WHAT'S HOT: HP has clearly heard the home market's message on price: The LaserJet 1000 costs a mere $249. The printer is based on the same chassis as the LaserJet 1200, but it doesn't have the same annoying plastic door over the power cord and data cable. Considering the LaserJet 1000's low price, we were happy with the zippy graphics-printing speed of 5.5 ppm and the run-of-the-mill text-printing speed of 9 ppm. Text looks very attractive, and narrow lines print accurately. Though the setup poster is rather uninformative, the CD-ROM-based manual is very thorough, and the installer automatically creates a USB printer port in Windows--a trick many other printer installers are unable to perform.

WHAT'S NOT: HP really cut corners on design, removing features that even the stripped-down LaserJet 1200 offers. For example, the LaserJet 1000 doesn't have a bypass feeder for envelopes or letterhead. Also, it has only 1MB of RAM, compared with the 1200's 8MB, and you can't add more. One megabyte of memory might be insufficient to print large files reliably, although PC World did not experience any problems while testing the printer.

WHAT ELSE: The LaserJet 1000 doesn't take up much desk space--it's only 16 inches wide and 19 inches deep--and its paper tray holds 250 sheets, enough for a busy individual. Like the LaserJet 1200, its paper tray doesn't slide out, which makes adding paper somewhat difficult. However, replacing the toner cartridge is easy because it slides out on hinges when you open the door.

UPSHOT: The LaserJet 1000 is appropriate for a home user who's ready to step up from an ink jet printer.

SUMMARY

HP LaserJet 1000 Rated 10 ppm, standard 1MB of RAM, 1200-by-600-dpi maximum resolution, 250 sheets input, 125 output. $249 800/752-0900 www.hp.com