HP Pro 4101fdw All In One: In-Depth Review and User Opinions

The HP Pro 4101fdw is an all-in-one monochrome laser printer designed for small and home offices. This multifunction printer provides print, copy, scan and fax capabilities in a compact footprint with wireless networking standard.

With fast print speeds up to 32 pages per minute, automatic two-sided printing, a 35-sheet automatic document feeder for the scanner, and a 150-sheet main input tray, the 4101fdw is built to handle the demands of a small office environment. Its 2.7” touchscreen control panel allows for intuitive operation and management.

This printer connects via wireless 802.11b/g/n, Ethernet, or USB 2.0. It is compatible with HP’s Smart Print app for printing from smartphones and tablets. The 4101fdw also supports HP+, an ecosystem of cloud-connected services that enable remote monitoring of toner levels and more from the HP Smart app.

Overall, the 4101fdw provides robust printing, scanning, copying and fax capabilities in a space-saving design well-suited for home offices or small businesses. This review will examine its key features and performance in greater detail.

Design

The HP Pro 4101fdw has a sleek, professional design perfect for a home office or small business. It measures 16.5 x 16.3 x 11.7 inches and weighs a hefty 40 pounds, so you'll want to place it on a sturdy surface with enough clearance.

Despite the large footprint, the 4101fdw has an understated aesthetic with a matte black exterior and minimal branding. The input tray folds neatly into the body of the printer. There's an integrated 2-line LCD display and intuitive button controls on the front.

The 4101fdw comes in a standard black color option that will fit into most office environments. While not the most compact printer, the clean lines and rounded corners give it a modern look.

Printing

The HP LaserJet Pro 4101fdw is equipped with fast printing speeds up to 30 pages per minute for black text documents and graphics. It can produce print resolutions up to 600 x 600 dpi for sharp, high-quality text and images.

For two-sided printing, the printer includes automatic duplexing support. You can easily print on both sides of a page without having to manually flip pages over to print the second side. This saves on paper use while allowing you to create professional double-sided documents.

The 4101fdw uses Original HP Toner cartridges designed for consistent printing performance without fading or smearing. Pages come out crisp and clear. Toner can last through up to 1500 pages for black and white documents.

Overall, the printing capabilities make this model suitable for moderate home office or small business use where you need to regularly print text-heavy documents or basic graphics with good quality and speed. The automatic duplexing feature enhances efficiency for two-sided output.

Scanning

The HP LaserJet Pro 4101fdw comes with a built-in flatbed scanner that lets you scan documents and photos quickly and easily. Some key scanning features include:

• Optical scan resolution up to 1200 x 1200 dpi for crisp, clear scans
• Scan speeds up to 21 ppm (black) and 15 ppm (color)
• Supports scanning to a variety of destinations including email, network folders, cloud services, USB, and more
• Scan file formats include JPEG, TIFF, PNG, PDF, and searchable PDF
• Auto document feeder holds up to 35 sheets for unattended scanning
• HP Scan software provides an easy scanning interface and allows you to edit scans before saving

Overall the scanner delivers fast performance and versatility when digitizing documents. The high resolution optical scanning combined with the auto document feeder make it easy to scan batches of pages or photos with precision.

Copying

The HP LaserJet Pro 4101fdw all-in-one printer can produce high-quality copies quickly and easily. It has a fast copy speed of up to 30 pages per minute for black and white copies.

Some key copying features include:

• Fast 30 ppm copy speed for black and white copies
• Scan and copy documents in vibrant color
• Produce high-quality copies on a variety of paper types and sizes
• Make 2-sided copies automatically to save paper
• Use the 35-sheet auto document feeder for convenient scanning and copying of multi-page documents
• Adjust copy settings like lighten/darken, image quality, paper size, and more from the printer's touchscreen display
• Scan to email, network folders, USB drives, and more
• Easy mobile printing options with built-in wireless connectivity

The HP LaserJet Pro 4101fdw makes it simple to produce the copies you need quickly, with excellent print quality and handy features like ID card copy and collate for creating professional documents. The auto document feeder, fast copy speeds, and flexible paper handling allow you to copy multi-page documents with ease.

Faxing

The HP LaserJet Pro 4101fdw all-in-one printer offers basic fax capabilities for occasional home office use. It has a 33.6 kbps fax modem built-in, allowing you to send and receive black and white faxes without the need for a separate fax machine.

You can send faxes 3 different ways - from the printer control panel using the keypad, from your computer over USB or WiFi using the included software, or from smartphones/tablets using the HP Smart app. The printer can store up to 100 pages in memory if there's a power failure during fax transmission.

