HP OfficeJet Pro L7590 All In One Printer Review

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(More customer reviews)This is my third HP All-In-One Officejet printer. The first was the r80xi, the second the 6110. I had not been particularly enthused about the HP 6110, which after 5 years broke down with constant jamming. Every other brand that I looked at, however, also seemed to have their own flaws and potential reliability problems, and so I decided to stick with the HP series, mainly because the cartridges are so readily available at Costco. I have not had good luck with remanufactured ink cartridges. I strongly considered the Canon Pixma printers since a lot of people seemed to like them, but the constant complaint that the Canon printers are designed to not print when a single ink color runs low stopped me. This printer, like all other previous HP printers I have owned, continues to print when one color runs low, so you don't have to replace the cartridge right away if you don't need it. (The low ink indicators tend to come on well before the cartridges actually run out of ink, which would be another knock against Canon's systems).
The printer that I actually have is the HP L7555, which I purchased from Costco. From the specifications, the L7555 is the same printer as the L7590. HP has historically given large volume discounts to sell printers at Costco and then re-named the discounted printers sold at Costco (e.g. the r80 became the r80xi) so as to appease its other retailers. The L7555/L7590 come with the optional two-sided printing attachment, which is not included with the L7580. All three of these printers have wired network capability only (wireless is an optional accessory).
I would note that there are multiple separate listings on Amazon.com right now for the L7680 and L7780, and the photos and specs are quite confusing as to what the differences are, but it appears that these other models come with wireless networking, two sided printing, additional paper trays, and other features like Direct Digital Filing, etc. The L7600 and L7700 series come with legal size scanner glass instead of the letter/A4 size scanner glass for the L7500 series and so have a slightly larger upper body frame (legal size scanning/faxing on the L7500 series is done by feeding through the ADF). The L7780 has a color display instead of a black and white LCD display.
I use this printer as a common family/home office printer/scanner for four home computers. So some of the complaints of other people in the many printer reviews on Amazon.com don't apply to me. The computers all run Windows XP, and so Vista or Mac compatibility are not issues (drivers for Vista and Mac OS are included).
Initially, I set this printer up with my old USB 4-port switch (I have four computers at home on a home network). The L7590/7555 did not recognize the USB 1.0 switch that I had been using, so I got a new 4-port USB 2.0 switch (software switchable), which did work to switch printing and scanning between the computers. The only problem was that the computer that was "on" with the printer would freeze up during the boot process unless the USB port was unplugged or shut off.
So, I decided to put this Ethernet-capable printer on my home network. To do this, I had to expand beyond the four-port MN-100 router that I had. I got a D-Link DGL-4100 4-port gigabit router and DGS-2205 5-port switch. These hooked up easily with the Ethernet port on the L7590/7555. You have to put the HP setup CD back into every single computer on the network and re-install this printer for the network again even though the drivers have been loaded for the USB connection.
I am not using this printer to print high quality photos, although the three color cartridge system does look capable of doing decent photo color printing similar to previous Officejets.
Unlike the previous Officejets, this one comes with two replaceable inkjet heads. Previously, HP had built the inkjet heads into the disposable ink cartridges, which undoubtedly increased the cost of the cartridges. However, it is not entirely clear how long these replaceable printheads are designed to last. A search of the Internet suggested that the HP printheads are not designed to last for the life of the printer as the Canon printheads are, and possibly last only for every tenth ink cartridge or so. Stay tuned for an update on this issue.
The printer uses the 88 series of color cartridges (4 total - yellow, magenta, cyan, and black cartridges), and the 88 printheads (black-yellow, and magenta-cyan).
Pros:
1. Much more economical ink usage than the 6110. HOWEVER, you have to manually reset the default Windows printer parameters on every computer attached to this printer to take full advantage of this feature. The "Normal" default print setting gulps color ink at a prodigious rate - the color prints come out with the same depth of color as the "Best" setting for the 6110. So I am not at all sure that if you intend to use this printer to print a lot of photo quality prints how economical it will turn out to be. The "Draft" mode uses less ink but the color prints are not photo quality.
2. The printer does have a full range of manually adjustable settings in the "Advanced" tab for Printer Preferences in Windows that allow you to really dial down the ink usage and also presumably allows you to tweak the color ink usage for photos to acceptable levels. Black and white documents come out looking very usable with the ink settings at the very lowest levels.
