 5} and stay connected with Ethernet capabilities. Print with a touch from mobile devices. ^{3, 6}

Note HP's love of footnotes - were wondering what to do about them

Brand:

HP's "LaserJet" brand comes from their launch of the first affordable office laserprinter in 1984. LaserJets changed the nature of office work over the next few years, making typewriters a thing of the past.

HP have been the market leader in computer print ever since; hence their slogan "The world's most preferred printers" .   They work in a tough market though, with competition from Brother, Canon, Dell, Lexmark, Oki, Samsung and Xerox - all of them with a printer in this small-office segment.

In developing the printer the HP ran a "competitive selection" against some of their leading opposition in this market segment, Kyoceras ECOSYS P2135dn, the Brother 54500N and Samsung ProXpress M4020ND.   Not surprisingly HP came out top in terms of printer size, first page out time, energy consumption and duplex printer speed. (Search for the PDF 4AA6-1291ENW, September 2015).

Of course, if you wanted a black printer to go with the decor (or a goth lifestyle) you will be buying Dell.   HP's house style has shifted to a very pale white.

Specification

HP's mid-market A4 mono laser printer. Speeds of 38 pages per minute only slowing to 30 images per minute with duplex. Small footrprint on desks, low purchase price and reasonable running cost.

Control:

Control panels are one of those things you scarcely ever miss - until you haven't got one. Try setting up the network on a printer without one; guess which IP address it just got - and from which router. Guess what the funny flashy light message means - paper jam or fuser dead ?   For no particular reason low end laser printers generally don't have one although inkjets often do.

HP have put a control panel on all models of this printer and support technicians will be thankful.

• Embedded Web Server : provides comprehensive control over the printer to authorised users on networked models.
• HP Utility for Mac OS X:
• HP Utility for Windows:

Although there is a capability for PIN printing there is no numeric keypad and entering the code via the cursor keys will probably try people's patience. If pin secured print is a serious requirement look at the M506.

What HP Say

Keep printing safe—from boot up to shutdown—with embedded features like LDAP authentication.

Embedded security features for greater protection

Keep printing safe—from boot up to shut down. This printer uses embedded security features to guard against complex threats— so you can be confident your device, data, and documents are protected.

With Pro series security, you can define which clients/devices are allowed on the network, manage the industry-standard of SNMP configuration, and decide which ports/IP addresses have access to printer features. Utilise data encryption and optional password settings for improved security.

Protect information and confidential print jobs with encrypted job storage with PIN printing—just plug a flash drive into the USB port located on the back of the M402n and M402dn models. ⁵

Streamline fleet security

HP JetAdvantage Security Manager delivers the most comprehensive printing security in the market, with policy-based protection for printing and imaging devices. ¹⁶

Technical Details

Embedded Web Server: password-protection, secure browsing via SSL/TLS

Network: enable/disable network ports and features, SNMPv1 and SNMPv2 community password change

HP ePrint: HTTPS with certificate validation, HTTP Basic Access Authentication, SASL authentication

Firewall and ACL; SNMPv3, 802.1X, Secure Boot

Security Features:

HP's headline argument for these printers is Impressive speed. Solid security.

Printer security rose up the agenda a few years ago when it emerged that many had little or no protection and that firmware could be freely updated by almost anyone with access to a network. Printer firmware could also be "hacked" to act as a trojan.

There certainly are some rather odd sites offering to fix "Error 13" (Paper Jam) and "Error 50" (Fuser) if you just download some software. Since neither of those faults have a software fix we assume they are playing on gullibility. The probability is that they will install malware under Windows rather than attempt to re-engineer your printer - but whilst that might be spotted by anti-virus software invading the printer would not.

Network security is a real threat. Routers usually have firewalls and NAT but most don't have regular firmware upgrades. Networks in colleges and many places with WiFi have pretty free access so a printer would be exposed. As it happens it wouldn't be easy to recompile the Coldfire or MIPs code for an old printer to include a trojan - but it might be possible to add an application that mimicked forms software and would pass unnoticed. A printer could act as a network spy.

