Quick, Small, Cheap Printer - Expensive in Ink
Written: Dec 02 '03 (Updated Dec 03 '03)
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Pros: Cost to Quality, Speed is good enough, small enough to fit on most desks
Cons: Drinks Ink unless it has both ink cartridges installed, Not best for photos
The Bottom Line: Sucks ink like a vampire unless you install both cartridges. Great for office work, but don't get to print pictures with high quality.
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| Sarv's Full Review: Hewlett Packard Deskjet 3520 InkJet Printer |
I needed to get a printer for my business of which I'm the manager. I went down to Circuit City with visions of Printer-Fax-Copier combos in my head, but very little moolah in the account to purchase the printer with.
Wanting to save my company money, I knew a thing or two about printers. We didn't need all the bells and whistles. As long as it printed, did it fairly well, did pictures well enough too (we're not printing photo's here, people), and was quick about it, I'd be happy. Black is black, and color is color. Except when you're paying for the ink cartridges. That was the problem. Read on
Print Quality
I'd have to say the print quality is great. It prints well when I ask it to, printing high quality when using maximum dpi. When I ask it to be quick and not use much ink, it does that, but still allows me to easily read what I printed.
Pictures came out a little wet, but I have pictures from a few weeks ago, and they still look alright. I have a HP 5550 at home that prints crystal pictures, but that is what it is for. Buy the 3520 if you want to use it at work, and just need to print Excel sheets and word documents. Want more, keep reading.
Ink Cartridges
I've never printed something and saw the ink go down as fast as this printer does. Yes, the ink is fairly cheap, at $31.99 for color and black combo packs. But if you only put color in, which will work, you'll see the ink get sucked dry in no time. I printed about 20 regular word documents with some color, and almost half of the ink was gone before I purchased the black cartridge (since then, while printing lower quality, I am saving my ink).
So, if you're going to print without the black ink cartridge, don't do it. Get the black ink.
Speed, etc.
Prints very fast on low quality, putting out about 11 ppm. Slower at 6 on high quality.
It has a USB connection, but does not come with a cord, so purchase that seperately (USB 2.0, not USB 1.0, which has the same connector on both ends, which I found out the printer does not).
Specs
Compatibility: PC and Mac
Print speed:
Black text: up to 8 ppm draft mode, up to 3 ppm normal mode
Color text and graphics: up to 8 ppm draft mode, up to 3 ppm normal mode
Print resolution:
Color: up to 2400 dpi
Black: 1200 dpi
Print method: Drop on demand thermal inkjet printing
Memory: integrated memory (allowing you to be able to store into printer even if document is no longer on screen)
Connectivity: USB 2.0
Duty cycle: 500 pages per month
Media types: Paper (plain, photo, injet), envelopes, transparencies, labels, cards, iron-on transfers, hp premium media
Media sizes: Letter, legal, executive, 3 x 5-, 4 x 6-, and 5 x 8 inch cards, #10 envelopes, A2 invitations
Cards: up to 110 lb.; A2 inviations: 16 to 24 lb.
Paper handling: 100-sheet fold-up paper tray
Input: 100 sheets paper maximum, up to 30 sheets transparencies, up to 20 cards, up to 20 label sheets, or 10 envelopes
Output: 50 sheets maximum, 15 sheets transparencies, 15 cards, 10 envelopes, or 20 label sheets
Print cartridges:
hp no. 27 (C8728A) tri-color inkjet print cartridge
hp no. 28 (C8727A) black inkjet print cartridge
Software: hp photo and imaging software (PC and Mac)
Operating systems:
MS Windows XP Home and Professional, Me, 98, 2000 Professional
Mac OS 9.1, OS X v. 10.1 and higher
PC system requirements: CD-ROM drive or internet access, 40 MB hard disk space for printer installation, USB port, USB cable (not included), 175 MB hard disk space for software installation, and one of the following: Windows XP (requires Intel Pentium 233 MHz processor, 128 MB RAM), Windows 2000 Professional (requires Pentium 133 MHz processor, 64 MB RAM), or Windows 98/Me (requires Intel Pentium 150 MHz processor, 32 MB RAM)
Mac system requirements: G3 processor or greater, CD-ROM drive or internet access, 40 MB hard disk space for printer installation, 175 MB hard disk space for software installation, and one of the following: Mac OS 9.1 or greater (requires 64 MB RAM), or OS X v. 10.1 or greater (requires 128 MB RAM)
Power supply: Input voltage 100 to 240 VAC
Power consumption: 25 watts (average printing)
In the box: hp deskjet 3520 color inkjet printer, hp no. 28 (C8727A black inkjet print cartridge, power supply, power cord, software on CD-ROM (PC and Mac), reference guide, set-up poster
Width: 16.6 inches
Height: 7.75 pounds
Depth: 9.6 inches
Weight: 4.5 pounds
Warranty, parts: 1 year
Warranty, labor: 1 year
Final Opinion
Good for work, bad for play. Get HP 5550 for around $100 or so for home use. Use HP 3520 for office use, or home office use, when printing simple documents. Good price on printer for doing just that.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 39.95
Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID:
Sarv
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Member: Erik Sarvela
Location: Medford, OR
Reviews written: 49
Trusted by: 15 members
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