Summary: First, this printer would have scored a five star rating had not the first machine had a loose piece in it that obstructed the carriage return and my subsequent dealings with HP Tech Support. I had tried to deal with HP rather than return the machine to Staples, but in the end I returned it to Staples for a swap. That was a much better decision.
This printer is replacing a HP 6310 All-In-One. It is physically larger and was an awesome buy as the model year ends and using the HP program that you can get $50.00 off on certain printers for turning in any printer, regardless of manufacturer or working condition. I walked out of the store having actually paid $149.00 for this printer.
The unit is a bit noisy, but that does not bother me. It also takes a minute or two to warm up since it cleans the print heads when it is turned on. There are two print heads that each control two colors of ink. There are four different ink cartridges, which is both a plus and a minus. The plus is that you don't need to replace an entire color ink cartridge if one color runs low, you simply replace that one cartridge and not throw away (or recycle) other perfectly good ink. The minus is having four ink cartridges to buy. The net result is that you are supposed to save money over the life of the printer by only buying consumables that you actually need.
Installation was easy. HP actually has great installation instructions online in its printer support area for this printer. It gave all the instructions clearly and in order. I was actually very impressed with how easy it was to accomplish. Also, the duplexer unit that comes with the printer installed in a snap, which was contrary to what I had read somewhere online.
I like to fax documents directly from Microsoft Word. Previous editions of the HP Solutions software, and also the fax drivers that are installed, have been, at best, problematic. Before the installation I uninstalled the previous 6310 printer and took the additional step of using CCleaner to check the registry and removed all remaining entries regarding the printer and software. I then installed the software and it went in perfectly and the functions, including the fax setup, also all worked the first time with no issues. In the past this has not always been the case so I was very pleased with that development.
The print quality is excellent. The printer is also fully capable of printing in the draft mode, which reduces the use of ink. The result is noticeable, but for a draft document it is acceptable and the plus side is that you are saving ink.
The duplexer is interesting. It prints one side and almost ejects the printed copy and then a pause to wait for the ink to dry and then pulls the paper back in and prints the reverse side. This makes the printing process slower than simply printing on two pages, but it does save paper.
Compared to my 6310, print speed is phenomenal. It takes a few seconds to get the printer to print from a resting state, but once it is printing it is very fast.
The downside to this is dealing with HP Tech Support. I called on my first printer and the piece that had been loose and then jammed the print head. I tried to explain this to the tech support person, who sounded more like he was in Pakistan than India. After five or ten minutes it was clear that this person did not understand the details of what I was trying to communicate despite his insistence to the contrary. He also refused my polite request to perhaps speak with someone who might better understand me, such as an American or Canadian. All he was concerned with was seeing if my machine could scan and then proclaim my machine fine, despite the fact that I had a piece of the internal workings on the table next to the printer. The good news is that after the fact that I did manage to get a hold of their customer support personnel and explained the situation to them. The person I spoke with was concerned about me not being provided someone who spoke better English when I requested it after trying to converse with the Tech Support person for 10 minutes. It is too bad that there is such a difference between the quality of their customer support folks versus the front line tech support staff, who are mostly outsourced Asians that create communication issues.
As I said this printer would have received a 5 star rating had HP Tech Support been better. I also didn't think it fair to reduce my rating too far on a nice piece of equipment so that explains my rating of this printer.
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