As a Regular Person, Do I Really Need Such an Elaborate Piece of Equipment?
Written: Nov 01 '03
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Pros: scans, copys, prints, AND faxes
Cons: expensive cartridges, poor telephone support, cannot recycle paper
The Bottom Line: Look around for a more consistently-liked three-in-one, but this will work fine if you can't find one.
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| joli's Full Review: Hewlett Packard OfficeJet G85 All-In-One InkJet Pr... |
I am a regular person. I have a very small home business that requires a lot of computer work but not so much printing work. I do go to school and need to print out assignments. My family and I do a lot of net surfing and frequently print out websites that we need a hard copy of for whatever reason.
But that's it.
Here in my relatively small house in my very small room with my computer, desk, and printer all jammed into one corner, I have to ask if this massive printer-contraption is really necessary when my little Epson that is about 1/4 the size would do as good of a job and fullfill my needs almost all the time.
YES I need it, and don't you try to take it away from me! Besides, if I had a printer, a fax machine, and a scanner, they would take up more room than this.
My husband gave me this printer for christmas last year because he found it on sale. I am no techie, so you'll have to look elsewhere for those details, I will just explain my experience with it, and why I now feel it is a necessary item in any home of mine.
The Multi-Function Capabilities
The best part about this machine is that it can print, copy, scan, and fax. Even us regular people can use all these features more often than you'd think.
I never had a fax machine before I got this machine and there were a few times over the years where I had to go to office max and fax something - not enough times to make me go out and buy a fax machine, but enough to make me wish I had one. I have since used the fax about 5 times. The accompanying fax software was not very user-friendly, but I did manage to muddle through it.
I have used copy several times. It is easy to use.
I have a digital camera so you wouldn't think I would have occasion to use the scanner, but I have. When I was pregnant I scanned in my ultrasound picture so I could e-mail it to my mother and I have scanned in a few other old pictures to send to friends.
The Printing
An inkjet is an inkjet in my experience, and I haven't found anything spectacular about the printing on this machine, but it does get the job done adequately.
The Cartridges
The cartridges are expensive - much more expensive than for my Epson. They are quite simple to switch out though; just lift the handle on the front of the printer, lift the top of the cartridge lever, and replace.
Paper Jams
You absolutely can not recycle your paper with this machine. Something about using used paper causes paper jams and extra-page-grabbing. The only problem I have ever had with this printer was related to that. I was using already-used paper, and my paper kept getting jammed up, and somehow the paper tray got misaligned and I didn't know it. I eventually fixed it myself (very simple fix, I just needed to push the tray in farther - it was getting hung up somehow) and I haven't had a problem since. Sometime during the paper tray drama I called customer service looking for help, and that leads me to ...
Customer Service
Horrible. I literally was on hold for 2 hours and gave up. I never spoke to anyone.
Looking back upon my review, it appears I am happier with the functions of the machine than I am with the machine itself. Maybe there are others out there that do the same jobs better.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 350
Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID:
joli
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 - Top 500 |
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Location: Keaau, HI
Reviews written: 126
Trusted by: 390 members
About Me:
That is my son Joseph in the picture.
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