Printer Reviews

I've had this printer for about a year now and it has been amazing. I work on private placements frequently and sometimes need to be able to print 100+ page documents at all hours of the day and night. This printer can crank them out amazingly fast, with great print quality and duplex printing to save paper. (I formerly used an old laser Multi-function device that printed at about 25% the speed, with no color, duplex or network connectivity - uggh!)

While I do not use the printer for extensive photo printing or other home/entertainment purposes, the color printing is excellent for business purposes - reports, proposals, etc.

The internal print server did burn out about 6 months after I bought it. HP Service was great - sent me a new part ASAP and I was up and running right away - very much unlike some of the customer support experiences I have had with other consumer electronic device manufacturers (Philips/TiVo). (The issue manifested itself by the printer "disappearing" from my available printers, needing to be reinstalled from time-to-time. I finally figured out what was going on after calling HP support when it happened a couple of times. All is fine now.)

(...)This printer is FAST! I use this printer for printing customer proofs (I'm a part-time professional photographer), and the colors are more accurate than photo-quality ink-jet prints (although ink-jet prints are generally more pleasing to the eye).

Setup was easy!
Menu selections are very easy to understand.
Output was outstanding!

I enjoyed printing wirelessly from my laptop to my HP 995 printer at home so much -- I decided to buy another one for my office. After I installed it, I managed to get my Palm 515 to print to this new device via either infrared or Bluetooth, but I could only get my laptop to print by using a USB cable; it would not print wirelessly.

After calling HP's help desk, I soon learned (from a very helpful technician who was involved in the Beta testing of the HP 995) that the HP 995 was designed so that the printer driver for only one HP 995 could be installed on a computer at any given time (and that each individual printer creates its own dedicated printer driver). If I wanted to print to my new office 995, I would need to dis-install the printer driver for my home 995! It was not anticipated, according to this technician, that very many consumers would want to use two 995's at the same time from the same computer. (HP, hell-o!)

So, while I can print wirelessly (via either IR or Bluetooth) from my Palm to either of my HP 995 printers, I can only print to one of them from my laptop.

I was very much looking forward to the mobility of working either at home or at my office on my laptop -- and then printing wirelessly in either location (up to 30 feet away) without having to be tethered via cable. As a result of this limitation, my work-around (at least for MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint) is to download the file to my Palm (using Docs To Go) -- and to print the document from my PDA while at work. (This situation is only tenable since my personal laptop and printer are not my primary computing devices in my office.)

I think being able to print to only one HP 995 at-a-time is a huge oversight on HP's part. Wouldn't you agree?

The HP 995c is one of HP's most capable printers. It will print wirelessly via Bluetooth or infrared (IR) - allowing me to work untethered from my laptop PC and from my Palm PDA. It even permits my daughter to print (without cables) from her portable AlphaSmart Dana Palm OS word processor, which she loves.

Until recently, the HP 995c had a software weakness which prevented more than one print driver from being installed on a given laptop - at any one time! (Unbelievable, isn't it?) This precluded me from printing wirelessly to the two 995c's I have - one each in my home and in my office - somewhat defeating the purpose of the unit's wireless capabilities.

I recently discovered, though, that HP has issued new printer drivers (and new printer firmware) for the 995c -- that is available on HP.com -- that fixes this limitation. For the very first time, I can now print wirelessly to both of my HP 995c's from the same PC! Hooray!

In case you're interested, here's how I use my two 995c's:

-First, in my home (in the family room), unattached to any PC. My daughter prints out her homework from her AlphaSmart Dana. And I print out my e-mails and various web pages - while I sit in my favorite chair and watch TV from across the room!

-Second, in my office as a personal desktop ink jet printer - as a replacement for my company's networked laser printers which, due to their remote locations, are just a pain to use. The 995c is hard-wired to my laptop's docking station. But since I've also installed a 3Com Bluetooth PC Card in the laptop itself, I really don't need to dock in order to print, which makes working remotely in and around my office that much more convenient. I've also loaded BtPrint (from ISComplete.com) into my Palm 515m, which allows me to print Calendar, Address, Memo and To Do list entries, as well as MS Word documents from DataViz's Docs To Go. So, needing to dock, or upload information from my Palm to my PC, in order to print - is simply a thing of the past!

