What a sweet machine!
Written: Oct 13 '05 (Updated Oct 23 '05)
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Pros: Inexpensive, superb multifunctional (monochrome/color print, copy, scan, including OCR and fax) capability.
Cons: Non-existent network support for scanning. Expensive color printing.
The Bottom Line: This is an excellent document-handling machine for the home or small office at a great price for those who won't be printing many color documents.
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| plilikoi's Full Review: Hewlett Packard OfficeJet 5610 All-In-One InkJet P... |
Background
The cartridges in my old HP 8700 ink jet printer had dried up again and I was reluctant to replace them. The paper feed mechanism no longer worked, so I had to hand-feed each sheet of paper. I reasoned that I could buy a whole new, much better, printer for not much more than the cost of replacement ink cartridges.
Thus, I purchased an OfficeJet 5610 from Staples for $135 ($160 less a $25 rebate that I processed on-line). This is the first “all in one” (AIO) machine that I have purchased. It scans, it copies, it faxes and it prints. It’s the kitchen sink when it comes to document handling.
The full specifications for this machine are available on HP's Web site, http://www.hp.com.
Included accessories
The machine comes with a power supply and cord, in addition to a telephone line. It does not, however, come with a USB cable which is required to connect it to a computer (Windows or Mac). I purchased a USB cable separately, but you should note that these can cost up to $40, i.e., almost one third the cost of the OfficeJet. A comprehensive manual, along with quick setup instructions, is also provided, as is software for Windows and Mac. I suppose that Linux, or other Unix, support is essentially non-existent. Finally, there was included a 10 ml HP 22 black ink cartridge and a 5 ml HP 27 color ink cartridge, along with a few pieces of 4x6” photo-quality paper and a resealable bag for storing photo-quality paper.
Setup
Setup was very easy. The hardest part was removing all the packing tape and installing the ink cartridges. Print head alignment is almost automatic by virtue of printing, then scanning, a test page. Very slick!
You are warned to start software installation prior to connecting the USB cable. I connected the cable first, then removed it and reconnected it when directed to by the software. I can’t say that I care too much for the software; it seems too bloated, but it does the job. Unfortunately, the level of control that you can exercise through the supplied software doesn’t extend to networked computers. To other computers this machine appears as a printer/fax machine. For example, you cannot scan from a networked computer, which is a great pity.
Printer
The print capability is superb, with color resolution up to 4800x1200 dots per inch (dpi). The speed is good, up to 20 pages per minute (ppm) black and 13 ppm color. The basic print capabilities are accessible from any computer networked to the computer that is attached to the printer via its USB cable. Duty cycle is 1000 pages per month, idle power consumption is 5.6W and maximum power consumption is 60W, qualifying the machine for Energy Star status. The machine weighs 13 pounds and has a 17” square footprint.
Replacement ink cartridges include HP27 (10ml) or HP56 (19ml) black, HP22 (5ml) tri-color and HP58 (17ml) photo. Replacing the black cartridge with the HP58 photo cartridge permits 6 color printing, although I haven't tried this. The print quality is already superb with the supplied cartridges.
I just ordered one additional HP56 and one additional HP22 cartridge from Amazon.com for a total of $18 each (no tax and free shipping). Since the cost of the 5 ml color print cartridge is the same as that of the 19 ml black cartridge, this is going to be a very expensive color printer. I would only recommend it for primarily monochrome printing, with the odd color print. The cost of putting ink on paper, per HP's estimates and based solely on the cost of the ink cartridges, is 4 cents a page for monochrome and 13 cents a page for color.
Copier
The copier functionality is most easily accessed by the control panel on the OfficeJet. Copying in either monochrome or color is available, using the automatic document feeder that can handle up to 25 sheets, or the legal-size glass scanner, located under the top cover, for single sheets. The only problem I noted is that the copied pages end up in the wrong order, i.e., page 1 is on the bottom. The copy quality, both monochrome and color, is superb. Reduction/enlargement capability is also provided, allowing copies at 25~400% of the original size.
Scanner
The scan functionality is only accessible from the computer to which the OfficeJet is directly attached via its USB cable. I think this is a great shame and is the only real weakness of the machine that I have encountered. It would have been a good idea for HP to include two, or even three, USB ports on the machine to allow its control by multiple computers in lieu of providing this capability through a network. Scan quality is excellent, providing 2400x1200 dpi resolution and 48 bit color depth. Although I initially thought there was no included optical character recognition (OCR) software, I discovered that this capability is built into the machine and is activated when you select to output the scan to WordPad. Text fidelity is excellent from a clean document and was remarkably good from an article that was distributed across two columns in an old newspaper. The clean document was transferred to text with 100% fidelity. The newspaper article required very minor editing. A nice feature, especially for copying from books, is that the OCR facility automatically corrects for the orientation of the page, at least whether it's inverted or not. This scanner/OCR capability is itself worth the price of the machine. Don't, however, expect to achieve anywhere near the maximum claimed resolution. The scanner works well at 200 dpi. Much beyond this and the quality actually decreases.
Fax
Fax capability is again superb, with the ability to feed up to 25 sheets of paper from the automatic document feeder. The installation process qualifies the telephone connection, compensating for many potential problems, such as answering machines, etc. The machine can hold up to 100 pages in its internal memory.
Conclusion
The HP OfficeJet 5610 is a vast improvement upon the HP 8700 and Canon MultiPass 800 fax machine, both of which it replaces. The warranty period extends for one year from the date of purchase.
I’m pleased as punch with this machine.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 135
Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID:
plilikoi
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Location: San Diego, CA, USA
Reviews written: 76
Trusted by: 6 members
About Me:
Raised in Scotland, living in San Diego. Getting older and wiser daily, older for sure!
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