HP LaserJet Pro 400 Color M451nw: wireless color printing with manual duplex review

Wireless color printing with manual two-sided handling

The HP LaserJet Pro 400 Color M451nw gives a small office a choice of USB, Ethernet and infrastructure Wi-Fi for color documents. The exact US page identifies CE956A#BGJ and marks it discontinued. The configuration reviewed here uses 110–127-volt, 60-Hz power. Verify the actual machine's electrical label and condition rather than treating an older model name as a guarantee about a seller's unit.

The defining limitation is automatic duplex: it is not included in M451nw. HP's general product description contains a sentence about conserving paper with automatic two-sided printing, but the footnote reserves that feature for M451dn and M451dw. The original model comparison makes the same distinction. M451nw can print two sides through a manual process with compatible software and someone to reload the stack.

Black and color output are each specified at up to 21 Letter pages per minute, separately 20 on A4. These figures should not be applied to an end-to-end manual-duplex job that includes drying, collecting, reloading and user response time. This is a source-based assessment, not a measured speed or image-quality test.

Choose a computer queue, a shared network or the legacy direct mode

The standard interfaces are USB 2.0, 10/100 Ethernet and 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi. The original wireless instructions describe joining a router network through WPS or software-assisted setup, using the network name and security information. For wireless installation, the guide says to remove the Ethernet network cable first. The USB cable can transfer settings during setup and then be disconnected when the wireless queue works.

That infrastructure arrangement supports shared printing from compatible computers. A network is also the documented route for AirPrint, and the guide warns that a firmware upgrade may be necessary. HP's current exact-suffix mobile matrix lists Mopria Print Service as well. Confirm the intended device and application's actual printing behavior before depending on a particular layout option.

The exact US page additionally names HP Wireless Direct. HP's original connection document describes compatible iOS devices using AirPrint over that legacy direct connection without a router or Internet. This is recorded as HP Wireless Direct, not relabeled Wi-Fi Direct. It does not satisfy a questionnaire requirement specifically asking for Wi-Fi Direct. Its practical use also depends on the actual printer firmware and device being configured correctly.

Manual duplex remains a hands-on task

The original Windows procedure prints the first sides, asks the user to retrieve the stack and reload it in Tray 1, then continue from the control panel. The Mac driver has its own prompts and orientation instructions. Follow the route for the software actually installed; do not mix a Windows stack orientation with the Mac procedure or assume every phone application provides the same controls.

A manual two-sided checkbox is therefore useful only if the operator can return to the machine. It does not turn this model into an unattended automatic-duplex printer. The automatic-duplex column in a shared paper table describes the equipped dn/dw configurations and is not additional hardware in nw.

Letter, Legal and A4 are supported in both included feeds. Standard capacity is 50 ordinary sheets in Tray 1 plus 250 in Tray 2, totaling 300. The original optional third tray holds another 250 and is excluded from the base capacity. Legal loading extends Tray 2 about 2.5 inches beyond the front, so paper-size choice changes the space needed in use.

Special media and supplies need their own settings

The guide's Tray 1 table permits up to ten envelopes, face up with the top toward the printer. Choose the actual size and Envelope type rather than sending an ordinary-paper job to a differently loaded tray. Envelopes, labels and transparencies are excluded from the guide's automatic-duplex media allowance; the existence of a manual routine is not a blanket reason to pass unsuitable special media twice.

The supply set uses 305A CE410A black and CE411A, CE412A and CE413A for cyan, yellow and magenta. Higher-yield black is 305X CE410X, declared at approximately 4,000 pages under ISO/IEC 19798. Color replacement cartridges are approximately 2,600 composite color pages each. Those are cartridge declarations, not the amount of remaining toner in an older printer.

Standard black yield is unresolved between the historical printer page's approximately 2,200 and the current exact cartridge page's approximately 2,090. Introductory cartridges, originally about 1,400 pages, are separate again. No current price-per-page estimate is inferred from these numbers.

The useful fit is a flexible print connection, with clear limits

HP recommends 750–2,000 pages monthly and separately states a 40,000-page maximum duty cycle. The printer has no scanner, copier or fax, despite generic support text that mentions scanner software. Held-document PIN release is also unconfirmed; a WPS router-pairing PIN and an administrator password serve different purposes.

The body is approximately 15.9 inches wide, 17.9 deep and 12.7 high, before extra operating clearance. Current and original weights differ, so weight remains unknown here. M451nw fits an earlier color-print setup needing a choice of wired or wireless networking, provided the buyer accepts manual two-sided handling and checks compatible software for the actual computer.