Pros: Small footprint, quality prints, FAST, price, reasonably priced toner cartridges
Cons: Longevity? Memory not upgradable, ON/OFF switch on back, weak top paper holder (rest) design
The bottom line: See my "Bottom line" in the review at the bottom.
Goodbye to an old friend. I've been using an HP 4-Plus laser printer for the past 12 years in my graphics business. It's been a real workhorse, but all horses must be put to pasture eventually, and this thorobred's fuser finally went out after....well, I'd hate to even think about how many pages have run through it after constant use for that many years! I'd have been long dead by now. But it's been reliable, with never a problem. HP has always made top quality B&W lasers. The 4-Plus was around $1,200, weighs a ton, and has a max print quality of 600 dpi. For most use, that was fine, but there were all to many times I'd wished I had 1200 dpi capability. Thank God for inkjets! Along the way, I became more dependent upon my inkjets for the high quality full tone prints, be it B&W or color....and used the 4-Plus less and less, mainly for printing web pages, text documents, B&W business cards, etc. When it finally bit the dust, I began using my Canon i960 to print everything, and quickly discovered I can't afford to keep that up! I knew there were some very good B&W lasers on the market for a fraction of what I paid for the old 4-Plus, but hadn't kept up with the technology. So I began researching online, and found a few that fit my needs....basically text, web site info...anything I need a quick, decent quality B&W print for. I first went to Staples and looked at a couple Brother lasers, and a Lexmark. The Brother printers spit out some nice quality test prints, but curled the paper severely, most likely from an overly tight print path. The Lexmark produced an excellent quality, flat print, and was priced right, but I've never had very good luck with Lexmark products, especially drivers. And it looked cheap...and ugly in a textured black plastic body with silver trim. Yuk. I also discovered the print cartridges on both the Brothers and the Lexmark are actually two pieces. One is the toner, and the other is the drum. Yes, they come separately, unlike HP's cartridges that include the drum. The salesman said the drums are around $150!!! So, with that, I left and went to Office Depot to see what they had. Mostly the same stuff (but no Lexmarks), but they had a printer that Staples didn't have....the 1022. I was amazed at the speed and quality of the test prints. Solid, black blacks with good gradation. No horizontal lines, crisp text, and straight geometry. Even with my 4-Plus, it took four printers to get one that printed straight. But here's the kicker. The salesman came over and I started asking him about the printer, which was sitting over a yellow sale sign with $139.99 on it. I was sold anyway, and told him, "Sounds good, especially for $139.99!!" He said, "Well, that's not the price. It's $199.99, but since it's obviously been mismarked, I'll sell you one for the $139.99." The boxed printer was farther down the aisle, and I noticed the tag under it was in fact, $199.99. But since the tag under the display was $139.99, that's what he stuck with. Very cool salesman. The salesman picked up a new printer in a box, took it to the front counter, and told the checkout person it'd be $139.99. I paid, sincerely thanked him, and headed home to get it set up. Oh yea, since it was such a good deal, I bought a case of paper. Since the old 4-Plus used a parallel cable, I needed a 10 ft USB cable, but Office Depot wanted around $30....so got one that works just fine at Wal Mart for less than half the price.

IN THE BOX
HP LaserJet 1022 Printer, HP LaserJet print cartridge, User's Guide, printer documentation and software on CD-ROM, power cord, 250-sheet input tray, 10-sheet priority input tray. No USB cable. Good, protective packaging.

APPEARANCE/CONSTRUCTION
Compared to my old 4-Plus, the 1022 is very small and light. It's certainly not space-age looking, but definitely much nicer looking than that Lexmark I mentioned. It's the typical light beige body, with dark gray inset around the paper exit area on the top. Nothing special....just a printer. Obviously, these price-point printers aren't the equal of the higher priced printers when it comes to construction and materials, but the 1022 seems to be well made and reasonably solid.

