Nearly Perfect All-In-One Printer--Use the Ink Saving Features and You'll Love It!
Written: May 04 '03 (Updated Jun 27 '03)
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Pros: Ink saving features are a great addition; FABULOUS Customer Service; Very Competitive Prices!
Cons: Strange noises worry me.
The Bottom Line: This machine just keeps amazing me--even my non-techy husband can use ALL of its features; nothing is wasted!
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It’s Only HP For Me
I’m been an HP fan for years. I’ve owned several, used them at the office (from color laser to high-output black & white), and helped others replace their off-brand printers that have caused them headaches with HPs that work trouble-free for years. I purchased this printer from HPShopping.com (read my review of them here: http://www.epinions.com/content_98144980612).
My HP 722c still works with a little assistance, but when I saw how cheaply the new all-in-one printers were I decided to upgrade. Now I have two printers—the old 722c is still connected via serial port and the new 6110 is connected via USB so we have a choice when printing.
What is a MFP? It's one machine that does several functions--in this case it's a copier, scanner, fax and ink jet printer. It does them all well, and takes up the space of a single machine. You can buy MFPs in all sorts of configurations.
My mother bought the same printer so I’ve had the joy of setting up two of them. I will say, it was so easy anyone could do it. Simple instructions with lots of pictures, just a few minor parts to add (the tray on the ADF & the faceplate over the buttons) meant we were attached and ready to print in less than 7 minutes.
Alignment is done automatically by the printer—it checks to be sure colors are printing correctly and the print is straight. I was impressed with the quality of the print right away.
My only qualms with the machine are all the weird noises it makes. We use an all-in-one (MFP) printer at work and it does make some strange noises, but I wasn’t prepared for this one. Loud clunks, clanks, and more made me think we’d left some of the packing material attached. After triple checking, and then installing my mom’s, I’ve realized this is all normal. It takes some getting used to—you just have to know it’s not tearing itself apart. My own printer has some additional noise in the ADF unit and I’m working with HP support by e-mail to correct the problem.
Using the machine is super-simple. You can access all the features through the computer and the HP Director or by the buttons on the machine itself. Use it whether the computer is one or not--it’s very versatile and functional!
OVERVIEW
A multi-function printer/copier/scanner/fax in one. I chose this one because of the great features—Automatic Document Feeder (ADF—means you put the paper you want copied or scanned in the feeder and walk away—it feeds it through for you), color copying, and fax. It prints 19 pagers per minute in black, 15 ppm in color, and copies at up to 19 copies per minute in black and 14 cpm in color.
Realize that print speed is dependent on the quality of the print—the high-end of the print estimate is for draft mode. For “best quality” the speeds are significantly lower. For example, in color, draft mode is up to 15 ppm, normal is 4 ppm, and best quality is .5 ppm.
This machine is meant for small offices or home use. Its duty cycle is 3,000 per month—use it within this range and it will last for years.
GENERAL
The paper-type sensor automatically detects paper type and adjusts print settings for best print quality. The input tray holds 100 sheets, the output 50. It can handle media like transparencies, labels, cards (index, greeting), iron-on transfers, plain paper, inkjet, photo, brochure, and envelopes in sizes from letter to legal, index cards, and no. 10 envelopes. In all, just about anything from 3”x5” to 8.5”x14” in dimension.
It takes two print cartridges÷ black and 1 tri-color. There is an optional photo black cartridge that can be swapped out when necessary. A great feature is an ink estimator—it shows you in a graphical manner approximately how much ink is left in the cartridge. It offers 4 modes of printing—best, normal, everyday, fastdraft—the quality is determined by the mode you chose with best being the highest quality and slowest print speed. Additional settings are available to help you avoid the smeared ink problems of other printers—you can set the Ink Volume (adjusts the amount of ink printed on the page—the lighter the ink volume, the faster the printout will dry) and Dry Time (provides extra drying time for slow-drying printouts—the printer will hold onto the printout until the dry time you’ve chosen has elapsed).
Software included with the printer is: HP Director (a great little program that helps you use of the function of the printer), Photo Gallery (a place to store your photos and organize them), Image Editor (to do simple editing), HP Scan to E-mail, HP Scan to Web, HP Creative Photo Projects (a fun program to add sparkle to your photos), Readiris OCR (a light-weight program that helps you take a scanned document and make it editable in a word processing program—it works well on simple documents without tables), and Memories Disk DVD Creator (I don’t have a DVD burner so I’m not able to test this one).
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
For PC and Macintosh: CD-ROM drive, SVGA 800 x 600 monitor with 16-bit color, available USB port
For PC: Intel® Pentium® II, Celeron®, or compatible processor (Pentuim III or higher recommended): Microsoft® Windows 98, 98 SE, 2000 Professional, Me, and XP: 64 MB RAM, (128 MB recommended), 600 MB available hard disk space plus 50 MB for full color scanning
For Macintosh: G3 or higher processor (G4 or higher recommended); Mac OS 9: 64 MB RAM (128 MB or higher recommended); Mac OS X: 128 MB RAM (256 MB or higher recommended); 200 MB available hard disk space, plus 50 MB for full color scanning
Windows 95, 3.1, NT 4.0 and DOS are not supported, Mac OS 8.6 and earlier not supported
FEATURES
PHOTO QUALITY
Photo-quality with up to 4800-optimized dpi (on HP premium photo papers and 1200 x 1200-input dpi) or optional six-ink color printing (available with separate purchase of photo cartridge—I’ve not tried it, the regular ink looks great on photos but the photo ink is for archival reasons—I will give it a try and then edit the review when I’ve tried it). Scanning is fast! A 4”x6” picture scans in about 30 seconds—from preview to final!
