HP – LaserJet M234dwe Wireless Black-and-White Laser Printer with 6 months of Toner through HP+ – White & Slate

Over 20 years ago I purchased the HP Laserjet 1100. It lasted over 10 years and never wore out. I packaged it up, and it is still sitting in my closet to this day because it is still a great printer. Of course, I replaced it with another HP laser printer.And have never purchased anything but HP printers since.
I was excited about getting the LaserJet M234dwe Wireless Black-and-White Laser Printer because of all the positive feedback. I was not disappointed.
The printer came via FedEx, and was packed so well that it could probably withstand a drop from several stories…but I’m not going to be the one to test that out. As with most printers, it had a bit of prepping to do to get it ready, such as removing all the tape, cardboard, etc.The actual physical setup was super easy after that.
Now, the installation of the software was a bit tedious…not horrible, but like I said, a bit tedious. But once I got the HP Smart app installed, I realized it was well worth the wait. It is one of the best printer apps I have ever used…it is so well thought out and designed that it is truly a do-it-all printing/scanning app. You can change the settings on the printer, set up new connections, add new printers, scan, EVERYTHING. And it is super easy to switch between all your HP printers and scanners. I actually have three HP printers for my home-based business, and I can control all of them from this one app,
THE PRINTING
The quality of the printing is flawless…whether it be simple letterhead, or complex forms, the text and images are SUPER CRISP. For kicks and giggles I decided to print three photos. What can I say except I was amazed by the clarity. Of course the printouts were not photo quality, but for black and white laser printing, they were amazing.
There is a short wait before the actual printing begins. This is completely normal and is in no way out of line. But it is noticeable. Once the print starts, however, it is lightning fast, and I do mean fast. Multiple pages print in no time at all.
HP offers an ink and a toner replacement program that in the past I have not participated in. However, I decided to sign on this time around. They offer SIX MONTHS of free toner…SIX MONTHS! And they offer several different usage options, such as 100 pages per month, all the way up to over 1,000 pages per month. I don’t know if you have ever purchased a toner cartridge, but I realized really quickly that there is no way to lose with the automatic toner replacement. Plus, they give you 1,500 pages for the first six months (the trial period).
I am nothing but IMPRESSED with this printer. It is a huge asset to my home office, and it is so well-built and solid that I expect it will end up in the closet with my HP 1100 in about ten years. Seriously, I hate to sound all gushy over a printer, but THIS IS THE ONE TO BUY!
I would recommend this to anybody wanting/needing a superior laser printer.

Impressed, HP+ is good value, not mandatory
HP+: I was previously suspicious of HP Instant Ink, but HP’s new offering HP+ is infinitely better, fairer, and offers real value. Out of the box, if you sign up to HP+ you get 6 months of free ink and 1500 pages per month. This is more than fair and enough to work out what the right HP+ would be best for your needs. And if you’re not interested in HP+ you don’t have to have it and just buy genuine HP cartridges instead. The lowest HP+ cost is $1.99 a month for 50 pages. Which be enough for most home use and since you can upgrade downgrade plans, I am confident that when everyone is back in the office we will be able to manage HP+ effectively. By my math though, HP+ makes sense for me. One of the benefits is that HP+ also doubles the warranty (2 years) and invests in re-forestation for every page you print. So it’s effectively a green printing subscription – which I personally like. I am actually surprised HP doesn’t market this benefit more. See the image uploaded I screenshotted from the HP+ app.
Setup: The HP M234dwe supports 802.11n and setup is all done via the app. Setup was surprisingly easy, probably the best setup experience ever for a wireless printer.
Print Quality: Print quality is great. It’s a 600dpi laser, so you can’t fault the quality. The speed of the M234dwe is rated at 30ppm. Which kind of makes me laugh, because on the base HP+ plan that means you could go through your 50 monthly pages in 2min. You can print via AirPrint on the iPhone/iPad – which is a huge plus for me.
Scan Quality: The M234dwe Scanner is 600dpi as well. I like that you can scan from the app straight to your phone. Such a game-changer, no more firing up my PC when I just want to scan a page to email to someone or keep a copy of a receipt.
Other Thoughts: I didn’t know where to put this, but hope it helps someone. There are some weird design decisions. The paper try design is weird. Parts of it fold up, some clip-on, and it’s not completely enclosed so there’s an open slot at the front. I really don’t know what HP was going for with the M234dwe but I really wish it was a fully enclosed tray that fit neatly under the print and didn’t stick out a few inches from the front. I also don’t like the little LCD screen that just shows error codes. It’s not intuitive and while you can get all of the real information from the app. I wish, so much, that it was a more useful screen or just HP got rid of it altogether. Printers that show error codes should be a thing of the past. These are not reasons not to buy, just to let others know. I am still very happy with the printer.