3. Much faster than the 6110 for printing, scanning, etc. ADF works pretty good for scanning multiple documents.
4. Wired network setup fairly easy on Windows XP.
Cons:
1. The very first time the L7555/L7590 powers up, it takes 20 minutes to fully initialize. Later, if you turn off or unplug this printer, it takes about two minutes to initialize. Don't ever turn this baby off!
2. Installation of the driver software is also really slow, with a lot of popups requiring user interaction to continue the installation. If you have to load this software into several computers, it takes a while.
3. It only recognizes USB 2.0. It will not recognize USB 1.0 plugs. A USB 2.0 4-port switch that I used initially created hangups during the boot process for the compute that was "on".
4. The ADF feeder tray is still attached by way of two flimsy tabs. This is similar to the HP 6110 - one of the tabs on the 6110 ADF tray broke off after somebody set a heavy pile of stuff on top of it.
5. Loud. Probably the loudest of the three Officejets that I have owned. But this is probably because it is also the fastest of the three.
6. Footprint is 65% larger than the 6110 in square inches. It still fits on the same desktop space, just a tighter squeeze.
7. The wired (and wireless) networking only work for up to five computers, according to the manual. I have not tested this.
All in all, the Cons are minor complaints. This is a good quality printer, priced cheaper than the 6110 had been five years ago, but MUCH BETTER. Printer prices have dropped dramatically, as manufacturers have discovered that the money is in the selling of printer cartridges, and so the best part of this printer is its much more economical use of ink. But you have to make sure to adjust the default settings for ink usage. And I am still waiting to see how long these replaceable printheads last, to see if they contribute to the cost of printing. Addendum: I liked this All-In-One printer so much that I recently bought another one. Unfortunately, after a week or so of use, this one started having frequent paper feed jams, especially with two sided printing. And the auto-feed tray fed the papers in crooked. Fortunately, following my own advice, I'd gotten this printer at Costco like the first one (Costco rebrands this as the model L7555), and I returned it well within Costco's generous 90 day return period, and got another one, which so far is working fine. Remember, the price points are so important nowadays that quality control has really gone downhill and EVERY electronics manufacturer ships out some lemons. So strongly consider the return policy of any place that you buy your electronics from.
I've discovered another annoying aspect of the printer software when used on a network instead of a straight USB hookup - if you change routers or exchange printers, because each printer has its own unique network ID burned into its chips, you have to re-install the entire HP software package on every computer on your network. Simply re-installing the software on top of an existing installation doesn't work - you have to manually uninstall it first (the quickest way is to use the "Uninstall" option on the HP CD startup menu - this will uninstall all of the software in one sweep). This of course deletes all the special Windows Printer settings to reduce ink use, etc., that you have set up in your Printer Preferences, so you have to re-do all of that again also for each computer on your network. I have gone through this rigamarole three times now, changing from a D-link to a 2-Wire router/modem, exchanging printers, and then changing to an Actiontec router-modem.
With the Actiontec router/modem, the HP installation disc for some reason did not automatically detect the printer during installation for two of our computers, even though the Actiontec network browser page showed it was active. I had to manually identify the printer and input the printer IP address/MAC address. I tried using HP's latest update software, v.8, hoping it would work better, and it wouldn't identify or allow me to manually install this printer at all. So back to the v.7.0.0 CD - at least it works with manual installation. - HP doesn't list this version on their website, so don't lose your installation CD!
HP sure could make this re-installation process a WHOLE LOT better and easier!


Click Here to see more reviews about: HP OfficeJet Pro L7590 All In One Printer

The HP Officejet Pro L7590 Multifunction color inkjet Printer is designed to help your office reach new heights of efficiency and productivity by offering built-in networking, color scanning, faxing, and outstanding copy and print quality speeds of up to 35 ppm. The Officejet Pro L7590 also helps to keep costs down by using efficient HP Officejet inks that keep the cost per page up to 50% lower than many laser printers.
