40 out of 40 people found this review helpful.
A time saver and a good way to get organized at home!
Date of Review: Oct 20, 2005
The Bottom Line: Great for personal use, poor for home business.
I recently purchased a new computer and this printer was included in the bundle which is the only reason I ended up with this item. When I got home I found that this all-in-one sells for around $150. It sat in the box for awhile because I didn't feel like I needed it. Eventually I got it out and became fascinated with all the things I could use it for. Now that I have it set up in a convenient location I use it all the time. I still rely on my laser printer for printing black and white documents because the print seems more professional than the print from the inkjet. More importantly, the price of toner for the laser printer is much cheaper for the cartridges for the ink jet printer. I have come to rely on this all-in-one for everything else.
Who this is for
This is for someone who uses less than 5000 pages per month. This offers a one year warranty and I wouldn't expect to get more than one year use out it which is pure speculation due to the appearance and past experience with printers in this price range. My point is that it's not made to last so the price may be right but you get what you pay for.
Technically speaking
This is designed to work with the following operating systems: Windows 98, Me, 2000, XP, Mac OS X 10.2.3. The Productivity Suite is only Windows compatible.
I have been using this with Win XP without problems.
Productivity Suite
I really love that the copier can be used without the computer. Someone can walk up and print a copy without disturbing me while I'm working on my computer. The scan and print features are easy enough that my kids are able to do it easily.
The items can be used through the computer also. There is a productivity suite which installs on your computer which allows the user to:
- Manage, organize and search documents with ease
- Scan and edit documents/printed materials (OCR)
- Easily convert documents to PDFs
- Photo capable with PictBridge and 4x6 photo tray
- Distribute multi-page faxes and emails
Aesthetics
This has a nice appearance to it from a distance at least. The LCD panel, power button, selector, auto answer is illuminated in blue. Since my computer and speakers have the same blue glow it looks pretty cool at night but the novelty wears off and isn't noticed after awhile.
Looking at it carefully it looks like flimsy plastic. It has black and gray contrasting colors and fits in nicely with the appearance. I wasn't long before it started collecting dust. It shows dust a lot more than a lighter colored printer. It also has a lot of nooks and crannies so requires a little more effort than the palm of your hand to dust it.
The printer measures 19.32''w x 16.64''d x 12.02''h and is an odd shape. The lid will also need room to lift up so this isn't going to be tucked indiscreetly somewhere.
The buttons and paper tray is easily accessed from the front of the printer. There is a lighted LCD screen which has the option for Auto Answer which helps walk you though a task. The words on the screen can be seen easily without bending down.
The paper loader is in the front. The paper comes out at the bottom of the printer and normally spits onto the floor. There's a bar that can be pulled out to catch the paper but it is extremely flimsy and not always effective.
I have my printer sitting on a printer stand and it makes a lot of noise while the entire table shakes as it prints but thata€™s not too unusual for an inkjet printer.
Printing
I really like laser printing; ink printers are really less impressive to me. I forgot that you have to let the paper dry. One lesson I learned quickly was that when I make a copy of something small like a receipt I have to put a blank sheet of paper over it to fill up the whole area. Otherwise, it shades the unused area solid black ink and comes out very wet.
One of the benefits of this over a laser is that you can put a lot more things in the paper tray. The instructions indicate that it is acceptable to us: inkjet and photo paper, transparencies, labels, envelopes, index cards, greeting cards, banners, and iron-on transfers. The only thing I have tried is Avery labels and I haven't had any problems with them getting jammed. I haven't had any paper jams from standard paper either.
Color Copies
My daughter made a masterpiece using crayons and I wanted to make a copy of it to send to relatives. I inserted the picture and pushed color print and it came out just as quickly as a regular copy. My 11-year-old was assisting me and was eager to find out how the color copy came out. I think we both expected an identical print and neither of us was very happy with the results. First of all the very obvious orange circles came out a dark yellow. The dark blue came out light blue. The heavily colored dark pink flowers came out the same color but not nearly as dense. They looked shaded rather than colored. She wrote her name in ink. The copy was much lighter in ink than the original. If you're looking for some quality replication, this is not the machine for you.
Scanning
I was most interested in the scan and edit function. The first thing that I noticed is that 8-1/2 x 11 is the largest that you can scan on the bed so I've ran into a problem already with scanning receipts because they're usually longer.
I love the Scan and Edit feature. I can scan a document and it opens in Word where I can edit the document which would be priceless if your computer lost an important document. It works like a dream for a typical document like a letter. I scanned a report which had lots of columns and formatting. It had some handwritten check marks on the paper. The check marks turned into a letter. All of the formatting remained correctly and I was able to edit the numbers and words.
Copy
Making a copy is similar to a traditional copy machine. Simply lift the lid and insert the item. You have the option to decide on how many copies, push the button until the blue light is on copy, and then push the button for a color or black copy. It took a little time to make a copy so it's really not like a copy machine.
Having the ability to make a color copy is really neat. The color copies never come out as bold as the item that I am copying. To lower the print quality to save money on ink is not a good option. The print comes out too light and hard to read.
Color Photos
Wow. I am very impressed with the photo quality. The photo came out dry. The colors were true to life including the skin color. The photo was truly impressive for an inkjet. Still, I can order my prints online for less than the ink and photo paper for this printer so it will come in handy for emergencies but not feasible for everyday use.
There's a port on the front of the printer to directly plug your camera into for convenience.
Fax
I don't have a need for faxing so I haven't tried that aspect of the printer. We don't even have a telephone jack where our printer is now. You can expect 33.6 Kbps modem speed, 100 page memory and automatic document feeder for multiple pages.
A phone cord is included in the box.
Power Protector
I am going to mention a power surge protector which includes a phone jack if your fax is hooked up and cable protector if there is a path. I got this printer because electricity went through my cable and destroyed my laptop and everything hooked to it so an expensive lesson to pass along.
Overall
This does a lot of things so if you're looking to save space with a nice looking machine this would be a good choice and seems to be priced nicely for the features that it offers. I figure it would cost more than $150 to buy all items separately. The machine is designed well for users and is easy to figure out.
I would consider this suitable for home casual purposes only. My initial impression was that this would be suitable for a home business but I would not recommend or use this for a home business based on the results. Business wise, it's not going to cut it at all.
It does everything that it says it will do but the final product isn't always great. Black and white printing and copying is great. Color printing and color copying isn't so wonderful.
The software suite is very helpful and works correctly. It's organized nicely and easy to figure out to help you stay productive. It also gives you the ability to do things without physically being near the printer.
In a nutshell, I love the features like scanning, OCR, and having everything in one but the printed results leave a lot to be desired. Good for personal use only, not for a small business.