I am always on the lookout for a good and reliable laser printer for my home office and kids school needs. I was glad that HP came out with this M234dwe laser printer which met all of our needs. The beauty about this compared to my other laser printer is the ability to utilize HP Smart app, so I can print from anywhere in the house as long as I am connected to the WiFi and printer itself.
Opening up the box, you are met with his nice compact, but not too large/small printer. It is a solid build and fits in my desk nicely. Connecting it to my WiFi and to the HP Smart app was easy and flawless. There was no need to print up a page with the printer WiFi code (compared to other HP ink printers). You also have 6 months free toner through the HP Smart app which we would need with all of the printing needs due to home learning and working at home.
I was amazed at how fast this printer is in printing both one-sided and double-sided pages. I was able to print up my dtr’s history work (about 20 pages) in under a minute. The quality of the print is also excellent, and I noticed when using better quality paper with 24lbs makes a whole lot of difference. And through the app, you can scan to the cloud straight to any cloud based sites/apps that you use. As I use both Google Drive and Dropbox, the app makes it easy to upload for you to save and print later on. Using the scanner, you are able to scan up to 600×600 resolution.
On the top of the printer you have the glass scanner which dominates the entire landscape. The only problems that I have is the glowing light right below the HP sign. The light is about 2 inches long and changes color. I still don’t know the purpose of this light but it is distracting at night (my office is also my bedroom) and there is no way to turn it off unless I unplug it. Also, the cover for the paper tray is very flimsy and can get knocked out of line easily.
Overall, I am very happy with this printer and can’t wait to see how easy it is to enact the new toner before the 6months are up.

Printers aren’t as essential of a PC accessory these days, but they still serve a purpose and have actually come a long way since the old inkjets that you’d find in most people’s homes. This HP LaserJet M234dwe is a fantastic budget multifunction laser printer for the masses. When you need to print or scan a document it’s very convenient to have the ability to do it at home and not have to find a place to print your documents, so that’s why I’ve always opted to have a printer around, even if seldom used.
This HP LaserJet has a scanner built into it, ethernet and wireless connectivity and it comes in a tiny package that doesn’t take up much more room than an inkjet printer. The advantages of this being a laser printer are numerous. Your prints come out without any smearing, instantly and toner lasts much longer than ink, especially when not being used. Toner doesn’t just dry up as many inkjet cartridges do. The only disadvantage to this HP LaserJet is that it’s limited to black and white printing. This wasn’t a concern for me as if I want to print out photos I’d go somewhere else to have them printed.
The setup process for this printer was a bit different as I ended up doing most of it on my phone through the HP Smart app. The instructions were easy to follow and the app guides you through everything. You also end up getting 6 months of free toner, which really means signing up for HP’s toner replacement program which monitors your usage and bills you for the toner they send out. As a matter of fact I already received notification that a new toner cartridge is on the way. Their pricing model seems fair and let’s you adjust it to suit your printing needs. We don’t print a lot at home, but it’s nice to have the option to be billed on a monthly basis instead of spending a lot at one time for a replacement toner. You always have the option of not enrolling in the program and just buying your toner the old school way as well, so don’t let that deter you.
Printing is pretty straight forward. Windows 10 will detect the HP LaserJet M243 once it’s on the network and install the HP Smart app for you. It’s really a no brainer, unless you want to scan wirelessly as well. This does require you to sign up for an HP account as the scanning actually takes place in the cloud and not locally. You also have the option to be able to print from anywhere, which may be convenient for some and works well, but I turned off this feature. Scanning worked well and I didn’t notice anything different than when I was scanning locally on a separate scanner that I owned.
So here’s the breakdown of the pros and cons of the HP LaserJet M234dwe.
Pros:
Small footprint
Easy setup
Prints most documents instantly
Easy to use
HP+ Toner program might entice some users (6 months free toner)
Scanning was crisp and clear
Printing was clear and sharp
Cons:
HP+ program may discourage others who may not realize they don’t need to enroll
Scanning wireless is a little different and requires an HP account
Overall I really liked the ease of use, setup and quality of this HP LaserJet M234dwe. I really wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this to anyone looking for a capable laser printer for a home or small office.