HP Color LaserJet Enterprise M555dn

 

3 Months with the HP Color LaserJet Enterprise M555dn: A Small Business Owner's Honest Review

Posted on April 15, 2025 | Business Technology

The HP Color LaserJet Enterprise M555dn has become a workhorse in my small design agency

Why I Chose the HP Color LaserJet Enterprise M555dn for My Business

Three months ago, my design agency was in desperate need of a printer upgrade. Our old inkjet was struggling to keep up with our growing client base, and the constant ink replacements were becoming both a financial drain and a productivity killer. After weeks of research and comparing countless models, I took the plunge and invested in the HP Color LaserJet Enterprise M555dn.

What ultimately sold me was the combination of high printing volume capacity, exceptional color quality, and enterprise-level security features. My six-person team produces everything from marketing materials to client presentations, and we needed something that could handle diverse printing needs without constant maintenance.

If you're looking for a high-performance enterprise-grade color laser printer, check out the HP Color LaserJet Enterprise M555dn on Amazon to see current pricing and availability.

Initial Setup and Installation Experience

I'll be honest – this printer is a substantial piece of equipment. Weighing in at about 60 pounds, it required two people to unbox and position it in our office. The physical size (18 x 18.9 x 15 inches) means you'll need to allocate dedicated space for it.

The clean design helps it blend into our office environment despite its size

Despite its heft, the setup process was surprisingly straightforward. The printer ships with the four toner cartridges (black, cyan, magenta, and yellow) pre-installed, which is a nice touch. I connected it to our office network via Ethernet, and the printer was automatically detected by our computers.

The 4.3-inch color touchscreen made the initial configuration intuitive. Within about 30 minutes of unboxing, we were printing our first test documents. Driver installation on our mix of Windows and Mac computers was painless – I just downloaded the latest package from HP's website rather than using the included disc.

One minor hiccup: initially configuring the printer to work with our existing print server took some additional troubleshooting and a call to IT support. Once resolved, however, the integration was seamless.

Print Quality: Text and Color Documents

The print quality of the M555dn has consistently impressed me and my team. Text documents are crisp and professional with sharp, clean edges – exactly what you'd expect from a laser printer in this class. Even at the smallest font sizes (we often use 8pt text in our footnotes), the characters remain perfectly legible.

Where this printer truly shines is with color documents. We produce a lot of marketing materials, and the color reproduction is remarkably accurate. The HP ImageRET 3600 technology delivers vibrant, true-to-screen colors that have eliminated the need for us to outsource certain printing jobs.

The touchscreen control panel makes it easy to adjust settings for optimal print quality

Some specific examples of what we've successfully printed:

• Client proposals with complex charts and graphs – colors are consistent and gradients print smoothly without banding.
• Brochures on glossy paper – the printer handles heavier stock paper (up to 220 g/m²) without issues, and colors pop nicely on glossy media.
• Architectural drawings with fine details – line work remains precise and thin lines are rendered accurately.
• Photo-heavy presentations – while not photo-printer quality, the image reproduction is more than adequate for business purposes.

The only limitation I've noticed is with full-bleed printing – like most laser printers, the M555dn can't print all the way to the edge of the page. For materials where this is crucial, we still use a professional print service.

My experience with this printer has been largely positive for my business needs. Get more details and check current deals on the HP Color LaserJet Enterprise M555dn here.

Speed and Performance

Speed was one of my primary concerns when selecting a new printer, and the M555dn hasn't disappointed. HP rates this machine at 40 pages per minute for both black and color documents, and in my real-world testing, it comes remarkably close to that benchmark with standard business documents.

What's particularly impressive is the first-page-out time. HP claims 6.6 seconds for black and 7.5 seconds for color, and my experience has been consistent with these figures. This quick startup has eliminated the frustrating wait times we experienced with our previous printer – a godsend when you're rushing to print materials before a client meeting.

To put this in perspective, last week we needed to print 25 copies of a 20-page color presentation (500 pages total) for a client workshop. The entire job was completed in just under 15 minutes. With our previous printer, this would have been at least an hour-long task.

The printer handles complex jobs efficiently too. Large PDF files with mixed text and images process quickly, and I haven't experienced any of the memory issues or stalling that plagued our old machine.

I should note that the printer does make some noise when in operation, particularly when starting up from sleep mode. It's not disruptively loud, but you'll definitely know when it's printing. In a busy office environment, this isn't noticeable, but in a quieter setting, it might be worth considering.

Paper Handling Capabilities

Paper handling is where the HP Color LaserJet Enterprise M555dn truly demonstrates its business-class credentials. The standard configuration includes a 100-sheet multipurpose tray and a 550-sheet main input tray, providing a total capacity of 650 sheets out of the box.

The expandable paper trays allow for flexible media handling

What's particularly valuable for our growing business is the expandability. You can add up to three additional 550-sheet input trays, bringing the maximum capacity to an impressive 2,300 sheets. We've added one extra tray so far, and the ability to keep multiple paper types loaded simultaneously has been a significant time-saver.