Printer hardware hasn't advanced by leaps and bounds in the last decade so brands rather lack good arguments to sell new kit. Security is one of them. Many sites need PCI-DSS certification and printers could be an issue.

Print brands are naturally keen to sell new kit, but the security issues they are raising do deserve some consideration.

Copier Version

The M402 is a plain printer.   The LaserJet Pro MFP M426fdn and M426fdw are the print, copy, scan and fax versions of the machine - and take the same cartridges.

The M426 gets a flatbed scanner with a 50-sheet double sided Automatic Document Feeder (DADF). Double sided automatic document feed is a bit of a novelty at this price point.

The M426 also has a 7.5 cm colour touchscreen.   So if you like the spec of the M402 but want something a bit more exciting try the M426.

HP and some other manufacturers established the idea of a "duty cycle" as a way to indicate robustness many years ago. It used to be given in pages per month but that phrase seems to have gone. We have gone on citing it through habit.

What we would actually like is an indication of intended fuser life because that is the critical component in a laser printer. That figure is usually buried in the service manual - and sometimes not even there.

Duty Cycle:

Durability ratings

• Recommended monthly page volume (RMPV): 24 750 pages to as high as 4,000 pages
• Duty cycle: 25 up to 80,000 pages (A4/letter)

What HP Say

Grab the documents you need and go— there’s no waiting around. This printer wakes from energy efficient sleep mode and starts printing in as fast as 8.1 seconds, A4 ¹⁰ — faster than the competition, ² so your pages are ready right when you need them. Speed through big jobs with print speeds up to 38 ppm, A4. ⁶

Fast, two-sided printing.⁴

Breeze through multipage documents with two-sided printing up to 30 ipm, A4—faster than the competition ² (M402d and dn models only). Complete tasks quickly and efficiently. Plus, reduced paper use helps lower printing costs. With the optional 550-sheet paper tray, you can add a whole ream before the paper in the tray runs completely out. And all trays support a wide variety of media weights and sizes.

2 Based on HP internal tests

4 M402d and M402dn models

6 measured to ISO/IEC 24734

10 measured to ISO/IEC 17629.

Print Speed:

• Print speed: 38 pages per minute A4. (40ppm US letter)
• Print speed duplex: 30 ipm

Duplex speeds tend to be given in "ipm" - images or impressions per minute because there are two images per page.   Duplex speeds on some recent printers are markedly lower than that for single sided print. Paper exiting the fuser makes its way back under the print path to emerge back in the print station. There are different approaches to duplexing printers such as intercalating pages whilst the duplex works to get better throughput. HP have greatly improved on the M401 performance in this respect, doubling the duplex print speed.

Sheer print speed isn't particularly helpful if the printer has a long "think" before actually starting the print job. HP claim a fast First page out:

• From ready: as fast as 5.7 seconds, A4 (as fast as 5.6 seconds, US letter)
• From sleep: as fast as 8.1 seconds, A4 (as fast as 8 seconds, US letter)

Laser printer speed has always been a rather odd figure. The first laser printers built in the 1970s were based on copiers and were quite fast, delivering over 80 pages per minute. To get the "LaserJet" HP based the machine on Canon's "Personal Copier" which was a cut-down machine intended for home use, so not as quick.   Another limitation on speed was the processor used to turn the page language into an image. The Motorola 6800 used in early printers ran at just 8MHz and was pretty much maxed-out. For the LaserWriter Apple used the same processor but the more expensive 12MHz device to support a much bigger memory and the PostScript language. Laser printer speeds have historically been quite slow because of limited processor and communication speeds and not because of any fundamental constraint by the machinery.

Printers also used to be limited by memory. An A4 page printed with plain black and white pixels at 300 dpi needs a megabyte of RAM. Double the resolution to 600dpi and the memory footprint grows to 4Mb and at 1200dpi it would potentially be 16MB - although the printer might use compression techniques.   It is only quite recently that printers have had enough memory to deal with production of one complex image whilst receiving another over the network.

