HP Deskjet F4280 All-in-One Printer (CB656A) by HP
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Digital camera reviews of HP Deskjet F4280 All-in-One Printer (CB656A)
Digital camera Review: Do not buy this printer
Summary: 2 Stars
Seriously, save yourself the aggravation and do NOT buy this printer. I have always been a fan of HP printers - until I bought this one. If you don't need to use this as a PRINTER, however, it's a great buy.
I bought this printer because I was out of town and needed to print a few things. It was sold very cheap at Target and I have owned a previous model of this type from HP, so I thought this would be equally great.
Boy, was I wrong.
The printing is horribly frustrating. I just printed out a thirty page document. I had to reprint 8 pages because the printer messed them up. When you send a document to this printer, it will not begin printing on the correct place on the page. Instead, it begins printing just above the beginning of the page, usually cutting off the top of whatever you're trying to print. Which means you have to reprint that page - and if it's the first page, you'll have to reprint it again - and again, and again, and again. Okay, so you use the workaround of always including a blank page at the beginning of whatever you're printing so you don't have that problem. But wait, there's more: You can only put a maximum of seven pages in the printer at a time. If you put eight or more pieces of paper in the intake tray, the printer will jam. Every time. If you're lucky, quick, and very dexterous, you will be able to slip a stack of seven sheets into the printer just as the last of the previous stack is sucked in. But this is tricky: the pages coming out are coming out right on top of the ones going in. Occasionally, yes, a printed sheet will get sucked right back into the printer. Often, when you're trying to slip pages into the intake as pages are shooting out, the page coming out will hit your hand and the printer will jam. It also jams incessantly, for no reason at all.
I think the reason other reviewers complained about going through ink so fast is because the ink dries if the printer isn't used continually. If you don't use the printer for a few days, so you might want to keep the tape they came with and put the cartridges back in the packaging while you're not actively printing.
When you change the ink (which you will do frequently), you have to go through a setup process. This process CANNOT be skipped. If you're in the middle of a big print job you need right away - you will still have to stop, print the test page, and scan it, before the printer will print anything you want to print. If you try to bypass this, the printer will keep printing out test pages until you do as it wants you to do.
As others have pointed out, the installation process takes a long time and installs everything HP could think of to install. Most programs you neither need, nor want. MOST of these programs can be uninstalled, though not all. I've had the printer for months and still get popup reminders from it.
Be cautious when trying to print. It takes so long to BEGIN printing that you will be tempted to press the print button again. Resist this urge. It isn't necessary, it's just that this printer takes a very long time to process any print job.
There are a couple good things about this printer:
The print quality, when it works, is pretty good. Even on fast draft, the text looks great. And on fast draft, it prints very, very fast.
Changing the ink cartridge is fairly easy, with a door to the side of the print area, instead of right above the paper. And the cartridges slide right in and out. They will dry up on you, however, if you don't print for a few days, so keep your packaging.
It prints fast. You'll hardly be able to keep up with feeding it paper.
The scan function seems to work fine. As does the copy function.
Digital camera Review: Does not include the cable needed to connect to a computer.
Summary: 1 Stars
The text in the Amazon listing does not specifically tell you that you must buy a cable in order to connect a computer to this printer, so please consider that as you compare the price of this printer to other printers.Digital camera Review: Don't Buy based on my experience
Summary: 1 Stars
Had my latest 3-in-1 HP printer less than four months when it started making a loud grinding noise when printing. Faxed my sales receipt to HP Support (took multiple tries - line always busy). They just told me my printer only had a 90-day warranty so they won't replace. I've purchased my last HP printer.Digital camera Review: Don't Waste Your Time or Money
Summary: 1 Stars
This printer has several bells and whistles that would potentially make it a useful addition to your computer system. Unfortunately, there is SO MUCH software involved and so little simplicity in the printer's design that its potential is lost. Loading paper exactly right, loading the printer cartridges exactly right, following the instructions exactly right - all of these actions are to no avail, as the printer seems to be the only one capable of determining when and if you get to print anything from your computer. Other printers I have had merely required pressing the printer icon and letting it do its thing. This printer has to think about your request, its ink levels, the paper size, the stock market, and its gps location in relationship to the constellation Cygnus before it can decide whether it will print or not. And then, it may take six or seven pieces of paper all at once for a one page print job. So, with this said, avoid this printer at all costs, even if they throw one of these in for free with some other deal!Digital camera Review: Don't buy this
Summary: 1 Stars
The scanning feature got corrupted within a year of very light use. Scanning now results in a thick black line on your scan. After researching fixes for this online, the concensus from multiple users with the same problem is that it is unfixable. So basically I don't have scanning capability anymore and that is the sole reason I bought this. If you only want this as a printer, then go for it. But if you want a scanner, spend your money somewhere else.