High-quality color documents print quickly. View larger. No More Waiting for High-Quality, Colorful Prints The Officejet Pro L7590 is fast! Depending on the level of output, the printer can attain printing and copying speeds as fast as 35 pages per minute, or ppm, and can achieve a true 4800 x 1200 dpi in full-color for those critical jobs when only the highest print quality will do.
The printer will produce full-color documents at speeds of up to 34 ppm, and its Photo Fix feature can automatically optimize photos before printing with the push of a button. And with its affordable price tag and efficient HP Officejet inks, this printer can help you save up to 50% over comparable laser printers.
Large Paper Supply and Automatic Document Feeder The L7590 comes with a 250-sheet paper tray and 50-sheet automatic document feeder, reducing the amount of time you spend adding paper. An optional 350-sheet paper tray (sold separately) can be installed for a total capacity of up to 600 sheets. The automatic document feeder is an easy and convenient solution for printing on special media such as envelopes, photo paper, cards, transparencies, and more.
Networking and Connectivity Options With HP's 10/100Base-T wired Ethernet, you'll experience reliable and easy networking. The L7590 also offers a host of other connectivity options, including USB 2.0, PictBridge, CompactFlash, SD card slot, MMC card slot, xD Memory Stick, MagicGate Memory Stick, and Memory Stick Duo and Pro.Scan, Copy, and Fax with Ease The Officejet Pro L7590 can scan either on the flatbed, or via the ADF at a full-color optical resolution of up to 2400 x 4800 dpi. The copier outputs at a colorful 1200 x 600 dpi at speeds of up to 34 cpm and up to 35 cpm for black & white. You can make up to 99 copies at once, and reduce or enlarge originals from 25% to 400%.
You can also send faxes of up to up to 300 x 300 dpi. The built-in fax has all the standard features of a stand-alone fax machine, including fax forwarding, polling, and junk fax barrier. It has the ability to broadcast up to a 20 recipients at once, and it has built-in memory for up to 99 speed-dial numbers.
Give Your Business a Professional Touch The Officejet Pro L7590 produces colorful, high-resolution documents that can help take your business to the next level. Using the HP Officejet Brochure Value Pack, you can further enhance the quality of your business's marketing materials by utilizing this easy-to-use software.Compatible with Windows (including Vista) and Macintosh, the Officejet L7590 measures 20.67 x 18.35 x 14.02 inches (WxDxH) and weighs 34.26 pounds. It is backed by a 1-year limited warranty.
What's in the Box HP Officejet Pro L7590 All-in-one, power supply, power cord, phone cord, two print heads, four ink cartridges, Set-up poster, Getting Started Guide, installation CDs (Windows and Mac).

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HP Photosmart C7280 All-in-One Printer Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is a good machine, but as many have pointed out the software can be a problem. Here's some software install advice (below) to make it work well for you.
I have a Brother laser AIO at my office that I love, but I chose this HP for my home for several reasons. The WiFi Brother unit has a 10 page document feeder compared to HP's 25 page. This was important to me, maybe not you. I really like the styling of the HP better. The HP rep was in Best Buy and printed off a photo for me. It was fantastic. I've reproduced the same results at home, though I didn't buy it as a photo printer. The Brother has a phone handset hanging off the side that I will never use. The HP looks & feels like a higher quality product, though the Brother reviews are good.
Follow the quick start guide to set up on your LAN. I have WEP and had no problems...literally a couple minutes to setup.
1st, in general, never use photo manipulation software that these printer companies provide. If you need to work with photos invest in a good commercial product. There's some reasonabally priced products.
2nd. Trash the disk that comes with the printer and go straight to HP.com and download the latest drivers. That have fixes most of the problems the other reviews point out. You have two download options, drivers only or full software. I did drivers only and it worked fine, however you loose control of some of the units settings, so I went back and got the full package.
However, I highly recommend this installation method that I used.
Unzip the download and run. then...
1. Choose the custom (not the "easy" recommended) installation option.
2. Choose "NO" on the next pages which asks if you want to do auto updates. Anytime you select this for any product you now have another application running in the background all the time polling the internet. It will slow your computer down.