Printer speed has also quite often been a surrogate for durability and serviceability ; with faster printers being better built. More capable pickup rollers, a better fuser, better gear materials and higher motor ratings.

Since most modern processors use very small transistors that run at about a gigahertz (1.2Ghz in the M402 case) turning the page language into an image is no longer an issue. Even fairly small printers are capable of about 40 pages per minute.

Laser printers usually perform something near their rated speed in day to day service, unlike inkjets.

A lot of modern mono printers like the M402 are capable of fast print, so print speed is losing its validity as a point of choice between them.   We generally recommend looking at cartridge size and pricing first, then at paper capacity because a machine that takes more paper needs fewer "user interventions" and so will prove less trouble.

Print Resolution:

• Engine resolution:Black (fine lines): up to 1200 x 1200 dpi
• Claimed quality: Black (default/best): HP FastRes 1200

Laser printers rarely exceed an engine resolution of 600 or perhaps 1200dpi. There seem to be two reasons:

Physically it is difficult. Whilst a laser beam could be a micron in diameter the dot of charge formed on an photoconductive surface will be significantly larger depending on the strength of the field. Repulsion of toner will be erratic in nature but larger still. so that a dot about 25 microns across is no surprise)

There is no point. If you want precision reproduction of photography use an inkjet, wet electrophotographic, dye sub or LED-photographic printer. Laser printers are for comprehensible print produced by reliable machines.

We haven't yet found anything stating whether 300 dpi can be specified. For jobs across VPNs and other limited capacity links a lower specification can sometimes be preferable. It's not a frequent issue but we aim to be thorough.

Paper Handling:

The M402 has an A4/Letter 8.5 inch paper path with two inputs:

• 100 sheet fold down multipurpose tray at the front of the printer (MP tray)
• 250-sheet cassette input tray sliding into the printers lower body

An optional second cassette with 550 sheet capacity can be added under the printer. &esnp; This is a popular option with shared printers in legal and insurance offices where the large tray is used to hold plain paper whilst the other holds letterhead.

Media weights

• Tray 1: 60 to 175 g/m2 (16 to 47 lb)
• Tray 2 and optional Tray 3: 60 to 120 g/m2 (16 to 32 lb)

We haven't spotted any reference to a straight-through path allowing heavier media so it appears it isn't provided.

Incidentally as engineers and spares vendors we are continually taken aback by the number of people who don't know that their printer has a multipurpose or "MP" tray for putting things like envelopes and letterhead through the machine. They are ugly, but they can be useful.   One very good use is that the MP tray has it's own pickup rollers so if paper won't feed from the cassette but will feed from the MP tray that strongly suggests the cassette feed roller is worn out and just needs changing. Knowing that will save you money buying a new printer because of a trivial fault.

If you were about to replace your M401 with an M402 because it keeps misfeeding, buy RM1-6414 £5.40 +vatand the pad RM1-6303 £8.5 +vatThe roller is spring loaded and pushes into place. The pad is held by two screws.

Duplex:

The M402 printers have duplex as a purchase-time option. Once you have bought the printer duplex can't be fitted.   Unless the printer will be used for something like labelling we advice opting for the duplex versions - it saves paper and reports tend to look more professional.

• Duplex: up to 30 ipm, A4 (up to 32 ipm, letter)

Processor:

Processor 1200 MHz.

Memory:

Memory 128 MB

Not on a par with the 512MB fitted on the M506 - but then these printers aren't intended to be so busy.

Interface:

• Hi-Speed USB 2.0,

Some models have Host USB for job storage. How useful that is on a printer with no numeric keypad for PIN entry we wouldn't know.

Network:

A network connection has two uses: it makes it easy to share a printer regardless of whether other computers on the network are turned on, and it makes it easy to see the printer status in more detail than is available through the control panel. The control panel is still handy though - it helps network setup.

• Built-in 10/100/1000 Base-TX Ethernet with auto-crossover.

Print Languages:

HP PCL 5, HP PCL 6, HP postscript level 3 emulation, direct PDF (v 1.7) printing, URF, PCLM, PWG.

