HP DeskJet 6540 Color Inkjet Printer Review

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(More customer reviews)HP Deskjet 6540 [PC Pro]
COMPANY: Hewlett - Packard
DATE: Nov 04
Verdict: Excellent text quality, high speed, expandability and smart styling aren't quiteenough to make this basic printer competitive.

The 6540 is the first unit we've seen from HP's all new Deskjet line-up, a range that's been home to several Recommended and A-List award-winners.
Compared to Canon's Pixma iP3000, the 6540 is a fairly basic unit - there's just a single printer tray, no duplex or CD printing, and no direct-print-from-camera functions, yet it still manages to be almost £30 more expensive. In terms of build quality though, it's streets ahead of the Canon. The dapper metal shell of the HP is much slicker than the iP3000's silver plastic, and the whole unit suffers from much less rattle. The lid is even geared so that it closes softly rather than slamming shut.
This attention to detail is carried over to the button panel on the left; the keys have a positive clicking action and are smartly lit. The bottom button switches between printing modes (draft, normal and best), though the printer software can override this if you'd prefer. Paper follows the traditional HP U-feed path - not a problem unless you want to print on non-standard or thicker media - and there's the usual slot for feeding envelopes. You'll also notice the inclusion of an upstream USB port on the front - not for connecting a camera, but as an easy way to connect a laptop. We're not convinced it's a must-have feature, but it's there if you want it.
In testing, text documents were near laser-quality, with crisp, black and well-formed characters on default settings, while draft mode only added slight feathering. Print speeds aren't staggering, but with our 25-page text document taking four minutes, six seconds to run through on draft mode, and only a minute more for default, the Deskjet 6540 should be fast enough for all but the most demanding users. For extra speed, we found fast draft mode to yield an impressive 21.4 ppm, with still reasonable results.
Photo printing is slightly more disappointing. Though prints are delivered in a timely fashion - one minute, 54 seconds for a best-quality borderless 6 x 4in photo - colours are a little washed out, and detail is softer than we'd like. Some prints also exhibit a slight embossed effect, with ink appearing to sit on top of the printed surface.
The black cartridge can be swapped for a photo cartridge to turn the printer from a four- to a six-colour device. Results were certainly smoother, and though colours still lacked punch and the detail was a little fudged, photo prints of this quality are uncommon in a sub-£100 printer. An additional grey cartridge is also available for smooth monochrome prints. On the plus side, it means you can choose how much to invest in the machine as a photo device; we just wish there was somewhere to put whichever cartridge you're not using.
It isn't just the ink that's modular. HP offers a range of accessories, including an automatic duplexer, complete with separate small paper sheet feeder. There's also an additional 250-sheet paper input tray. Compared to what the Canon iP3000 is offering, however, these aren't cheap, costing another £40 each.
If you're looking for a cheap workhorse inkjet, the basic model is a good choice. Its photo printing is respectable for a printer at this price, and when you add to this smart styling, low running costs, and superb build quality, the Deskjet 6540 deserves a PC Pro Recommended accolade. For sheer flexibility and value for money, though, the Canon is a better choice.
By Christopher PhinHope this helps you out.

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The HP DeskJet 6540 color inkjet printer offers versatile performance and connectivity and a sleek-looking low-profile design. Get fast 30 ppm black printing or up to 20 ppm in color or sharp resolutions that are fine enough even for detailed photos.
The 6540 produces crisp 1,200 dpi resolution in black, up to 4,800 optimized dpi in color. The standard four-color printing yields high-quality prints, or for your finest creations you can choose six-color printing (requires HP 99 photo print cartridge, sold separately). The 6540 also offers the choice of printing photos with or without borders on a variety of media types and sizes, and includes HP photo printing software for easy task management and image editing. An optional duplexing accessory is available for two-sided documents.
The HP 6540 offers versatile connectivity. It features two USB ports, one in the back and one in the front. An optional external print server and optional 802.11b wireless accessory are supported for further expansion. The unit is backed by a one-year warranty.
What's in the BoxHP Deskjet 6540 printer, HP 96 black ink cartridge (C8767W), HP 97 tri-color ink cartridge (C9363W), HP Photo Printing software (Windows only), Printer software (Windows and Macintosh), User's guide on CD-ROM, setup poster, reference guide, power supply, power cord; printer cable not included; HP 99 photo inkjet cartridge not included
See for Yourself this printer in action