3. On the next screen select "custom". Don't be afraid, ever if you're not an "advance user" as it recommends.
4. You get a screen with a bunch of options to install. The first one you have to select, the drivers. Then uncheck "shop for HP" (just crap), "HP Updater" (memory & bandwidth eater), "customer particapition program" (memory & bandwidith eater), "smart web printing" (you can try it, but more resident sw to eat up cpu and memory), "HP photosmart essentials" (not essential and from what I read it's crappy software. You can try it, but it'll save you 40MB not to install), "OCR" (unless you really use OCR. If you use it a lot, buy a good program, this will save you another 80MB).
What you do select is obviously "drivers" (it makes you & you do need this), "Solution Center" (no actual solutions here, but it does give you some control over your settings), "imaging & device functions".
Choose the default directory it recommends, unless you really know what you're doing and want another directory.
Choose "connect through network", if you are connecting through the WiFi. Make sure you get the printer on the network first, as the directions tell you.
Don't sign up for the HP offers crap, unless you like spam.
I'm used to the Brother scanning SW, but now that I'm getting used to the particulars of HP's it's not too bad. I do have a problem scanning from the plate glass from Adobe Acrobat. It works fine with the doc feeder, but for some reason not the glass. I just go to the "solution center" and tell it to scan to a pdf and it works fine.
I did jump on the HP support site around midnight and have a live chat with a support person. He's the one who informed me I need to install more than basic drivers to gain some control over settings. I found the support helpful, but I didn't exactly have a brain teaser of a question either.
Good luck...and don't install that darn auto updater.

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If you're looking for a single device that prints, faxes, copies, and scans, the HP Photosmart C7280 All-in-One Printer, Scanner, and Copier is your answer. The printer has a built-in 2.4-inch display you can use to easily print photos without a PC: Simply put your memory card into the memory card slot (compatible with Secure Digital/MultiMediaCard, CompactFlash, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Duo, xD-Picture Card), preview it on the display, and print. Enhancing your photos and removing red eye is as simple as pushing the HP Red-eye Removal button.
The HP Photosmart C7280 produces lab-quality, fade-resistant photo prints by using a six-ink color system for accurate color reproduction. Photos will always print on the correct side of the paper with the right quality settings because of HP Auto Sense technology. And coupled with HP Advanced Photo Paper, the C6280 is sure to produce photos that are smudge and smear-resistant right from the printer. Print speed is outstanding as well, at up to 34 ppm black and 33 ppm color. For those looking to save paper, an included duplexer lets you print on both sides of the paper. Sharing the printer with everyone on your network is simple with both built-in wireless and Ethernet connectivity.
The fax functionality is performed by a 33.6 Kbps modem at speeds up to three seconds per page. The built-in memory can hold up to 90 pages and the fax is capable of color faxing, delayed sending, and auto-redialing with a maximum of 48 broadcasting locations. The scanner uses a Contact Image Scanner (CIS) for scans at up to 4800 dpi optical resolution with a scan size of up to 8.6 by 11.7 inches. The copier supports pages up to this size as well and you can make up to 50 copies in one pass. Color copies are supported and there are settings for enlarging and reducing from 50 to 400 percent. HP Photosmart C7280 supports Windows 2000, Windows ME, Windows XP Home and Professional, and Windows Vista as well as Mac OS X 10.3.9 and 10.4.x. It is backed by a 1-year warranty.
What's in the Box Photosmart C7280 all-in-one, power cord, phone cord, 02 black ink cartridge, 02 cyan ink cartridge, 02 magenta ink cartridge, 02 yellow ink cartridge, 02 light cyan ink cartridge, 02 light magenta ink cartridge, set up guide, user's guide, paper sample pack, installer CD, and two-sided printing accessory.

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Brother MFC-5890CN Professional-Series Color Inkjet All-in-One with Networking and Large-Size Printing Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is a great printer--I give it 5 stars because it works AS ADVERTISED. This is HIGH PRAISE compared to the 6 other printers I've owned over the last 5 years (1 Brother laser, 1 Samsung, 4 HP's; only the Brother laser is still in use; to be fair, one of the HP inkjets still functions, but I have chosen to stop paying $60 every 4 months for ink). In looking for a replacement color printer, my search criteria were high-capacity ink cartridges, fax capability, ADF (auto document feeder) for scanning, and networkability. (Ideally, installation would be automated and wouldn't load my computer with megabytes of software that I didn't want...sigh). I first looked at the Brother MFC-490CW which, on sale, would have been 60% of the price of the MFC-5890CN. Second, I looked at the HP J6480 AIO. I am at the end of my rope with HP printers (I could write pages on this) but it looked at it for 2 reasons: (1) 2 different sales people at 2 different stores said over and over that the HP had much better image/print quality than the Brothers and (2) it does have a high capacity ink cartridge option (74XL, 75 XL). Then I looked at the MFC-5890CN which I decided to buy. I did consider the Brother MFC-6490CW, but it would have been an extra $50 to $100 dollars and it's HUGE (too big for my work space).
