Great small office printer

We had a need to replace our old all-in-one with something a bit more rugged and modern so I started the great research adventure. After spending many hours online I was leaning toward one of the Canon or HP multi-function devices. Since we have started a home based business I was leaning toward the Officejet Pro line from HP. It seemed designed for the higher volume work and office tasks rather than being more photo based. Since we have the Epson PictureMate photo printer already, the photo aspect is not as important as the auto document feeder (ADF) and duplexing (printing on both sides of the paper).

This is the “big daddy” version of the HP Officejet Pro 7000 line. As you move up the food chain you get a few neat features; the duplexer, a second high capacity paper tray, color display and wireless access. I believe that the basic engine that drives the printing is the same throughout the series.

Since this comes with the second paper tray the box is really big. Once the printer is assembled it is pretty tall (about 17 inches). We have it on a small cabinet so the screen is about the right height. This printer is also pretty heavy, I think it comes in about 40 pounds but I think that is a good thing to keep this printer from walking off the desk or counter it is sitting on.

The setup for this printer can be a bit complicated but the instructions are pretty clear. The initial assembly is not that difficult and the basic setup is straightforward. To use some of the more interesting features like wireless and Direct Digital Filing does take someone familiar with computer technology. We were able to get everything working great. I can print over the wireless network without having the computer connected to it being turned on (which was a thing we had to do with the old printer).

One thing you will notice about this printer is that it is FAST. In normal mode it is rated for 16 pages per minute, that means that in less than 4 seconds a complete page is printed. I am amazed as I watch this thing spit out pages. As you can imagine though that speed comes at a price, this is a noisy printer. I can’t hear it downstairs but I certainly wouldn’t put it in a room where you needed peace and quiet.

The print quality is just amazing. Text looks the most laser like of any inkjet that I have seen. Of course if you print a photo on regular paper it gets a bit saturated, but for regular documents I am very impressed. We are going to try some glossy “special” paper next weekend for some brochures and I will update the review then. According to HP the cost per page can be cheaper than a laser printer. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that this printer uses ink tanks rather then the traditional tank/printhead most inkjets have. Basically there are two printheads that go over to four ink tanks to get charged. The main consumables are the paper and the ink. The ink tanks are available in two sizes; regular and XL. The XL tanks run between $25 and $35 but are good for about 2000 pages. Compare this to most inkjets that deliver in the hundreds of pages for $25 to $35. Eventually you will have to replace the printheads but I believe they are rated for a lot of pages.

A neat feature is the Direct Digital Filing. Once it is setup you can press a button on the control panel and scan a PDF or JPG to a particular computer. This is actually a very cool feature; we use it more that we thought. The setup is not very clearly explained in the manual, but someone with some computer experience can figure it out.

We have used all the features (ADF, duplexer, etc.) at least once and have not had any issues. As we live with the printer I will update the review.

UPDATE

After using this device for a bit I wanted to update the review.

One annoying thing that is not very well documented is the Digital Filing that I discussed earlier. I have upgraded my computer to a newer model and I wanted to add it to the digital filing feature. The only way to do that is to "log on" to the printer thought an internet browser using the IP address of the printer. I couldn't remember doing that and I hunted for 30 minutes on HP's website looking for the instructions! Basically you type in the IP address of the printer in your browser and then add the computer of your choice, it is actually pretty easy. Just hard to find.

We have scanned a few photos and have been very happy with the quality. If you want high resolution you need to go into the menu system and tell it but most of the time the default settings work great.

As far as copying it is a no brainer. Just place your item under the glass (or in the ADF) and press either black or color copy. BOOM! In just a few seconds you have a great copy. We use this feature all the time for stuff.

I have managed to smear a few printouts that were fresh from the device. I think once the ink is dry it is a bit better. It is still an inkjet.

Overall we are still very happy with the printer.

Bradman