Unfortunately, since HP has decided not to install either Bluetooth or infrared capabilities into their newest generation of printers (except the HP Deskjet 450cbi), the 995c remains one of the best all-around choices for printing wirelessly via either Bluetooth or IR -- from PC's, Palms and Pocket PC-style devices. If wireless printing is something you'd like to enjoy - without having to undertake the expense of establishing a WiFi network in your home or office - the HP 995c is definitely an easier way to go! I now love my two 995c's - even more than I did before!

HP's superb new 995 DeskJet printer has both Bluetooth and IR (infrared) capability, enabling me to print -- wirelessly -- from both my laptop and my Palm.

Wireless printing from my laptop is accomplished by installing 3Com's Bluetooth PC card, which plugs in effortlessly (and requires a little software). To print, I need to be within 30 feet of the printer (not necessarily line-of-sight). The printer has a little blue light (with the Bluetooth logo) that blinks when it's receiving a signal. The software also installs a Bluetooth Manager icon on the desktop which, when opened, allows me to easily verify (or refresh) the Bluetooth connection. The Bluetooth signal will also turn on the printer (in case I've forgotten to do so). The printer has a large memory and will save multiple documents, so waiting for the printer to finish before moving on is not required. Bluetooth printing appears to be a little slower than printing directly from the PC (via a USB cable). But the print quality is every bit as good (and just as sharp as on my other HP 990 Cse and HP 1315 Photo Smart printers).

Printing from my Palm is made possible by installing Docs To Print (from ISComplete.com) which transfers data (to the printer) via the Palm's IR (infrared) port. Docs To Print enables me to output information from my Palm's Calendar, Address, Memo and To Do lists. But, more importantly, it allows me to print MS Word documents -- downloaded via Docs To Go (from DataViz) -- which I can compose and modify (word process) on my Palm. Printing to my HP 995 is extremely fast (taking only a few seconds for the data to transfer and for the HP to begin printing); and the print is letter quality. (Docs To Print, incidentally, also includes the print drivers to almost all of the IR printers currently available from HP, Canon and Sipix.)

I actually use my HP 995 as a stand-alone printer (with no PC attached) in my family room. By being able to print wirelessly to it from either my laptop or my Palm, I'm able to tuck it away in a corner of the room (where its not easily seen); and (here's the fun part) I'm able to sit in my favorite chair (and work) without having to be tethered (via cables) to the printer in order to print. Hallelujah!

Can a printer provide both freedom and mobility? I'm not sure, but the HP 995 sure comes close!

These guys sound great for the price and their size, but one month after I bought them the touch button volume stopped working. When you change volume (when my still worked) it makes an annoying clicking sound through the speakers.
I took off a star for the volume problem, but the sound alone is worth the purchase. They far outperform any other 3-piece in this price range.

It's amazing that such small spekers can make such a big sound. I just got them today and WOW!!!

The JBL Creature II Speakers are jsut about the best spekers you can get for $100.
I just got them and set them up and wow i am lisin to audioslave like never before!!!

My department placed about 15 of these and the earlier E310 model on user's desks over the past 9 months or so. We've been very happy with them thus far. Our goal was to displace as many inkjets in the department as possible (inkjets cost a small fortune on a per page basis) and the E312 has been excellent in this role.

Since this printer's "little brother", the E210 came out, we have standardized on it. It is a bit cheaper and is actually rated slightly faster at 12ppm. The E210 also seems a bit smaller if desktop space is a concern.

I have had this printer for about a year now, and
find it to be a very good buy and a durable little
printer.
It is especially nice that it does both pcl and postscript.
There probably is a newer version of this now, but I
haven't really keep up with these lately.

