Should I buy HP Photosmart? Or HP OfficeJet?

[me]

I'm a college student. Don't do a ton of printing but
do maybe say 10 pages a week.

I'm trying to decide between the HP Officejet and
Photosmart lines and which best fits my needs. I also
want an all in one machine to save space.

I don't need "photo" printing that Photosmart affords
as am NOT a photog buff. However, I'm wondering if the
Photosmart line has an edge on printouts of documents
that contain charts, diagrams,etc in color? Or will
the Officejet line do fine in that respect?

I also notice the Photosmart line has higher resolution
scanners than the Officejet line and am wondering if
the Officejets will do fine for most scanning of
pictures, charts, etc?

These two factors above will help me decide between the
tow lines if anyone has advice. Thanks!!

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Usually, the Officejet machines are a bit faster, and cost less in ink
costs. They usually only use 4 colors, making lighter colors by using
smaller dots and more white paper space, which gives better yield than
the Photosmart printers which use a light cyan and magenta inks, which
get used up much quicker, but supply more even gradients. For pie
charts and business presentations, these subtle difference won't matter.

Also, the Photosmart inks are better designed for printing on costly
inkjet photo paper, which the Officejet doesn't require.

In general, the best thing to do when comparing for ink prices is to
look at the yield they suggest (usually at 5% per color). It may be
worth comparing yield per cartridge versus cost per cartridge.

Overall, for the type of output you need the Photosmart printer is
likely overkill if you do not need photo output.

Art


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[TJ]

I'm a college student. Don't do a ton of printing but
do maybe say 10 pages a week.

I'm trying to decide between the HP Officejet and
Photosmart lines and which best fits my needs. I also
want an all in one machine to save space.

I don't need "photo" printing that Photosmart affords
as am NOT a photog buff. However, I'm wondering if the
Photosmart line has an edge on printouts of documents
that contain charts, diagrams,etc in color? Or will
the Officejet line do fine in that respect?

I also notice the Photosmart line has higher resolution
scanners than the Officejet line and am wondering if
the Officejets will do fine for most scanning of
pictures, charts, etc?

These two factors above will help me decide between the
tow lines if anyone has advice. Thanks!!

I was a college student once, but that was 40 years ago, when we used
slide rules and pencils. So I suppose that doesn't help much.

I've used both an older Officejet and a PSC, in a very small home
business setting. I have not used a Photosmart printer, but had I
*wanted* to print high-quality photos, the black cartridge of each
printer could be replaced with a "photo" cartridge that contained light
cyan, light magenta, and a smaller black. However, I never saw anything
wrong with the photos produced with the tricolor/black combination.

The maximum optical scanner resolution of my Officejet is listed as 1200
x 2400 dpi, but I can't remember using anything much higher than 600 x
600 more than a couple of times when I scanned photos for restoration.
For day-to-day scanning, 600 x 600 is plenty.

Same thing for printing. For plain-paper printing, 600 x 600 is about
the maximum the paper can handle without looking soaked. Photo paper is
designed for higher resolutions and ink loads, but if you aren't going
to print many photos you probably don't need it. That said, the
Officejet probably has the capability to produce higher resolutions if
you want them.

If you might be interested in scanning or copying documents bigger than
US letter or European A4, you may want the Officejet's cut sheet feeder.
My PSC didn't have the capability of scanning those bigger documents
because it didn't have the cut sheet feeder, but my Officejet can.

I can't testify about today's models, but in the past the Officejets
were considered more rugged than their home-use counterparts. It is
certainly true of the two of my experience.

Personally, if I were in your shoes I'd go with the Officejet.

TJ

 

[me]

Personally, if I were in your shoes I'd go with the Officejet.

Thanks guys..... great info!!

OfficeJet it is!!

Now to decide which MODEL OfficeJet to get. Any advice
on that?

I do want a wireless model even if I hook it direct.
Nice to have the wireless just in case...

 

[TJ]

Thanks guys..... great info!!

OfficeJet it is!!

Now to decide which MODEL OfficeJet to get. Any advice
on that?

I do want a wireless model even if I hook it direct.
Nice to have the wireless just in case...

No experience with a wireless model. My only Officejet experience is
with a 6110 - USB connection only. I bought it "lightly" used on Ebay a
year and a half ago or so for around $70. It uses the #56, 57, and/or 58
carts - bigger capacity than most of the newer ones. I may have been
just lucky, but it's worked perfectly for me.

BTW, I use Linux for about 95% of my computing, and all of my HPs just
love it.

TJ

 

[me]

BTW, I use Linux for about 95% of my computing, and all of my HPs just
love it.

yeah that's another reason why I want to stick with
HP..... Linux

I also like that most of the HP printers I see have
wall warts instead of built in power supply. True?

I often travel in an RV and with external power
supply.... can power a printer in mobile mode using
powerpack battery/solar cell by connecting direct to
printer power port

 

[Priam]

yeah that's another reason why I want to stick with
HP..... Linux

Yup! I use a Laserjet with Linux. With the latest version of Ubuntu, all
you have to do is turn on the printer, and print!