For receiving faxes, the printer will automatically print out incoming faxes. You can also preview faxes on the display panel before printing, useful for saving paper on junk faxes. Unfortunately there is no option to save incoming faxes to a computer or forward them to an email address.

Overall the fax functionality is fairly basic but will meet the needs of most home office users that only occasionally need to send or receive faxes. For high volume faxing in a busy office environment, a dedicated fax machine or an all-in-one with more advanced fax features would be recommended.

Connectivity

The HP LaserJet Pro 4101fdw offers excellent connectivity options for home or office use.

Wired Connectivity

The printer has an Ethernet port, allowing you to connect it directly to your router or network switch with an Ethernet cable for reliable wired networking. This is useful for office setups where wired connections are preferred.

Wireless Connectivity

For wireless connectivity, the 4101fdw supports dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac. You can easily connect it to your 2.4GHz or 5GHz home/office WiFi network without needing any cables. It also supports Wi-Fi Direct for peer-to-peer wireless printing from mobile devices.

Mobile Printing

For printing on the go, the 4101fdw supports Apple AirPrint, Mopria Print Service, and HP Smart App. You can print from your iPhone, iPad, or Android devices over Wi-Fi or cellular data. The printer also supports NFC touch-to-print from compatible mobile devices.

Print Management

The HP LaserJet Pro 4101fdw offers robust print management capabilities, making it an excellent choice for business environments and corporate offices.

It has built-in fleet management tools that allow IT administrators to configure, monitor, and manage a fleet of printers from a central location. The printer can be remotely configured and managed through the HP Web Jetadmin software or HP's JetAdvantage solutions.

Key print management features include:

• Secure pull printing - Print jobs are held on the printer until users authenticate at the device to release them. This prevents sensitive documents from being left out in the open.

• Job tracking and accounting - Administrators can track printer usage by user, department, or project code to monitor costs and quota.

• Usage limiting - Print quotas can be set per user to control costs.

• Supplies management - Administrators can easily monitor toner levels across the fleet and set up automatic reordering.

• Firmware updates - Printer firmware can be updated remotely across the entire fleet.

• Usage reports - Administrators can pull reports on usage, supplies levels, and other metrics to optimize print management.

With its robust capabilities, the HP 4101fdw allows businesses to optimize their print environment, reduce costs, and improve efficiency. The centralized management tools make it easy for IT staff to deploy, configure, and manage a fleet of printers.

Security

The HP LaserJet Pro 4101fdw has several important security features to help protect your data and network.

• Secure Boot prevents the printer from starting up if there's corrupted firmware. This helps prevent malicious attacks from infected firmware.

• Run-time intrusion detection continuously monitors memory activity to detect and stop attacks. It protects the printer while it's operational.

• Encrypted storage requires all data written to the disk drive to be encrypted. This secures sensitive print jobs and configuration data.

• Encrypted PDF printing allows users to print password-protected PDF files. The password is required at the printer's control panel to release the job.

• Secure erase deletes and overwrites residual print job data stored on the disk drive. This prevents sensitive documents from being accessed after printing is complete.

• 802.1X wireless authentication allows only authorized users to connect to the wireless network and printer. This prevents unauthorized wireless access.

• IPsec secure communications encrypts all network traffic to and from the printer. This protects data as it travels over the network.

• CA and Device Identity Certificates help validate the printer's identity and establish secure SSL/TLS connections.

• SNMPv3 encrypts printer management communications and requires authentication. This secures remote printer monitoring and management.

Overall, the HP LaserJet Pro 4101fdw has robust security technology to help businesses protect sensitive data while enabling efficient printer access for authorized users. Its comprehensive features cover access control, encryption, intrusion prevention, and secure network communications.

Conclusion

The HP LaserJet Pro 4101fdw is an excellent all-in-one printer for small offices and workgroups that need to regularly print, scan, copy and fax documents. Here's a quick summary of the pros and cons:

Pros

• Fast printing speeds up to 40ppm
• Duplex printing capability
• 50-sheet automatic document feeder for scanning and copying
• Flatbed scanner for scanning books and other items
• Fax capability with up to 99 speed dials
• Secure wireless networking and Ethernet connectivity
• Support for HP print apps and remote printing
• Robust security features like PIN printing

Cons

• Manual duplexing for copying
• Lack of LCD display on printer
• No built-in stapling or hole punching
• High cost of replacement toner cartridges

Overall, the HP LaserJet Pro 4101fdw delivers excellent performance, connectivity, and security in a relatively compact package. With fast duplex printing and scanning, it's a great choice for small offices that need to churn through multi-page documents frequently. While the lack of an LCD display is a minor downside, the print management features make up for it. I would recommend the 4101fdw for any small business looking for a fast, secure, network-ready all-in-one monochrome laser printer.