When my old Brother laser printer died, I replaced it with a $99 Epson color inkjet. It's a cute little printer but its paper feeder is not very well designed and it drinks ink like there's no tomorrow. For $99 I got a printer that has cost me about $50 every two months in new ink cartridges. It was definitely time for a new workhorse printer, and after considerable research I settled on the Lexmark Optra E312. Its little brother, the E312L, is about $120 cheaper but lacks PostScript, and the other printers in the Optra E312 price range, such as the HP 1100, seem to be designed only for MS Windows. Since I run both Windows and Linux in my home office I needed something that was a little more flexible.

When I opened the box and lifted out the printer, I thought something was wrong; it was too light! Maybe they left the mechanism out? But no, nothing was wrong. After removing the shipping tape, I took the ink cartridge with its simple install diagrams printed right on top, pulled out the toner seal and inserted it into the printer. I plugged the E312 in and inserted the USB cable and hit the operator button to get a test page, which came out beautifully. This whole process took maybe five minutes.

Since Linux was running, I ran the Gnome print queue tool, which is an easy Windows-like dialogue box, and added the Lexmark as a postscript printer. I then printed a test page from the dialogue box and a web page from Opera browser. Both worked perfectly. The Linux setup was all of five minutes.

I next rebooted to Windows ME, inserted the CD-ROM, and let it rip. This process was a bit slower than Linux and included an automatic download of the latest drivers from the Lexmark web site. After persuading Windows to stop trying to reinstall the printer every time I rebooted, I finally had everything working in both operating systems.

What else can I say about this printer? It is fast and quiet and handles everything I've thrown at it with equal competence: web pages, Finale music scores, Microsoft Word documents. Its toner cartridge is rated for thousands of pages, its Postscript and PCL compatibility allow it to handle any kind of graphics and text, and its user interface is simple. This is what a small office printer should be like. The molded icons on the sheet feeders remind the user which way the paper should face, it's got two separate feeders with variable width adjustable trays for envelopes and other items, and an extra straight paper path for heavier paper.

My only complaint so far is the paltry 4M of memory that comes by default; heavy graphics jobs will require more memory, and Lexmark charges top dollar for memory upgrades, but one can add up to 64M if needed. A 16M upgrade costs $150 from Lexmark, but I've heard on the internet that you should be able to use a standard 72-pin SIMM which would be maybe one third or one fourth the price.

All in all this is a fine example of how to do things right: a well engineered, well documented machine that is almost effortless to set up and use. Lexmark got it right with this one.

One year and 40,000 printed documents later this printer still works as well as it day it arrived. I use the 2500 as my network printer as well as producing full color documents, flyers, posters, etc. My particular printer broke down the second week of operation due to a design flaw in a cam which pumped the ink jets. HP was aware of the design flaw and replaced the part within 24hrs and I haven't had one problem since. I still have other printers within my network which include other HP and Epson ink jets and have really come to appreciate the larger ink jet cartridges. The 2500 (as well as all 2000 series) use much larger ink jet cartridges which actually cost less than smaller Epson and HP cartridges. I haven't done a study, but I would suspect I may have paid for this printer already in per page cost (even after replacing the print heads three times). If you are looking for a high speed ink jet that can handle heavy volumes of printing you can't go wrong with the HP 2500.

Excellent print quality and very good print speed. However, the PCL 3 driver that comes standard with the printer is slow and error prone. We added the PCL 5 driver card and 32 MB of memory to get good performance out of the machine. We also added the Post Script card - but unless you absolutely have to have Post Script don't bother as it is also slow. If the machine had come with the PCL 5 card and more memory it would have been 5-stars.

I bought this model in April 1999. Almost a year later, I am still VERY pleased with the performance. I publish a weekly color newsletter, and print it on the 2500C, over 600 pages printed a week. It is a virtual workhorse! Downtime has been almost non-existant (one service call in a year, with the repair completed the day after I called for service!) The printing is crisp, the color beautiful, the best you can get from an inkjet. Ink cartidges are not all-in-one, so you only replace the color you need. I would recommend the 2500C to anyone. Two bugs: 1. The bottom tray frequently mis-feeds on the first copy of a print job. You have to pull out the bottom paper tray, remove the mis-fed sheet, then replace the tray. After that, the remainder of the job will print trouble-free. 2. On occasion, something wacks out with the tray selection. You will select which tray you want to print from via the print screen, but the printer does not obey. Only way to fix this is to turn the printer off and then on again to re-initialize.