I think the Brother MFC-490CW is an awesome printer. It has good ink capacity (LC61 cartridges) but does not work with the high-capacity cartridges (LC65 series 25% more expensive for double ink) that it's big brothers can use (5890CN and 6490CW). I REALLY WISH that the MFC-5890 I purchased included the 6x4 photo paper bypass tray that the MFC-490CW has (my only disappointment with it! maybe Brother will offer an accessory tray with that feature). It also has built-in wireless networking, which sounded like a big deal but, as I discuss below didn't add anything--I am using the FULL capabilities of the MFC-5890CN wirelessly through my wireless router as I explain below. I decided to go with the MFC-5890CN over the MFC-490CW mainly so that I could use the LC65 high-capacity ink. Printing on 11x17 paper may also be useful to me. (It can NOT scan 11x17 documents as another review said. I guess that person never looked at it in the store as it's obvious that the scanner glass is only 8.5 by 11 and not 11 by17 like the MFC-6490CW.) It also has double the warranty period, 2 years, and double the duty cycle--I hope this means it really will last longer but only time will tell.
I looked at the HP J6480 AIO very carefully. The price was the same as the MFC-5890CN. This was the only similar HP printer that I found that had high-capacity ink. It has built-in wireless networking. It does NOT have a color LCD screen. To test the image quality, I went to the store and made color copies of the same test documents (pictures my children made) with the HP J6480 and the MFC-5890CN, both on highest quality. The Brother MFC-5890CN was very much better than the HP. Do the test yourself--my Staples in town has all the printers plugged in and loaded with paper. The only benefit of the HP J6480 is an automatic two-sided printing feature. However, this isn't too great a feature with inkjet as there is a pause to "let the ink" dry before it flips the page. Again, I tried this at the store--it was really annoying b/c if you only copy 1 side, the printed page pops out, the printer status screen says "Please wait, ink drying" or something like that, a few seconds pass, it sucks the page back in to flip it over, and then you can have your copy. If I want to duplex to save paper, I'll just use my laser.
So I bought the MFC-5890CN. I have had several nice surprises since. First, it prints GREAT! photos using the ink provided. I bought the Brother "innobella" 4x6 glossy photo paper ($5 for 20 sheets), put it in the paper tray, put the memory stick from my camera into the printer card-reader slot, selected the picture I wanted on the LCD, clicked print, and after about a minute, out popped at beautiful borderless 4x6 glossy picture that, to my eye, was about as good as any photo I've seen (from another printer or Walgreens). I was very, very, very happy how easy this worked and how good the picture looked. It worked just as well using "Picture Bridge" which just means you connect the camera straight to the printer with a USB cable. Also, I used the built in red-reduction feature and I was pleasantly surprised how well it worked (this was a portrait type picture with one person's face in the picture). I can't vouch for pictures using other photo paper--you see a lot of postings that it's better to match paper and ink. Second, I really like the Paperport software. I can scan directly into PDF and organize my files easily into different folders. Third, the color LCD screen is extremely useful, especially with direct photo printing. After 2 weeks, there are only two negatives--(1) I wish it had a built-in tray for photo paper as this would save time (it's little brother the 490CW and it's big brother the 6490CW both do) and (2) whoever designed the ink placement doesn't have any small children around--my 3-year-old can pull the little door open and it's hard for him to resist trying to pull out the colorful ink cartridges (most of the HP inkjets hide the ink deeper inside the printer).
