Not HP's typical quality
Written: Apr 20 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: - Excellent picture quality
- Very long lifetime for ink cartridges
Cons: - Paper loading mechanism defective
- Ink is very expensive
- Software is bloated
The Bottom Line: With its poor paper handling mechanism and expensive ink, you are much better off with a different model.
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| coopercs's Full Review: Hewlett Packard PhotoSmart 7150 InkJet Printer |
As a service technician and salesman, I've worked with many printers and have always been a fan of HPs quality -- not only in the printing itself, but also in the design of their printers. Quiet, fast, clear, and reliable, I have always recommended my customers to buy HP.
So when my new Photosmart 7150 quickly spit out the test page, I was quite pleased at the speed and the color, but was perplexed by the problem with alignment. I tried finding somewhere to align it, and realizing that there was no such option, I quickly returned it to the store.
After a long battle with the service center (don't even think of shopping at Future Shop), I finally managed to get another one. It worked well for a couple of months, but I noticed on many occassions that if I was printing at Fast Draft speeds (which I periodically did for class notes), it would jam up after the first few pages. Upon closer inspection I realized that the paper-throwing mechanism left much to be desired, and that it would sometimes get stuck in the up position as the print head swung from side to side, bashing up against it. After a couple of months one of the "arms" finally broke off and it worked again. This was definitely unlike HPs typically high quality designs and I was not terribly impressed.
I was also not a fan of the photo tray. I only used it once, and I managed to destroy all of the sample paper before getting a single photo printed properly. There was a significant offset when used in the borderless mode, and I had trouble convincing it to print the right direction! About six months later my printer refused to print anything because it thought that the photo tray was inserted, when in reality I had taken it out completely. A switch must have been stuck, because a liberal amount of violence finally fixed the problem. Again, not what I have come to expect from HP.
It also carries with it the typical problems of HP. The ink is expensive, costing essentially the same amount as the printer is worth now. I must say though, that after more than a year, I have finally had to replace the ink cartridges (or should I say, the printer). It has been through well over 1500 pages on the original cartridges! This was a pleasant surprise.
THe last typically HP problem is the software. It's big, slow, and leaves much to be desired. I have never been a fan of HPs installation programs, and this one was no exception. It took five minutes before the installation program even gave me a "Loading" box, and this is on a 2600XP with 512MB DDR-RAM.
The only thing that was good about this printer, as usual, was the quality of the actual printout. It was rather slow when running at full quality, but it made a very clean, accurate, rich picture. The lifetime of the ink cartridges was also good, though considering the cost, I would expect nothing less.
After more than a year of hard work, my Photosmart 7150 is being retired with mixed feelings. It worked well when I needed it, but it certainly wasn't what I expected at the price I paid, and definitely not what I expected from HP. I do not recommend that anyone buy this printer; for the same price, HP has several other offerings that actually stand up to their quality standards. From a long line of wonderful products, this one is a dud.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
coopercs
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Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
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