I bought this printer for home use after doing quite a bit of shopping around. I even went to a the local Office Depot to check the print quality. For this price, only Samsung has a printer that closely matched this one in features. But the Brother was reccomended above the Samsung in some reviews elsewhere. There are many HP printers that cost considerably more at work and there is no visible difference in print quality.
Auto duplexing and network capability ... is a great deal. Both features work as advertised. Both mac and pc printed after installing the drivers. I haven't timed the printouts but there are no complaints there. Add more memory though, it takes a while to print pages with lots of pictures.
Buy it while it is still available!

I researched this purchase for some time. Concerns regarding longevity of the toner cartriges aside (see TN-560 reviews elsewhere on this site) I am so far very happy. Printer ships with 24MB RAM and a NIC interface card. Printer options are extensive and toner-save feature gives very legible output down to 300dpi (perhaps other reviewers need to check this out). First print out in about 15 seconds using the parallel cable then it seems to do 12-16 pages per minute in line with marketing claims. Lots of useful onboard menu options and duplex printing included. Separate 100 page multipurpose tray holds letterheads. Tech support very helpful when I called to check some setup options. Only reason not 4 stars is I have not had the printer very long but if it continues to perform as it has I would upgrade to 5 stars!

UPDATE after 2 weeks of ownership:

OK, so why did I put up with my HP InkJet for so long? No dropped toner or other problems to report after about 1500 pages. The toner save feature with duplex printing is THE BOMB for drafts. FAST too! At sub-$500 with 24MB of RAM this still looks like one of my best hardware buys ever. Stay tuned.

Excellent printer. I bought this to print huge documents. It can print a 300 MB word document half at a time in about a total of 30 minutes. Photos come out surprisingly well and you get a lot out of the toner. Highly recommended.

For some reason with my 5P using "genuine" HP parts and toner after about 2,000 sheets printed my printer seems to jam all the time. This is even if I use the good paper and the genuine HP toner.

I always wonder if HP has this in mind when they say it can print 4,000 sheets with 5% coverage but they don't mention the fact that you will have to clear a paper jam for each sheet after 2,000.

Each time I replace the toner the system is happy again for about another 2,000 sheets.

I bought my HP 5P October 1995 and have only changed the cartridge once. The print test page shows 7,000 pages. Can't beat the price per page -- so far 2 cents per page.

I suggest using economode to extend the life -- exspecially graphics intense prints which are just used for archiving.

I've owned my HP 5MP for about 5 years. I never thought I would use the infrared port until my Honey bought a laptop with one. I've had no problems with the toner cartridge. Any paper jams I've had could be attributed to feeding the same page into the printer twice (curled after the first time, trying to print on back). ...

I'm a fan of HP photo printers and photo paper. There's no way you can tell if the photo was not developed at a kodak studio. Digital photography is here for real.

I used this with HP PSC 1210 all-in-one (see my review there). Am more than satisfied with the results.

However, there is a flip side to it. Photos printed on glossy paper tend to stick to the cover in some photo albums. If this happens to you, switch to matte finish paper.

This paper works excellent in the hp series printers. I have tryed many other makes of Photo paper and they just don't cut it. Some other makes don't dry in a timely manner, others have a dull finish them, some have a red tone. This HP Photo paper allows you to print store developed quality photos from your hp printer. You get what you pay for... This product is worth the money.....

This paper works excellent in the hp series printers. I have tryed many other makes of Photo paper and they just don't cut it. Some other makes don't dry in a timely manner, others have a dull finish them, some have a red tone. This HP Photo paper allows you to print store developed quality photos from your hp printer. You get what you pay for... This product is worth the money.....

I believe this model is the GCS14. It's been working for me so far. However, I can't get the Hot Keys or Autoscan to work.

IO Gear's technical support is hopeless. They never reply to your emails.

