I almost never write reviews on Amazon, because most often I find the reviews perfectly describe the items I've purchased. But in this case, since the mixed reviews I read here before buying almost discouraged me from purchasing this printer,
I feel like I am obligated to write about my experience with this printer.
I've had a HP Photosmart 3180 all-in-one for about two years now, and it still works. However, I was really sick of replacing the ink cartridges every 70 pages or so, and wanted a printer that could handle double-sided printing. I purchase a lot of digital textbooks for school since they're typically half the price, but I still want a physical book in front of me, so I typically print out chapters as needed for my courses. Printing chapters with my all-in-one HP was a HUGE CHORE, not only taking HOURS of time, but SEVERAL cartridges of ink... not to mention the frustration of manually printing two sided documents in book-layout.... agh!
My printer just arrived this morning. I removed it from it's box, followed the included quick setup instructions, and that was that! I have NO idea what is wrong, or happened with some of the other reviewers set-up processes since mine was exactly as described in the instructions. The process couldn't have been any more straight forward! Then again, other reviewers did note their PC operating system .... and well, I guess that's Microsoft's Vista for ya. I'm on a Mac, so I didn't have to deal with solving Vista's various operating hurdles.
In agreement with other reviews, the first-time initialization did take about 20 minutes, but it's a one time deal, so not that big of a nuisance. Actually, the first thing the printer did when I plugged it in was print out a polite little note to let me know that it was going to begin its initialization process, which could take up to 20 minutes, and could I please not interrupt the process by powering off or otherwise disturbing it. The friendly little note even suggested I work on installing the included software in the mean-time, which I did. Installation of the software again could not have been more straight-forward.
When the printer was done initializing, I immediately opened a 96 page document, clicked the box for two-sided printing, and without issue of ANY kind, the printer got on it's way, printing 96 pages of colored, double-sided textbook pages in perfect book-layout... Ahhhh... :-)
I am super impressed with this printer! For the cost, I think it is totally more than worth it! HP Officejet Pro 8000
I was searching for a simple, reliable printer and did not need multiple functions (fax,scan,etc.) commonly included in many printer feature packages. Whether it will stand the test of time for reliability is a question yet to be answered. However, when I purchased this model a few weeks ago, the availability of significant discounts coupled with a $50.00 trade-in offer from HP made this a real value for me. Set up was simple, and using the custom set up allowed me to avoid adding superfluous software.
Printing is quick and quality is fine. I really like the four color ink cartridges so I will only need to purchase the color that I need. Automatic two-sided printing is a nice extra that I didn't seek but happily accept.
Yes, it is a little noisy when printing, and initializing seems to take forever (but probably about a minute or so). I did have to go to the HP website to take a peek at the user manual to answer a couple of my operating questions, but I guess not including user manuals in the box saves a lot of paper in the long run.
In summary, so far, so good.
I replaced an old but very serviceable HP 970 CXI deskjet with this Officejet Pro 8000. I had excellent service out of the 970 but it all of a sudden quit working because the light says it needs a new color cartridge - even though in my many years of owning it, that error never happened - the color just faded until you replaced it. Looking at replacing the color cartridge for $35 with no guarantee of it working, prompted me to add $45 and get a brand new one. The decision wasn't difficult as I've owned HP printers for 20 years problem free, beginning with the Laserjet II.
Just finished installation of the printer on a Vista machine - the second time around, because the first attempt resulted in nothing but a hardware problem with the printer refusing to print even a test page. After conferring with the HP on-line chat technician (excellent service) I was told that my printer had to be replaced and he gave me the option of sending it back to Amazon and having it replaced by them, or - allowing HP to replace it directly with immediate shipping. Because of my trust of HP and the rapid replacement I chose them. On unwrapping the replacement printer I found a large sticker on the back which reads "REMANUFACTURED." Huh? My former printer was brand new out of the box and never printed a page and they replace it with a remanufactured device? Back to on-line tech chat where I was informed by the "floor supervisor" that "we always replace them with a remanufactured printer." Well, that's fine, but I was never informed of that fact so here I sit with a remanufactured printer instead of a new one, for the price of a new one (albeit a very good price - but it was advertised as new). So, that's an automatic knock of at least on star, being kind at that. The second demerit star is for the print cartridges. Using the HP Toolbox I checked the ink level of the cartridges. The black one was fine - it showed 100% but each of the three color cartridges are only about 75 - maybe 80% full. That's after printing 6 pages total, 2 black and white and 4 color. The color pages were black and white stock market charts (very little print/ink of any kind) with just a few scattered small colored arrows.
I think the reduced price by HP is like the free printers that come with a new computer - they're getting them into customers hands to sell replacement ink cartridges. Like someone else wrote in their review, I think they are selling disposable printers. Suspect that I'll get a lot of service out of the printer, but if it ever needs print heads it's obvious that it will be printer replacement time.
The print quality is outstanding and every bit as good as any laser printer I've ever had. It prints very fast for an inkjet and I've had no problem at all with download time, it prints within 3 to 5 seconds of hitting the print button, with no delay between multiple pages . Am just disappointed with HP and their replacement policy along with less than full ink cartridges. - Hp - Officejet - Hewlett-packard - Inkjet'
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