The LaserJet 100 M175nw uses a fairly unique rotating cartridge system. A button on the control panel positions each cartridge for removal, however, you must close the cover before you rotate to the next cartridge, which makes replacing multiple cartridges quite tedious.

Of greater concern is the price HP charges for its toner cartridges. The 1200-page black cartridge costs $50, or 4.2 cents per page, while the 1000-page magenta, yellow, and cyan cartridges cost $56 apiece or 5.4 cpp. Altogether, a four-color page costs a whopping 20.4 cents. We've seen remanufactured and compatible toner cartridges offered online for about 40 percent lees.

The documentation is well written and thorough, but it's available online only. We remembered why we didn’t like this approach when we ran into a dead end ('page not found') while seeking help on how to change the toner cartridges.

The HP LaserJet Pro 100 Color MFP M175nw sports a low price tag, but it makes you pay in other ways, from time idling as you wait for output to appear, to high toner costs. There aren’t many good options at this low end of the category, but the is a little faster.