Was looking like a fairly good piece of kit until had an urgent requirement to scan at the same time as running out of ink. Now cant do anything until I replace the ink cartridges. Absolutely disgusted with it. How can it not let me scan just because it has no ink. Last time I checked ink is not a requirement of a scanner.Get more detail about Epson Stylus Photo RX620 All-in-One.
In the beginning of 2007, I spent a month researching the best home All-In-One printer. I purposely chose a printer with an Ethernet connection that I could plug into my wireless router, so that all the computers within my house could print without the need for a main PC to be on. In February 2007, I made the fateful decision to purchase an HP Photosmart C5180. Having a long history with HP printers (932C, 722C ...), and never having a problem with any of them, I was expecting a workhorse that was built to last and not give me any headaches. Well I could not have been more wrong. This printer is a nightmare.
INK IS WATER SOLUBLE: To start with, one of the most irritating things about this printer is that the ink is water soluble so any drop of water on your printouts will result in a large smeared mess. A mere sweaty finger can ruin a page. My other HP printers don't have this problem. Also, if you run out of ink in any one of the six cartridges, the printer refuses to print anything. Consequently, if you run out of colored ink, you cannot print in black. What was HP thinking? A major pain! On more than one occasion, I had to run out to the store late at night to pick up an ink cartridge to finish a project.
POSSESSED: Additionally, the device is possessed. It routinely runs calibration or maintenance cycles on its own.
AMNESIA: The real nightmare started about eight months after I got the printer - when it forgot its IP address! The setup screen in the printer read 00.00.00.00 for its IP address. After four hours on the phone with HP's infinitely patient but totally useless technical support gurus, I convinced HP's tech what I knew all along: there was something wrong with the printer.
FIRST USED REPLACEMENT: As it was still under warranty, the tech guru promised to send me a rebuilt printer. A few weeks pass and my rebuilt printer arrives. As I open the box, to my surprise, the ink cartridges had leaked all over the printer. I was back on the phone with HP.
SECOND USED REPLACEMENT: Time passed and a second rebuilt printer was sent. I hooked up the printer and it appeared to work OK, at least until I tried to scan a document. I put in a number of calls to the tech support gurus. Based on the error codes, they believed that it was related to my Norton Antivirus software, but none could help. In frustration I converted to the USB connection. This required a main computer (the one connected to the printer by USB) to be on whenever I needed to print for any other computer. This was exactly what I wanted to avoid and the reason I got the new "Ethernet" printer. Well, at least I got my printer to scan documents.
NO IPOD: But not so fast; about a week after hooking up my "Ethernet" printer to my computers USB port, I tried to connect my iPOD and found out the computer could not recognized the iPOD. After reinstalling iTunes and my USB drivers and cursing the iPOD, I find out that if I shut off my printer everything works fine. After doing a little more investigating I find out the printer affects ANY device I plug into the USB port. In other words, I need to turn off my printer if I want to use my USB port for ANY other device (other than my mouse).
OUT OF WARRANTY: My printer is now out of warranty. I got barely six month of acceptable service from it. I spent hours trying to diagnose its problems by myself, and in concert with HP's tech service.
I am willing to spend a little more money for equipment that does not give me a hard time. HP was always one of those companies where I expected to spend a little more money for value, and in exchange I would get a worry free product. This is not the case anymore. Buy HP? No, No, No. I am saying good bye HP.Get more detail about HP Photosmart C5180 All-in-One Printer, Scanner, Copier (#Q8220A).
This is a decent enough printer. Performance is good, the ink seems to last a reasonable time but the cartridges are fairly expensive. Scanning is good. Software is frankly an annoyance.
However, don't buy if you're looking to refill cartridges like I was. They are protected. Not all manufacturers do this but most do just now. My situation was worse because no matter what I tried, I couldn't get the printer to print only in black and white even after Googling the issue a whole day, so the colour ended up running out even without my wanting to print in colour. From what I've heard about Lexmark, ink is their business and this would explain why the printer was so cheap and why they have built the printer in such a way.
For your average user, I give it 3 stars as perhaps a moderate user would be happy paying for the ink. Myself, as a programmer and systems developer who bought this printer in a hurry upon arriving in a new country, I need to print rather more and it has been a waste of my money and frustrated me for two whole days. I have bought a few Lexmarks in the past but after this experience, I doubt I'll try them again.Get more detail about X2650 Color Printer 3-IN-1.
This printer uses ink like no other printer I have ever had. First of all, the black ink cartridge itself is smaller than the ones I have had in previous hp printers - I think it's even smaller than my deskjet. I do not print a lot of stuff, but I am constantly buying ink cartridges... I even starting buying two at a time and it still seems like I'm buying more every couple of weeks. It has gotten so bad that I am tempted to buy another printer... and NOT an HP printer - and I've only purchased HP printers for the last 10 years. I have only had one other printer that was not HP.
I have had some problems with it locking up when I try to copy things as well. It does seem like it takes awhile to copy, but I don't know if it's any longer than any other all-in-one.
The fax function seems to work fairly well. One nice function is that the caller id is displayed on the machine when the call comes in.
No other complaints, but the fact that I am constantly buying ink is enough to make me regret ever buying this printer.Get more detail about HP Officejet J4550 All-in-One - Multifunctional Fax Copier Pinter and Scanner.
Bought this printer from Staples, work ok for about three months, I went to change cartrage, would not accept them. Played with this for about two hours and gave up
this printer is really not good. Buying a new one today.
Get more detail about Officejet J4580 All-in-One Printer.
I've bought a couple of Epson RX models over the years, and this last one will be the last Epson *anything* that I buy. Nothing is more frustrating than running out of ink when something needs to be printed, and even if you don't need that color or don't black there is no way to print. The cartridges are expensive and they run through much faster than any other printer I've used. The 6 color system was attractive, but it's just a tease and a way to gouge their customers.
On the plus side, the picture quality is excellent and the scanning has worked perfectly.Get more detail about Epson Stylus Photo RX595 Photo All-in-One Printer.