INSTALLATION TIPS: I have an desktop running XP with Norton security suite; this connects via Ethernet to a Belkin Wireless router. I have a laptop running Vista also with Norton security suite that connects to the Belkin router wirelessly. I connected the Brother MFC-5890CN to the Belkin router with a direct Ethernet connection. I turned off the Norton Firewall and ran the standard Brother installation including Paperport software. (Note that I run the Norton firewall but keep the Windows firewall disabled on both computers.) Everything worked fine including Scan to functions selected from the printer. When I turned the Norton firewall back on, it stopped working. I add the printer "Node Name" to the Norton "Trusted Site list:" and everything now works. (The Node Name is a 12 character alpha-numeric code found on the printer as follow: click Menu button, scroll to "Network" and select, select "Wired LAN", select "TCP/IP", Node Name is at the bottom of the list--leave off "BRN", e.g. my Node Name is 008077D3C1B5--maybe it's the same for everyone--I don't know. I tried using the printer IP address found at the same location but this did not work. To add to Norton "Trusted Sites" do this: open Norton security suite by double-clicking icon in system tray, find "Internet Security and Firewall Options" link and click in the "Settings" section, click, "Trust Control" on left, click "Trust" tab on top, click Add button to add. I think it's all easier to do than it sounds.) It shouldn't be so complicated but it seems like this kind of tweaking is inevitably necessary if you use Norton and Windows and want to network. My laptop was actually easier. I again turned off the firewall while I installed the software (unplug your WAN/cable/DSL line while the firewall is off). Even though the laptop connects to the router wirelessly, when I selected "Wired LAN Connection", it found the MFC-5890CN just fine, loaded the drivers, and everything works fine. This includes walking up to the printer, loading documents in the document scanner, selection Scan To on the printer menu, selecting my laptop from the list, clicking OK, etc. To me, it seems like it works as well as it would if the printer itself had built-in wireless networking. I have not yet tried the Fax to PC function to the wireless laptop.
One other thing, built-in scanning options on the printer include Scan to Email, Image, OCR, File, FTP. These all scan to the Brother "Control Center 3" program; you can change these virtual buttons to scan to Paperport via the XP or Vista control panel (double-click Scanners, select Properties, etc.) This is a bit buggy with Vista but works perfectly on XP.
I hope this helps someone. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!


Click Here to see more reviews about: Brother MFC-5890CN Professional-Series Color Inkjet All-in-One with Networking and Large-Size Printing

The Brother MFC-5890CN Professional Series All-in-One with Networking and 11 x 17-inch (Ledger) Printing does everything you need in a small office in one sleek device, letting you save time, space, and money. And with built-in networking, it is easy to share the device with everyone on the network.
Print Top-Quality Documents Fast The MFC-5890CN prints both documents and photos at up to 6000 x 1200 dpi and can reach speeds of up to 35 ppm black and 28 ppm color. The versatile printer supports paper sizes from 4 x 6-inch photos up to ledger-size (11 x 17 inches) documents, and has a large 150-sheet input tray so you won't be constantly adding more paper. It uses separate ink cartridges for each color, so you only replace the color that runs out. High-yield cartridges are available for longer printing between replacements.
Built-In 3.3-Inch LCD Display for Photo Editing The MFC-5890CN features a 3.3-inch display that makes it easy to preview faxes and preview/edit photos directly without a computer. You can edit and print photos directly by using either the built-in media card slot or by connecting a PictBridge-enabled camera or USB flash memory. The media card slot supports compact flash, memory stick, memory stick pro, SD, SDHC, xD, and xD TypeM/TypeH.
Copy and Scan with the Same Device The MFC-5890CN lets you copy and scan as well as print from the same device. The stand-alone copier doesn't require a PC and can make both black-and-white and color copies at a speed of 23 cpm black and 20 cpm color. It can scale copies from 25 to 400 percent of the original, and it supports sorting and 2-in-1/4-in-1 copying. A 50-sheet automatic document feeder lets you scan and copy pages unattended.
The flatbed scanner has a maximum optical resolution of 1200 x 2400 dpi at 36-bit color depth for high-quality scans. It works with both Mac OS and Windows, and it includes Scansoft PaperPort v11 SE with OCR software for Windows and Presto! PageManager software for Mac.
Send and Receive Black-and-White and Color Faxes A high-speed Super G3 33.6K bps fax modem lets you send and receive black-and-white and color faxes at up to three seconds per page. The 50-sheet automatic document feeder lets you send faxes unattended. In addition to functioning as a stand-alone fax, it also works as a PC fax.