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Epson WorkForce 325 Color Inkjet All-in-One (C11CB08201) Review

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(More customer reviews)This printer is a replacement for a similarly-priced older HP PSC1200, which had all of the same features except for faxing and WiFi. And I can say that this printer is superior in almost every way! The next time you are considering a print cartridge change on your old all-in-one, strongly consider upgrading to this Epson printer.
PROS:
The Mac OSX support is good. The driver CD was easy to install, unlike the HP experience, which has consisted of either the safe but featureless built-in driver or the featureful but computer-destroying install CD. None of those "extra programs" were installed by default by the Epson CD.
The driver supports setting the color management mode to black and white only, and retains it when you save it as a new Printer Preset. If you've had an HP before, you'll know that this is fantastic -- I had to remove the color cartridge from my old HP because it would randomly start deciding to print my black and white PDFs using the color cartridge.
The speed is very good for a low-cost inkjet printer, particularly just black and white research-type PDFs (the majority of what I print).
Paper feeder doesn't occasionally grab two sheets at a time.
CONS:
Printing is a little bit louder than my old HP. It's no dot-matrix printer, but the paper feeder is quite noisy.
Setting up the printer to work over WiFi doesn't work from OSX, so you have to put in your SSID/WEP key at the console. Better hope it's not complicated!

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Epson WorkForce 325 Color Ink Jet All-in-One Print/Copy/Scan/Fax/Wi-Fi

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HP Officejet 6000 Wireless Color Inkjet Printer (C9295A#B1H) Review

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(More customer reviews)I gave the printer five stars, because of price point (at 89.00, the ability to print wirelessly and with such a good quality printer is amazing) and because the printer has worked seamlessly once it was set up. Also, because HP clearly cares enough to add (not so) little touches such as:
1. Including the USB cable with the printer (Canon does not do this, from what I remember).
2. Including (this is amazing) the actual cartridges with the printer instead of "starter" cartridges that print maybe fifty sheets before conking out. Truthfully, you have to factor that into the price of these "cheaper" printers and realize that you have to tack on another thirty or more dollars to the price to pay for decent cartridges. With the ones supplied, I should be able to print at least 400 pages of black and white letters, email, etc. befor replacing the black cartridge.
3. If, like most of us looking for a small business (or home business) printer, there is the option to use an extended black cartridge which will give you even more pages between changes. This wouldn't be so important for a photo printer, but for what it is (it's called an "Officejet," remember) this is a wonderful feature.
4. The printer goes into standby mode and "wakes up" when needed. Perhaps all new printers do this (my last printer was from a few years ago) but I find this a great feature.
Some may be put off by the form factor - this is not a small printer and takes up a fair amount of desk space. Also, the majority of the plastic sides are in white, (or putty, I suppose) which I have a feeling will show dirt and smudges worse than a silver or black model.
Finally, let's get to the frustrating elements. As I've said, none of these were bad enough for me to lower the five star rating, but they were a little annoying:
1. (this is trivial but if it saves someone else the headache, it's worth mentioning) - the set up instructions included in the box clearly show a plastic back panel that looks to be inserted when one is not using the black duplex printing back that comes with this unit. Duplex printing means the ability to print on both sides of the page, and the black plastic back is called "optional" in the instructions. Well, upon unpacking the printer I couldn't find the other panel anywhere in the box or on the printer -although it was clearly seen in the picture. I called HP and, as I surmised, the printer does NOT come with this flat back panel. You LEAVE the black duplex printing back (which sticks out in a bump from the back) in the printer all the time. The pictures in the instructions were for the NON-WIRELESS version of the printer. It would have been nice if someone had mentioned that the wireless printer ONLY comes with the black back.
2. It takes the printer up to ten minutes to set itself up when you turn it on for the first time. This is clearly marked in the instructions, but if you don't notice it, you might think something is wrong as you wait...and wait...and wait...for it to print that magical first test page. NOTHING IS WRONG. Have patience.
3. As others have noted, the software is ridiculously slow to install. I will say that when I installed it in our XP (the second computer) it took a fraction of the time, so perhaps this is a Vista issue. But it took (I'm not kidding) forty-five minutes to load. I kept thinking it was hanging, but then it would inch foward another 1% and chug along. I have NEVER had software take this long to load since the DOS days! Oh, and make sure you disable your anit-virus software before you load it. I didn't and it seemed to make it crash the first time I tried to install it. (obviously turn back your anti-virus software after installation).
The GOOD NEWS: Once installed, it found the router immediately and both computers found the printer with no problems whatsoever. To have a wireless printer that my wife can print her recipes without having to bother me or I can print without taking up a valuable USB slot on my laptop is fantastic. And the quality is great for basic office chores.
I have NO idea if it will last, but as of now, I'm am really delighted to have a wireless printer with so many features at thie price point.


