advice: hp 5610

[Zippy]

A friend of mine wants to buy a printer. She saw an offer for an HP
(Office Jet?) 5610 - all in one printer/copier/fax/scanner. It works
out just a little more expensive than a printer.

However other points may make a standard printer more worth buying:

1) Is the ink more expensive per page?
2) Is the printer less hardy since it is a combination?
3) Anything else worth knowing?

Can anyone advise me?
thanks

 

[measekite]

A friend of mine wants to buy a printer. She saw an offer for an HP
(Office Jet?) 5610 - all in one printer/copier/fax/scanner. It works
out just a little more expensive than a printer.

However other points may make a standard printer more worth buying:

1) Is the ink more expensive per page?
2) Is the printer less hardy since it is a combination?
3) Anything else worth knowing?

Absolutely. There are only two reasons to buy a multifunction device.
One is an absolute requirement of not enough space for separates and the
other is a must for an automatic document feeder (ADF).

You give up getting the best of breed. Currently Canon is the best
printer while Epson is the best scanner. And if one function goes bad
you need to toss the entire machine out.

I think separates are better for most people except for the noted
exceptions.

 

[Frank]

....evidence that he is brain dead!
Frank

 

[Bob Headrick]

A friend of mine wants to buy a printer. She saw an offer for an HP
(Office Jet?) 5610 - all in one printer/copier/fax/scanner. It works out
just a little more expensive than a printer.

However other points may make a standard printer more worth buying:

1) Is the ink more expensive per page?

This printer can use the #56 black cartridge but is limited to the #22 color
cartridge. The #22 cartridge is rather small, rated at 165 ISO standard
pages (see http://h10060.www1.hp.com/pageyield/us/en/OJ5600/index.html ).
The Officejet J5780 might be a better choice as it has optional large
capacity cartridges available. See
http://h10060.www1.hp.com/pageyield/us/en/OJJ5700/index.html

2) Is the printer less hardy since it is a combination?

Some will say that the all-in-one is less desirable than individual units,
since a failure can make the entire unit inoperable. Personally I greatly
prefer the all-in-one units for convenience. About half my usage is copies,
half printing. It is easy to get spoiled with a personal color copier.

3) Anything else worth knowing?

I prefer units with networking connections rather than USB only.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, MS MVP Printing/Imaging

 

[measekite]

Canon is more economical using individual carts so you do not waste ink

This printer can use the #56 black cartridge but is limited to the #22
color cartridge. The #22 cartridge is rather small, rated at 165 ISO
standard pages (see
http://h10060.www1.hp.com/pageyield/us/en/OJ5600/index.html ). The
Officejet J5780 might be a better choice as it has optional large
capacity cartridges available. See
http://h10060.www1.hp.com/pageyield/us/en/OJJ5700/index.html

You do not get the best scanner (Epson) or the best printer (Canon) and
when one function goes the unit is no good. There are only 2 reasons to
consider an all in one:

1. space is an absolute criteria
2. you need a scanner with an ADF (auto document feeder) available on
some all in one units but they cost a little more.

Some will say that the all-in-one is less desirable than individual
units, since a failure can make the entire unit inoperable.
Personally I greatly prefer the all-in-one units for convenience.
About half my usage is copies, half printing. It is easy to get
spoiled with a personal color copier.


I prefer units with networking connections rather than USB only.

That may be some benefit for printing but not for scanning. You need to
be at the unit for scanning.