The printer handles a wide variety of media types and sizes:

Feature	Specification
Supported Media Sizes	Letter, Legal, Executive, Statement, 4x6, 5x7, 5x8, postcards, envelopes, and custom sizes
Media Types	Plain paper, glossy paper, cardstock, labels, envelopes, transparencies
Media Weight	16-58 lb (plain paper), 28-58 lb (glossy)
Output Tray Capacity	250 sheets
Duplex Printing	Automatic (default)

The automatic duplexing (two-sided printing) is set as the default, which has helped us reduce paper consumption. The duplex printing is impressively fast with minimal slowdown compared to single-sided printing.

We've printed on everything from lightweight 20 lb paper to heavier 80 lb cardstock without any feeding issues. The ability to print on glossy paper has been particularly useful for client-facing materials – though I should note that for very heavy cardstock (above 90 lb), you'll need to use the multipurpose tray rather than the standard drawer.

Paper jams have been rare – I've only experienced two in three months of heavy use, both when using non-standard envelopes. The printer provides clear instructions for clearing jams when they do occur.

Connectivity Options and Software

Connectivity is robust on the M555dn, with options to suit most business environments. Standard connections include:

• 1 Gigabit Ethernet port (which we primarily use)
• 1 Hi-Speed USB 2.0 device port
• 2 Hi-Speed USB 2.0 host ports (for direct printing from USB drives)
• Hardware Integration Pocket for security solutions

While wireless connectivity isn't built-in, it can be added with the optional HP Jetdirect 3100w accessory. We haven't found this necessary since the printer is centrally located near our network cabinet, but it's nice to know the option is available.

The security features are impressive and essential for a business environment. The printer includes:

• Automatic checking of operating code (BIOS) during startup with self-healing capability
• Firmware authentication to prevent unauthorized modifications
• Real-time monitoring of memory activity to detect and stop attacks
• Inspection of outgoing network connections to block suspicious requests
• Secure Print feature for confidential documents

The HP Web Jetadmin software has made managing the printer straightforward. We can monitor supply levels, configure settings, and even generate usage reports to track printing costs by department. The software is free to download and has become an invaluable management tool.

The 4.3-inch color touchscreen is responsive and intuitive, making walk-up operations like copying or scanning to USB simple for everyone on the team. The menu structure is logical, and common functions are easy to access.

Toner Costs and Economy

Let's talk about the elephant in the room with any laser printer: toner costs. The M555dn uses HP 212A standard-capacity or 212X high-capacity toner cartridges. The printer comes with starter cartridges that HP claims will yield about 5,500 pages for black and 3,500 pages for each color.

In my three months of use, we've not yet needed to replace any cartridges, which is impressive given our print volume of approximately 2,000-3,000 pages per month. The printer provides accurate toner level monitoring through both the control panel and the Web Jetadmin software.

When replacement time comes, here's what we're looking at:

Cartridge	Approximate Yield	Approximate Cost
HP 212A Black (Standard)	5,500 pages	$180-200
HP 212A Color (C/M/Y, each)	4,500 pages	$225-250 each
HP 212X Black (High-Yield)	13,000 pages	$260-280
HP 212X Color (C/M/Y, each)	10,000 pages	$370-400 each

The high-capacity cartridges offer better value per page, so that's what we plan to purchase when replacements are needed. Based on our usage patterns, I estimate our cost per page at about 3.5 cents for black and white and 15 cents for color when using the high-capacity cartridges.

While not the cheapest printer to operate, the reliability, print quality, and reduced maintenance time make it a worthwhile investment for us. The automatic duplex printing default has helped reduce our paper consumption by about 30%, which offsets some of the operating costs.

One economy feature I appreciate is the HP Auto-On/Auto-Off Technology, which puts the printer into a low-power sleep mode when not in use. This helps keep energy consumption reasonable for a device of this class.

Who This Printer Is Best Suited For

After three months of using the HP Color LaserJet Enterprise M555dn in my small design agency, I can confidently recommend it for certain business scenarios – though it's definitely not a one-size-fits-all solution.

This printer is ideal for:

• Small to medium businesses with moderate to high print volumes (2,000-10,000 pages monthly)
• Organizations that need professional-quality color documents
• Businesses concerned about security and document confidentiality
• Environments where reliability and minimal maintenance are priorities
• Workgroups of 5-15 people sharing a networked printer

Not recommended for:

• Home users or very small offices with low print volumes
• Businesses primarily printing photos or needing borderless printing
• Environments where space is extremely limited
• Organizations needing built-in scanning or faxing (this is print-only)
• Businesses on a tight budget looking for the lowest cost-per-page

The M555dn has been a perfect fit for my design agency because we need color accuracy, speed, and reliability. The initial investment was significant, but the reduced downtime and improved print quality have already made it worthwhile.

I should mention that this is strictly a printer – there's no scanning, copying, or faxing functionality. If you need those features, you'd want to look at HP's multifunction models instead.

Ready to upgrade your office with a reliable, high-volume color laser printer? View the HP Color LaserJet Enterprise M555dn on Amazon to see if it's the right fit for your needs.

"The right tools make all the difference in how your business operates. For us, this printer has eliminated a daily friction point and helped us present more professionally to clients."

Have you made the switch to a business-class laser printer? I'd love to hear about your experiences in the comments below!

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