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If you want fast, affordable, wireless printing, plus direct photo printing, check out the HP Officejet 6000 Wireless Color Inkjet Printer. Make you printer available on a small home or office wired Ethernet network that mixes PCs and notebooks Set up fast - there's no need for additional hardware or software with the built-in Ethernet Enjoy the convenience of wireless printing when you plug the printer networking cable into a wireless router (sold separately).

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Brother Black Compact Inkjet All-in-One with Fax and Wireless Networking (MFCJ265W) Review

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(More customer reviews)In case you got down to the reviews and didn't realize what you're looking at: the Brother MCFJ265W is color ink-jet, multifunction machine. It prints, scans, and faxes. It's wireless. It's an inkjet. It's pretty cheap.
I assumed at first, that this was one of those scam printers which lure you in with price, but don't work very well and charge a wad for replacement ink. Not so! Within the realm of cheap inkjet printers, the output is plenty adequate. You can print photos in a pinch, but it's perfect for printing out maps, web pages, and other notes where color adds to the information. And the OEM replacement ink is reasonably priced, and available on Amazon.
I use a Mac, and as far as I was concerned, set up was easy. There are several modes of wireless, as well as a USB cable connection. (Cable is not included.) There's an included CD with software, but I went to Brother's website and downloaded the latest version. Installing just the printer driver got me printer function, without any additional cruft. I had to install the TWAIN package to get scanner function, which put a little icon in the menu bar. (A *color* icon, actually, ruining the default-black OS X menubar look. Ahem.) And it locked up my menu bar at one point, freezing the clock and nearly making me late for an appointment. But other than that, I've had no problems. I no longer have it auto-load on login, and quit when I'm done with it, and that's been fine.
Scanning was near miraculously easy. I pressed the scan button. The scanner operated. A file appeared in my "Pictures" directory. That's it. The scan was gorgeous, too.
The printer prints reasonably fast. It's quiet. It doesn't vibrate or have any weird smells or do anything objectionable. Since it's inkjet, it doesn't take gobs of power to start up as a laser printer -- no flickering lights. The print quality is fine, but it's not as precise and high-contrast as a laser printer. If your business presence involves looking good on paper, you probably want to spend a bit more on your printer than this. For everyday household printing, though, this is easy, fast, cheap, and totally readable. There is no real output paper "tray" -- printed sheets just poke out the front, waiting to be taken. If you're printing more than a couple pages, there's a little tongue that can be extended to catch them, but I wouldn't let a whole lot of pages build up there. (Which you probably can't since the input paper tray isn't all that large either.)
There's a very nice color LCD screen on the front, which makes setup easy. It even shows you a little animation of how to install the ink cartridges. The cartridges are easily loaded on the front side, behind a hinged door. Each of the three colors and the black are all separately replaceable. The starter ink claims to be "approximately 65%" of a full-sized cartridge, so the printer comes with about 290 pages worth of ink.
Overall, as a household printer for everyday personal printing, I think this is a great choice.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Brother Black Compact Inkjet All-in-One with Fax and Wireless Networking (MFCJ265W)

Mfcj-265w clr inkjet p/s/c/f fb usb wl 6000x1200dpi 32mb 33/27ppm.

Get 33% OFF

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