Built-In Networking Lets Everyone Use the Device The device has wired 10/100 Base-TX networking built in, making it simple to share the device with everyone in your network.
The Brother MFC-5890CN measures 19.1 x 9.5 x 16.1 inches (WxHxD) and weighs 23.6 pounds. It is Energy Star compliant and is backed by a two-year warranty.

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HP LaserJet Pro M1212nf Printer (CE841A#BGJ) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)My mom just bought this today and I helped her set it up. I'm already thinking about buying one, even though I already have a laser MFC at home. It's that good. The setup is easy, the quality is good, and the price is right.
1. Setup on PC, Mac, and network
It was super easy. HP includes the usual install CD, but you don't need it on PC; they put the files on the machine, and they show up when you connect the USB cable (the same way a USB flash drive would, though this doesn't work on Mac). Just follow the instructions; everything is straightforward.
If you want to use it over the network (i.e., connect it to your router), you still need to connect it via USB first. Before too long, the installation program tells you to disconnect the USB cable, and you don't need to connect it via USB any further. (So if you have a USB cable that you can use temporarily, you don't need to buy another just for the printer to use it over the network.)
If you haven't yet connected the networking cable from the printer to the router, it'll tell you when to connect it, and the router and printer should talk to each other without any difficulty. (My mom's router is a modem/router/wifi hub combo from the Paleozoic Era, issued by a very low-tech rural DSL provider, and it worked just fine.) I expected the networking part to be hard, and it was actually fairly easy. If everything I've written so far makes sense, you probably know enough to set this up on the network.
Once it's set up on one computer and on the network, use the driver CD to install the drivers on any other computers on your network; this is even easier.
Within an hour (half of the time making room for the printer and so forth), we had:
*Installed the drivers on 4 computers (1 Mac and 3 PCs--one is even Vista!)
*Printed test pages from each
*Set up the fax preferences (you can do this on the computer via the device management software, which is WAY easier than navigating the device menus)
*Successfully scanned documents into JPGs and PDFs, via the flatbed and sheetfeeder, over the network (many MFCs print well over the network but make it all but impossible to scan without connecting the USB cable), via Mac and PC
I've connected a LOT of devices to a LOT of computers, and for such a complicated device, this was ridiculously easy. Major kudos to HP's software team.
2. Quality
Print and copy quality are great. That's a given with a laser printer, I suppose. It's only black-and-white, but if you don't need color (e.g., if you print your photos at the pharmacy) or have a separate color printer (e.g., a photo-quality inkjet printer), you're good.
The scanning quality is also very good. 300x300 pixel black-and-white scans of sheet-fed documents make great PDFs. I also did a 1200x1200 pixel color scan of an old sports card, and it's quite sharp. I'm not somebody who works with images for a living, but unless you are (or are a very serious hobbyist), this scanner should suit your needs.
I wasn't able to get the standard Mac software (Image Capture) to operate the scanner (that software is pretty weak anyway), but the HP Director software works well on Mac (genuinely shocked) and PC.
My one complaint about using the HP software for scanning is that it doesn't let you preview-and-crop. If you need cropping (e.g., if you're scanning in 4x6 photos), you'll need to do that with another program. You probably already have something on your computer that will do this, but if not, you can download GIMP (free open source program) or buy something cheap and simple to crop, correct color, etc.
We haven't tried the fax yet.
3. Value
At the list price, this is a steal. Even lower-quality manufacturers (you know who they are) are charging similar prices for laser MFCs with no networking capability.
If you've never bought a laser printer, the toner cost (currently on the HP website at $68 for a cartridge that yields about 1600 pages) might be a turnoff, but on a per-page basis, it's probably somewhat-to-much cheaper than the inkjet you're using or considering. The overall build quality and durability of laser printers is also much better, so your "total cost of ownership" (cost of printer + ink/toner, divided by pages printed before the device dies) is likely much lower.
In short, this printer is a winner, at least based on initial quality.

