When I bought my first laser printer, the HP4 was so superior to everything else I saw that I could only make one choice. It did start to pleat a lot of my paper, a problem that HP only agreed was their fault on printers manufactured between certain dates. But in all the years I had it, the print was almost always crisp, black and perfect, despite never being serviced.
Recently, my hideous Epson inkjet died on a crucial day and I needed to buy a printer fast. I was afraid to take a chance on anything but an HP. While I haven't used the 1012 a lot, the print has the same perfect look as the LJ4, and it's so fast. I read that it gets much slower on long jobs and doesn't do well on pictures, two areas I haven't tested yet. I do like the tiny size.