SCANNING
Fine detailed scanning with up to 1200 x 2400-dpi optical resolution (up to 19,200-dpi enhanced), 48-bit color (48-bit color Windows only). The maximum scan size is 8.5” x 11”.
It’s a smart scanner which means it can scan with the push of one-button. It automatically senses the area to be scanned and crops to that area. It really is fool proof and FAST! Once scanned, the new scan is automatically opened with the photo editing software so you can edit, add text, or correct the photo. One problem I’ve found is that most scans have a white edge on them not visible in the editing process—I’ve not figured out how to fix it short of looking at the photo and then re-editing the edge that’s causing the problem. Using a full-editor such as PhotoShop would eliminate the problem. Most people probably wouldn’t be bothered by it.
COPYING
35-page automatic document feeder makes copying easy! You can reduce and enlarge originals from 25 - 200%. I purchased the automatic two-sided printing duplexer which saves paper and frustration of trying to manually print on two sides—it installed in two-seconds and works beautifully. I’m impressed by the quality of the copies considering this is an ink jet. Color copies are nearly as good as their printed version—of course, the original you use will determine the final quality. Start with the best original you can for optimal results.
There are so fun features on the copier: Fit-to-page, poster, many-on-a-page, two originals on one page, margin shift, iron-on transfer, legal to letter, etc. Each is easy to access through the HP Director or right on the copy machine itself. The machine works with or independently from the computer—your choice.
ADVANCED FAXING
It’s able to fax in color (receiving fax machine must be color to receive it), and transmits at 6 seconds per page at up to 33.6 Kbps—this is for a regular page. Pages that are complicated (such as photos) or at a high resolution will take longer and use more memory. There’s no PC Fax interface (so you can fax an e-mail) and no fax forwarding (setting it to automatically forward to another fax machine).
The standard resolution is 300x300 dots per inch (dpi). It does have automatic redial, distinctive ring detection, fast faxing, and 75 speed dials. It can keep up to 80 pages in its fax memory (at standard resolution) so you won’t need to worry if you’ve run out of paper—the memory will keep them safe for you until you’re ready. You can also delay when you send your fax—need it to go late at night to save on long distance? You can program it to do so.
The fax worked well with the answering machine—set to monitor the phone line, the fax machine easily detected the tones of someone faxing and picked it up before the answering machine. No tones and the answering machine is able to pick up with no problems.
WHAT’S IN THE BOX
Power supply cord, power cord, hp photo & imaging software (see above), hp memories disc creator software, user’s guide on CD-ROM, 2 ink cartridges. What isn’t included is a USB cable to connect the printer to your computer. I purchased one for $19.99 at Staples since I knew it wasn’t included.
WARRANTY
One-year limited warranty backed up by HP Service & Support
STATISTICS
Dimensions (w x d x h) 19.5 x 15.5 x 11.8 in
Weight 24 lb
FINAL THOUGHTS
I’m extremely happy with my choice and my mom is thrilled. As the machine's age I’ll update this review to reflect any changes, problems, and servicing.
****UPDATE 6/1/03****
I needed to return a printer that was damaged (we may have broken it by not removing a piece of tape inside the ADF unit that was put there to stabilize it during shipping). I called HP and was warmly treated by the Customer Service representative. He e-mailed me a RMA (necessary to send back the product) instantly. This was a Sunday night at 10:30pm. The next day FedEx arrived (sadly during the only part of the day my husband left the house). After another attempt to pick up on Tuesday failed, my husband delivered the box to FedEx on Wednesday. Five days later I started to worry about the replacement (although he told me it would take 5 days--I was just anxious to play with my new toy). I called again and was informed they'd received my broken unit back that morning and they were overnighting the replacement and I'd have it the next day. Amazingly, it was in my hands and hooked up (minus the piece of tape this time!) and working 24 hours after I talked with the representative. They never once made me feel stupid for not removing the tape--they didn't blame me or charge me for the shipping to return and replace. I'm HIGHLY satisfied with the friendliness and care shown by their representatives.
Update 6/14/03--ONE MORE REASON TO LOVE THIS MACHINE! It tells you when you're about to run out of ink--press the details button and it gives you the part number you need to replace--one more click and it lists the price of that part at 6 different online vendors with PRICE & stock status! I seriously am changing my rating to 5 stars--it's been PERFECT!
Not the right printer for you? You might find one of these closer to your needs:
http://www.epinions.com/content_100688105092 Hewlett Packard HP OfficeJet 7130 Printer (networked All-in-One with memory stick features)
http://www.epinions.com/content_94283140740 Hewlett Packard HP LaserJet 3320n mfp Laser Printer (networked All-in-One)
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 299.00
Operating System: Windows and Macintosh
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Epinions.com ID:
briandalsmom
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Member: Mom
Location: USA
Reviews written: 249
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