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HP LaserJet Pro M1212nf

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Brother MFC-7840W Laser Multifunction Center with Wireless and Ethernet Network Interfaces Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I spent about a week researching for just the right multi-function printer for my needs. I own a small business with about 30 employees so I needed more than an inkjet but didn't require a 'corporate' $1000+ version either. I needed fax, scan, copy, and print capability with laser printing and built-in wireless capability. Suprisingly, there are not that many printers on the market that can give you all of these in one package. Originally I was going to purchase the Brother's MFC-8870 for around $500 which all the reviews on the internet recommend, but I found this while browsing around and realized that it had just come out a few weeks ago. Although there were no reviews out yet for this new printer, it was considerably less expensive than the 8870 and the only thing I seemed to be losing was auto-duplexing so I made the purchase. It took about 15 minutes total for me to set up an ad-hoc wireless printer setup and everything works great. The scans are nice, the printing is very crisp and clear even in very small fonts. The only thing I haven't tried yet is the fax which I won't be using much. I really can't say anything bad about this product. Sure it would be nice to have a legal-size flatbed, auto-duplex, and 64mb memory (instead of the default 32mb) but for the money this can't be beat. Overall, this seems to be a really great product at a great price. I highly recommend this if you need a 4-in-1 with wireless capability. Definitely the best on the market for this niche.

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The Brother MFC-7840W Laser Multi-Function Center with Wireless Networking is an economical, compact device that can handle all your small office printing, copying, scanning, and faxing needs. With crisp, high-quality output and fast print speeds, you won't be waiting around for the MFC-7840N to finish its job. It is compatible with both Macs and Windows, and built-in 802.11b/g wireless networking makes it easy for you to share the device with everyone in your office.
Compact, Elegant Design and Multiple Networking Options The MFC-7840W measures a compact 16.9 x 15.6 x 12 inches (WxDxH) and tips in at just under 25 pounds, taking up minimal space in your office. Featuring an elegant black color scheme, the device won't look out of place in any office. An LCD backlit display keeps you apprised of the device's status.
With USB, Ethernet and 802.11b/g wireless interfaces, setting up this printer for use with a single computer or with a network is simple. Once connected, everyone in your office can print, fax, and scan. The wireless networking supports WEP 64/128, WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK, and LEAP for security so you won't have to worry about your sensitive documents falling into the wrong hands.
Fast Print Speeds and Outstanding Output with High Compatibility With crisp black output at 2400 x 600 dpi, no one will be straining their eyes to read your latest report. And with the prints coming out at a speedy 23 pages per minute, you won't have to wait for them either. The printer includes 32MB of memory and has a maximum monthly duty cycle of 10,000 pages. Thanks to support for PCL 6 and BR-Script3 print emulations, the printer will work seamlessly with a large variety of computers.
Flexible Paper Handling with 250-Sheet Input Capacity The MFC-7840N features a 250-sheet paper tray that can be adjusted for both letter and legal size paper. Other media, such as envelopes and labels can be fed through the single-sheet bypass slot. The fold-out rear output tray reduces the possibility of paper jams by allowing for a straight paper path when printing envelopes and other thick media.
Make Copies and Faxes without Turning on the Computer Using the same components that does the printing, you can make copies at the same fast 23 pages per minute. Thanks to a 35-page auto document feeder, you can copy, fax, and scan multiple pages without standing around manually swapping pages. The copier lets you reduce and enlarge from 25 to 400 percent of the original, and you can put 2 or 4 sheets on one page. The copier also supports a sorting function.
A built-in 33.6k bps fax modem lets you fax documents at speeds of up to 2 seconds per page. The device supports Caller ID, out-of-paper reception, external TAD interface, distinctive ring detection, auto fax reduction, fax forwarding, automatic redial, dual access, and fax broadcasting of up to 258 locations at once. Built-in memory allows the device to store up to 600 pages in memory for faxing.
Scan Photographs, Images, and Documents Scan photographs and pictures at a resolution of up to 19200 x 19200 dpi (600 x 2400 dpi optical) at 48-bit color depth for integrating high-quality images into your documents. With the included OCR software for both Windows and Mac, you can also easily change paper documents into editable digital copies.
The Brother MFC-7840N Laser Multi-Function Center with Networking measures 21.7 x 20.1 x 20.5 inches (WxDxH) and is Energy Star compliant. It is backed by a one-year warranty.

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