HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M479dw: wireless color pages and simplex scans review

The M479 for color documents without a fax requirement

The HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M479dw combines color printing, copying and color scanning. HP's exact US product page identifies W1A77A and marks it discontinued. The original dw model column explicitly excludes fax hardware. This review does not add the fax function from an fdn or fdw listing, and it does not claim an independently verified regional option suffix beyond the exact model identity.

The reviewed US configuration is the documented 110–127-volt, 60-Hz edition. The original specifications also list separate 220–240-volt hardware and say the printer is not dual voltage. Establish the actual electrical edition before treating an earlier or imported unit as suitable for a US installation.

The dw includes USB 2.0, Gigabit Ethernet, infrastructure wireless and genuine Wi-Fi Direct. Its standard automatic print duplex is also positively documented. Those capabilities can suit a small color-document office that does not require telephone fax or an automatic duplex scanner.

A wireless printer can still have a one-sided document feeder

The original four-model table gives M479dw a 50-page feeder for simplex copying and scanning. It marks the dual-head single-pass duplex scanner unavailable in the dw column. The exact scanner technical specification separately says no duplex ADF scanning. Automatic two-sided printing therefore must not be read as automatic capture of both sides of an original.

The feeder's original range runs from 102 by 152 to 216 by 356 mm, supporting Letter, Legal and A4 one-sided originals. Scanning can capture color. A 216 by 297 mm flatbed offers a different route for Letter or A4 material, without borrowing the feeder's Legal maximum. If Legal originals are essential, the feeder is the confirmed route.

To capture both sides with this configuration, the user must present the original sides manually using the appropriate procedure. A generic two-sided copy menu in a shared guide does not install a second scan head. An office processing piles of two-sided originals should treat this limit as a practical requirement decision rather than a minor specification detail.

Install and enable the actual scanning arrangement

The original computer routines use HP Scan for Windows or HP Easy Scan for macOS. USB provides a direct computer arrangement, while Ethernet or supported infrastructure Wi-Fi provides a shared network arrangement. Check compatibility with the actual computer, install the required software and test that a scanned file arrives where expected.

The 2022 guide says remote scanning is disabled by default and documents enabling scanning from a computer or mobile device. Enable the appropriate function where required before assuming a computer can initiate or receive a scan. Basic printing alone does not verify that this setup is complete.

Network destinations have their own conditions. Email scanning requires configured compatible SMTP details and authentication; folder scanning needs a working shared path and access. The guide's SharePoint feature explicitly excludes SharePoint 365. Confirm a real destination rather than assuming every office cloud service is supported.

AirPrint and Mopria are documented network-print options. The original wireless-model instructions also explicitly support a compatible Apple device using AirPrint over Wi-Fi Direct after it is enabled. That direct routine is retained here for printing, without assigning it the office's SMTP or shared-folder scan delivery. Computer-driver duplex controls also are not automatically inherited by the mobile route.

The paper total is 300 before optional expansion

The included print inputs are a 50-sheet multipurpose tray and a 250-sheet main tray, using the original 75 g/m² capacity basis. Together they hold 300 ordinary sheets. The 50-page scanner feeder is separate. An optional 550-sheet third tray is not part of this standard total.

The original paper table explicitly supports Letter, Legal and A4 in the included feeds and duplexer. Select the correct size, type and automatic two-sided setting in a compatible computer driver. Ordinary duplex follows the separate 60–163 g/m² guidance. An input's ability to take a heavier special stock is not blanket duplex approval. Legal loading extends the main tray approximately two inches forward.

The guide's explicit multipurpose-tray envelope routine uses up to ten envelopes, face up with the short postage end entering first. Choose the exact envelope size, Envelope type and Manual feed. A separate paper-table entry also approves envelopes in the main feed, but ordinary-sheet capacity does not define envelope quantity and no envelope-duplex promise is made.

Keep private printing, supplies and physical fit realistic

Job storage and PIN release require a separate dedicated USB 2.0 storage device of at least 16 GB, configuration and a compatible driver. The documented box does not include that storage device. Default matching therefore does not promise PIN-held print release simply because a rear host socket or security menu exists.

HP specifies up to 28 Letter pages per minute in black or color, separately 27 A4. Its recommended monthly print range is 750–4,000 pages; maximum duty is separately 50,000. These are maker figures, not performance measurements from this review.

The original Americas cartridge table identifies 414A W2020A–W2023A and higher-yield 414X W2020X–W2023X. Other regions use different supply families. Check the actual regional cartridge and HP's dynamic-security conditions; declared replacement yields do not establish remaining installed toner.

The closed body is approximately 16.4 inches wide, 18.6 deep and 15.7 high. Published weights conflict, so weight remains unknown here, and service access needs additional space. M479dw fits an earlier wireless color-office routine when one-sided feeder scanning and the absence of fax match the real document jobs.