Here's a tip you should remember when you first use it. Be sure to power off all computers first, then connect them onto the KVM. Start by powering on the computer connected to Port A and once you have booted into the OS, move to the next port and power up the next computer.

Be sure to wait till the computer has booted into the OS before moving on to the next. Most computer BIOSes don't like it if there are no input devices (especially keyboard) installed on the computer. So if you power on the computer without switching to the port the computer will think there are no input devices plugged in and may just halt at the BIOS without booting into the OS. You should be able to turn this off in your BIOS. Windows also doesn't boot properly without any input devices in my experience.

Once you boot into your OS, Windows for example, it won't matter since the OS will take over and should detect the keyboard and mice whenever, wherever...

And here's another tip. Never buy a USB KVM! Plug-n-play takes too long to detect your keyboard and mouse.

This IOGear KVM is great! It works flawlessly for my computers. I'm running a mixed windows/freebsd environment. One thing that I noticed is that the mouse picks up really fast, almost instantaneously. Can't say the same for the Belkin KVMs I have worked with. I'm running mine without the additional power supply, it works fine without it. It is also very compact. I have mine vertical using the provided stand. This is a great product!

I just want to correct the previous reviewer about the GCS14. He probably has a defective kvm. Mine works flawless. One, I can boot any OS I want in any order. Two, the keyboard key combo (ctrl + alt + shift + "ID") works for me.

You don't need to have to monitor set to the booting machine. I recommend however that you do so when using any kvm machine. It help the operating system detect the correct devices (monitor, keyboard, and mouse) attached. If you don't, they OS will load the generic drivers for mouse, keyboard, and plug'n play monitor. This is perfectly logical.

I had very high hopes for Kodak's Ultima Satin, but unfortunately the paper has not lived up to those hopes. I had used Kodak Premium paper before, and liked the output but not the feel of the paper; and it wasn't available in a matte finish. With the new Ultima, I was excited to see the sattin finnish. Unfortunately, rather than going with an e-surface type paper like HP Premium Plus Matte or Epson Premium Luster, Kodak chose to go with a flat semigloss. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, I was kind of longing for the extra glow that an e-surface gives your prints. Because of this, I somewhat disliked the Kodak paper before even printing with it.

How the prints look is, of course, what really matters. The included instructions recommend turning up the saturation one notch in the print driver for my HP 900 series printers. When I used Kodak Ultima High-Gloss, this provided a perfect match for my prints. The satin paper, however, looks oversaturated even at a reduced setting in the driver. Beyond that, colors loose their accuracy, gaining a magenta tone. Blue skies look slightly purple, and greyscale looks almost sepia or duotoned. This is in stark contrast to the Ultima Glossy paper that matches colors perfectly to my screen and prints greyscales with no perceivable color (the only paper I've found that does this on my HP). Ink dries fairly quickly on the Satin, but not as instantaniously as it does on the Glossy (note that ink never seems to dry on HP premium-plus matte). While I dislike glossy paper in general, I would much prefer the accuracy of Ultima Glossy to Ultima Satin on HP printers.

I will tell you right now, I am not a professional. Just a picture-taking mother of a busy 1 year old. I have tried several different types of paper and have to say I'm quite impressed with the quality of my images with this paper. Feels like a real photo and cuts nicely with my paper-cutter. Some papers don't cut cleanly. This dries quickly and makes wonderful prints. I can't wait to try the Glossy. I can not believe the difference in this paper. It is fantastic. The pictures of my daughter's 1st Birthday turned out better than I ever imagined, thanks to Kodak. Also, Amazon prices on this item can't be beat! I will be adding this to my online shopping list as a regular item to purchase. My next order will be for the Glossy, so I will let you know on that, too!

I love Kodak Ultima paper. It prints great on my lexmark printer. The colors look more vibrant and black prints are even sharper. I've already tried the other kinds photo papers and nothing beats Kodak Ultima. It is way better than kodak premium and well worth the extra money. It has a real professional texture and the gloss makes your pictures stand out more. I believe that Ultima is the exact same paper that is used in the "Kodak Picture Maker".