SETUP
Setup in Win XP Pro was a breeze and I was printing in 5 minutes. After removing the HP orange securing tape from a few places, installing the toner cartridge, plugging it in, and connecting the USB cable, Win XP found the driver, automatically installed it, and that was it. Quick and painless. Makes me wonder why other reviewers running XP had problems with the setup and used the CD to load the drivers. Mine works perfectly with the drivers XP used.

OPERATION/PRINT QUALITY
The ON/OFF switch is located on the rear panel, which I'm not used to. But no big deal. From where the printer is located, I can either get up and reach over, or sit here and stretch around the side to access it. I have a command center right beside my desk with an open switch, so may eventually get an extension cord and plug it into that.

From the time I hit "Print" in any program, even if the printer has been sitting for a while, the 1022 is lightning fast. Time from hitting Print, to finished page is 6 sec. If my old 4-Plus had been sitting, it took about 15-20 sec to warm up. Then it had to spool the job, which took longer than the 1022. But then, the 1022's rated print speed is faster than the 4-Plus.

The 1022 is average in operational volume. It's not particularly loud, about the same as most HPs. Operation and transport is smooth and precise.

Print quality is excellent for my needs. In the "FastRes1200" setting, graphics gradations and overall text quality is very good...better than the 4-Plus. But the 1022 can go even one better using the "ProRes1200" setting that creates slightly better and cleaner gradations in graphic images. One thing I look for in any B&W laser is solid blacks with no banding, and the 1022 produces excellent, solid blacks. I'm very pleased with the overall print quality.

At first, I was wondering about envelope printing, because the documentation indicated only one envelope at a time could be used in the top manual feed tray. Please don't tell me I'm limited to one envelope at a time! No, read further, my friend. Upon reading the downloaded PDF manual documentation further, I found out that multi-envelopes can be loaded in the main bottom paper feed tray. Although it sometimes sounds like they're being crunched, envelopes come out excellent, and flat. One thing my old 4-Plus had a problem with is envelopes, but not the 1022.

Top button controls consist of a Go button, Cancel button, Attention LED, Ready LED, and Go LED.

Toner installation is quick and easy. The top cover is lifted upward, using a thumb tab, and the toner cartridge is easily inserted and snapped into place. Unlike my 4-Plus, that required some force and maneuvering to get the toner properly seated, the 1022's procedure is a breeze. Toner volume of the 12A cartridge isn't spectacular at an estimated 2,000 sheets, but considering the expense of drums that need to be purchased separately with Brother, Lexmark, and other brands, I can deal with it. If you need a higher yielding cartridge/printer, the 1022 may not be your best choice. In my work, I don't use a laser as much as I used to, so it's not a big concern. The 12A runs about $70 in local stores.

One thing....when you place a stack of paper in the main paper tray, make sure the stack is all the way against and flush with the back of the tray...straight in. Don't leave it angled or askew, otherwise, you may get prints that aren't straight with relation to the page edges (angled up or down). The 1022's transport system apparently doesn't auto-straighten prior to printing like some do. But then, keep in mind it's under $200. The only other printer I've had that's this sensitive to proper paper placement was an HP 932C inkjet, which required a shim in the paper tray to keep the paper straight as it entered the printer. At least the 1022 isn't that bad. Just use your thumbs to gently press the stack all the back, make sure it's flush with the rear of the tray, slide the little gray paper tab aginst the front of the stack, and you should get nice, straight prints.

