Great threeway

Well, when my somewhat ancient Cannon personal copier bit the dust I thought it was time to investigate some alternatives. As part of my thought process I looked back at the time when I was cutting edge and bought a fax machine for about one thousand dollars, before there was hardly anyone to fax to. In the years that have ensued I have gone through maybe two or more fax machines. When the last one died I opted to encourage people to use email whenever possible or if they must fax something, to send it to my free Jfax account. In a pinch I could always send a fax using my scanner and PC though this always seemed to be more cumbersome than the technology originally promised. The one component I am more-or-less satisfied with is my HP Deskjet 952C this has worked adequately for the two years or so I have had it. Though I often wish it were faster.

Enter the world of multifunction in the form of the HP Officejet 7310. Wow! It's three-three-three things in one. It copies --- it faxes --- and it prints !! Imagine the convenience. My head is still spinning at the thought. But that's not all. It does not just print from your computer but it also prints photos and files from other media such as flash cards, memory sticks and more, right from the unit. All this for under $500.00. When I think that I spent a grand for my first fax and another grand for my first Lexmark Laser Printer (of course this printer is not Laser, but the results are comparable) this seems too good to be true.

Some of the criteria that led to my decision to get this model were the desire to have a flatbed scanner with an automatic document feeder (ADF) which this model has. I also like that the HP7310 allows for legal size printing and copying which the less expensive models do not; as well as the ability to do two sided printing, both of which I consider to be pluses but not essentials. Other important features are faster printing and copying than my current printer and now defunct copier; and it was also my hope that the scanner was faster than my UMAX 2100, and it is. Also the ADF allows for the possibility to scan multiple documents. Maybe I will create a paperless environment yet!

I must begin by saying that this is generally a favorable Epinion and that the unit seems to be all that it has promised. I have not had an opportunity to use the photo media aspect as of yet but I will comment on the other functions.

Let me speak first about set-up. This is virtually plug-and-play utilizing a USB connection and CD ROM software. There were no real glitches in the set-up. Just beware that the USB cord IS NOT provided. If you are planning to set the unit up away from your computer you will need to be conscious of the length you will need. This advice goes also for the fax cord. A ten foot phone connection cord IS provided. Keep in mind that if you desire wireless networking capabilities, it can be found in the HP7410. The set-up took about 1.5 hours from the time I sliced the box to the time all of the software was loaded and I made my first print.

Now the one drawback, my computer is a cobbled together affair which is based on a now somewhat dated motherboard with a similarly outdated (June 1999) BIOS. The result is that my computer takes longer to boot (up to several minutes), and my system has hung up several times over the past few days. I used HP’s online chat support and learned that the outdated BIOS is causing the problem. Essentially the BIOS thinks that the HP7310 is an external mass storage device because of the way the media card potential is configured. So it is attempting to boot from the “mass storage device.” I guess after a while it gives-up and moves on but that is what stalls the boot-up procedure. In short if you have a newer computer you need not be concerned, however if your computer is older (1999 or earlier for sure) beware.

Aside from this inconvenience the device itself is working very well with very good results. I am very happy with the print quality and the print and scan speed. It copies and prints in both B/W and color. The unit is attractive in two-tone gray. The faceplate and controls are easy to use and understand. It includes a small approximately 2x2 inch color display with helpful menues and the ability to preview photos prior to printing. The ink cartridges are easy to install and it uses the HP96 Black and HP97 Tri-color cartridges.

It is the habit (or custom) of some here at Epinions to repeat data that is readily available. If you are curious about dimensions, actual speeds, what media this device accepts or other specifics please consult the specifications which are online here or at the HP.com website. My overall feeling is that this is a good quality all-in-one machine with room to grow. It is my expectation that the level of features and technology onboard should be adequate for at least three years. When considering features for this type of product it is better to have more than less. I do not currently use all of the media type supported but I may very well have a future use and I wanted to be prepared. The same with the 2 sided printing and legal size, it is nice to have it when you need it. As far as the ADF, why stand and feed in original one at time when you can stack them up and walk away. My advice is to consider your current and possible future uses then decide accordingly. I believe this is a good choice for a busy home office or small business that may have diverse needs. It is probably more than a casual home user needs.

I usually have some reservations about buying multifunction devices. I prefer separate components because if something goes wrong it does not necessarily shut down the other capabilities. I just decided that for the price this was a risk I could take and for the moment my other printer and scanner are still available as a back-up. The new device does not take any more room than my old copier so spacewise I am no worse off.

Finally if you are comparing theHP7310 with the HP7410 the two major differences I found was the ability of the 7410 to do wireless networking and the 7410 has two paper trays for faster 2 side printing and for loading two types of paper. This is convenient if for instance you print a lot of photos. You could load one tray with photo paper and one tray with regular white copy paper. I decided that these two feature were not worth the extra $100. I bought my HP7310 at Office Depot in Chicago for about $350 minus a $40 store credit rebate.