Fonts: 84 scalable TrueType fonts; Additional font solutions available at hp.com/go/laserjetfonts

System-Compatibility:

These printers understand the standard print languages PCL 5, PCL6 and Postscript and will presumably respond to ordinary ASCII / UTF-8 code with Form feeds and PJL for tray selection (although HP don't say in the brochure).

We can't really do more than uncritically list what HP say: other than for Linux, drivers are closed source.

The straight-forward printer will probably work configured as just about any A4 "LaserJet" but the accessory tray might not work.

Lets simplify this.   These printers work with just about every normal operating system.   The "dw" versions work directly with mobile devices as well.

Few things are an unalloyed environmental good.

Computer memory is, because it has the potential to use the least possible material to store information - terabytes per square inch of surface on a hard disk.

Computer screens are still rather poor. Anything large enough to be easy to read tends to be physically difficult to carry and use electrical energy. E-books display things with low energy but won't integrate into a system.

Printed paper tends to present information with greater clarity than screens but material consumption is an issue. By far the biggest waste stream from print is paper. In it's favour, 80% is recycled.

Cartridges are largely plastic and can be re-used. Printer brands (including HP ) tend to shred waste then recover materials.

Cartridge remanufacturers replace worn components and refill the toner hopper. Remanufacturing looks like the best approach but isn't quite so reliable.

Big cartridges are better than small ones because the proportion of useful material is higher.

Environment:

Environmental ranges

Temperatures Operating/Recommended: 17.5 to 25° C (63.5 to 77° F); Storage: -20 to 40°C (-4 to 104° F)

Relative humidity range: Operating/Recommended: 30 to 70% RH (non-condensing); Non-operating: 10 to 90% RH (non-condensing)

Environmental Impact

Environmental specifications: Mercury free

Acoustic Noise:

Acoustic power emissions: Ready mode: Inaudible; Active printing: 6.8 B(A)

Acoustic pressure emissions (bystander): Ready mode: Inaudible; Active printing: 54 dB(A)

What HP Say

Take control of printing—and save energy. Use a suite of essential features to help you easily manage this power‐conserving printer. It’s built to fit right into your office space and work style.

Keep productivity up and energy use down. This efficient printer uses less energy than competitors ¹⁴ without slowing down— enhanced by Original HP toner with JetIntelligence.

With its intelligent design, this printer can help you meet your energy goals, without sacrificing performance:

• HP Auto-On/Auto-Off Technology— intelligence that can turn your printer on when you need it and off when you don’t. ¹³

With Instant-on Technology, the fuser warms rapidly and cools quickly, helping you conserve energy. ²⁰

• In addition to the energy-saving features, the M402d and M402dn models are Blue Angel compliant and ENERGY STAR® certified.
• Support for thin media allows users to print on papers as light as 60 g/m 2 .

Power:

110-volt input voltage: 110 to 127 VAC (+/- 10%), 50/60 Hz (+/- 2 Hz);

220-volt input voltage: 220 to 240 VAC (+/- 10%), 50/60 Hz (+/- 2 Hz)

(Not dual voltage, power supply varies by part number with #option code identifier)

Power Consumption:

591 watts (Active Printing), 6.1 watts (Ready), 2.8 watts (Sleep), 0.6 watts (Auto-On/Auto-Off, via USB connectivity), 0.1 watts (Shutdown or Off)

Typical Electricity Consumption (TEC) 1.40 kWh/Week (Blue Angel); 1.54 kWh/Week (ENERGY STAR)

Energy-saving features: Instant-on Technology, HP Auto-On/Auto-Off Technology 13 Save energy and easily manage tasks

What HP Say

The perfect fit, wherever you need it.

Make the most of your office space. This compact HP LaserJet Pro printer is 18% smaller than its predecessor—the perfect size to conveniently fit right into your shared work area and work style.