By the way, I've never had the curling problems other reviewers have mentioned, even with envelopes. I lay out a semi-annual 100+ page magazine, and use the 1022 for proofs to proof the text and general layout. The magazine is laid out in 16-page sections and when I've finished the layout, I start printing the proofs with section one and hit print, open section two and hit print while section one is spooling, etc, until all sections are in the cue and spooling. So in effect, I'm printing the whole magazine at once and never have a problem with curling, jamming, or glitches. The only thing I have to do is make sure there's enough paper in the tray. Envelopes (I use Staples #10 Security Tint #200519) always come out straight with no curl or flaws. If you want to see curling and have a good laugh, try a Brother HL 2040. It curls pages enough that they're difficult to hold in front of you and read. Using the same envelopes I use in the 1022, the Brother HL 2040 not only curls them into a "U" shape, but also often crunches the corners. They're a hoot to look at! I tried the Brother and returned it the same day. But envelopes printed in the 1022 are perfectly flat and I've never had one get crunched or otherwise mutilated.

FEATURES/SPECS
Size: 14.6 x 14.3 x 9.5 in
Weight:12.1 lb
Warranty: One-year limited warranty
Print Speed: Up to 19 ppm
First Page Out: < 8 sec (mine is 6 sec)
Processor Speed: 266 MHz
Monthly Max Volume: Up to 8000 pages
Print Quality: 1200 x 1200 dpi
Paper Trays: 1 (plus priority input tray)
Input Capacity: Up to 260 (250-sheet standard input tray, 10-sheet priority input tray) sheets
Envelope Capacity: Up to 15 envelopes
Output Capacity: Up to 150 sheets
Duplex Printing: Manual (driver support provided)
Media Sizes (std): Letter, legal, executive, postcards, envelopes (No. 10, Monarch)
Recommended Media Weight: 20 lb
Media Types: Paper (plain, LaserJet, photo, rough), envelopes, transparencies, labels, cardstock, postcards, vellum
Memory (std & Max): 8 MB
Printer Language: Host-based printing or HP PCL 5e
Typefaces: 26 scalable fonts built in
Connectivity (Std): Hi-Speed USB port (compatible with USB 2.0 specifications)
Connectivity (optional): HP Jetdirect external print server, HP wireless print server, and HP bt1300 Wireless Printer Adapter
Mac Compatible: Yes
Printer Drivers: Host-based printing, HP PCL 5e

BOTTOM LINE
The 1022 is not your typical, el-cheapo, bare bones laser. Other than being limited to 8MB of memory, it has some very useable features, and should be plenty for everyday basic printing. It's extremely fast, with high print quality, and unlike other printers under $200, has a toner cartridge that includes the drum, and this is a good thing! I certainly don't expect the 1022 to last as long as my trusty (and very expensive) 4-Plus, but I'll be happy if I get a few years out of it. I write all my equipment off to my business anyway, so it really doesn't matter in the long run. This is a new entry for HP, so time will tell about its longevity.

The only real design flaw I can find is the plastic paper holder (rest) extension on the top, which you have to flip out, and is hinged by two thin plastic inserts/retainers. This paper rest sticks out about 4.5" and could be accidentally broken off. Without this paper rest, paper coming out of the printer would fall all over the place. So be careful not to break this thing off!! I've learned to flip it back into the printer's paper exit cavity when not in use, to avoid possible breakage.

UPDATE 8/12/06
This printer is great. Excellent print quality, fast, and no problems. I'm not sure how many pages I've run through it to date (at least 2,500), and just recently replaced the toner cartridge for the first time. The toner cartridge that came with it seemed to last forever. I'd highly recommend this printer for general use.

UPDATE 12/20/06
Problems. I've noticed the 1022 is now printing everything off center a little over 1/8" up and to the right. I've reloaded the software, downloaded the current software update, checked my system and printer settings, spent two days online with HP help (and they were great about responding) performing all their suggested tests, trying a different toner cartridge....you name it, and it's still printing off center. My Canon i960 prints the same pages perfectly centered. This offset isn't a problem when printing things like info from web sites and general stuff, but for printing things that require more precise registration and centering for presentation work for clients is now a problem. An 1/8" may not seem like much, but it's very visible and obvious. Longevity was a concern with this printer, because let's face it, it's cheap. This is probably not the norm, or at least I'm hoping that's the case, so I'd still recommend it if you can get it in the $150 range.