Dimensions:

Dimensions (width x depth x height)

• Minimum: 381 x 357 x 216 mm (15 x 14.06 x 8.5 in)
• Maximum: 381 x 634 x 241 mm (15 x 25 x 9.5 in)

Weight:

• Weight (with cartridges) 8.58 kg (18.92 lb)

Make the most of your office space, with a printer that conveniently fits right into your work style.

This compact HP LaserJet Pro printer is 18% smaller than its predecessor—the perfect size to conveniently fit right into your shared work area and work style.

What HP Say

Bring out the best in your printer. Print more consistent, high‐quality pages than ever before, ¹ using specially designed Original HP Toner cartridges with JetIntelligence. Count on better performance, higher energy efficiency, and the authentic HP quality you paid for—something the competition simply can’t match. ¹

More pages than ever before ¹ Be confident you’re getting the most out of every cartridge you buy. HP JetIntelligence Toner cartridges deliver up to 30% more pages ¹ than ever before with page maximiser technology. Consistently predict toner levels with print gauge technology. ¹⁷

HP quality—print after print

Precision black toner is engineered to deliver consistent placement of toner particles and produce sharp text, bold blacks, and crisp graphics. It is precisely tuned to match the powerful performance of the M402 printer series.

Protect your investment. Don’t be fooled by cartridges that attempt to mimic Original HP. Innovative anti‐fraud technology helps identify whether a cartridge is Original HP, used, or counterfeit—to help ensure you’re getting the authentic HP quality you paid for.

High yield, low intervention. Don’t waste important business time replacing toner cartridges. Optional high‐yield cartridges enable uninterrupted printing for longer periods of time. ¹²

HReady to work, right away Speed through print jobs right out of the box—without even opening the cartridge door. The M402 series is shipped with preinstalled, specially designed Original HP Toner cartridges with JetIntelligence—ready to print.

Consumables:

As usual with HP printers these use a one-piece or all-in-one cartridge that incorporates toner, developer, drum and waste chamber in one. The idea originated in the 1980s and hasn't progressed a huge amount since.

One progression was the idea of growing styrene acrylate toner in solution around a wax core. This has several advantages, notably that the results are more spherical than a toner made by crushing leading to more regular shapes on the page. Another advantage is that the wax melts at a lower temperature so the fuser needs less heat, and it also acts as a release agent helping stop the build-up of contamination on the fuser rollers.

HP reckon they have advanced things with "JetIntelligence" cartridges; as they say on their website HP Innovation Brings Breakthrough Printing Technology … - well perhaps. These cartridges do seem to offer better value. HP reckon they give 33% more on average.

HP 26A Black Original LaserJet Toner Cartridge (~3,100 pages) CF226A

HP 26X High Yield Black Original LaserJet Toner Cartridge (~9,000 pages) CF226X

It's interesting that HP are confident enough to ship the cartridge pre-installed. There is always that moment of doubt with a new toy where you wonder if its all set up correctly.   Perhaps its British doubt, but we'd almost certainly open the lid and make sure the toner is actually in there before turning it on.

There's a bit of good ole US marketing going on here as well. The lower priced M402n and 402d apparently ship with half-capacity "introductory" cartridges that just print 1500 pages. It is common with low cost printers, but seems a bit mean.

What's in the Box:

You don't get a data cable.   You almost never get a data cable with a printer.

We don't currently know what you get with the "dw" because it isn't in the brochure.

Warranty:

The brochure says:

Warranty One-year warranty, return to HP Authorised Service Provider, backed by HP Customer Care with 24 x 7 web support and business hour phone support

Warranty varies with regional policy.

Spares:

So far, the only spare listed is a replacement cassette. Obviously the rollers and fuser will usually be more important.

RM2-5392-000CN HP LaserJet250-sheet paper input tray Replacement cassette for Tray 2

Options and Accessories:

There is one accessory, the optional extra tray.

RM2-5413-000CN HP LaserJet M402 1 x 550 Paper Feeder 550-sheet paper feeder (optional Tray 3) RM2-5413-000CN

Safety:

Copyright G & J Huskinson & MindMachine Associates Ltd 2015. Some pictures derived from HP Sources such as Web, 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 usage patterns.